Monday's Most Active Threads

One of the most active threads that I discussed yesterday was about schools closing due to snow. That thread was in the Fairfax County Public Schools forum. But the Montgomery County Public Schools forum is no slouch when it comes to snow days either. The FCPS thread led the most active list of yesterday's threads, so I'll skip it and go to the second most active which was titled, "MCPS closing/delaying on Monday?" and, of course, posted in the "Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS)" forum. This thread was started a week ago in response to predictions of snow and it reached almost 20 pages before there was a single snowflake. Posters added almost another 20 pages yesterday. From what I've read in this thread, which admittedly is not a lot, the discussion is similar to that in the FCPS thread and, for that matter, every other snow day thread we've ever had. Some posters don't want schools to be closed under any circumstances. The most common reason for this position is their lack of childcare. This is particularly frustrating to them if they don't get a snow day from work themselves. Ironically, work-from-home policies that are normally very convenient can be a hindrance in these circumstances. No amount of snow can really justify a snow day when you are working from home. But regardless of the reason why parents must work, school closings frequently cause childcare issues for them. On the other hand are the parents who want schools to close at the slightest potential for the smallest amount of snow. The creativity with which they come up with justifications for closing is something to behold. One thing I noticed is that the anti-snow day posters tend to be pretty clear that they are upset because they personally are being inconvenienced. The pro-closing crowd is much more likely to argue that they are looking out for others. It's not that they personally have a need or interest in schools being closed, but rather they are concerned about bus drivers, school groundskeepers, kids with special needs who might miss important services, and perhaps to a lesser extent, teachers. A few of the pro-closing group, however, see a snow day as an opportunity for fun with their children and are very happy to have the day off. But even some of these parents start to have a different attitude when the prospect of a single snow day turns into the reality of multiple days. This resulted in calls for virtual school, which reignited many of the arguments of COVID closings. One topic of discussion that was unique to this thread was a video celebrating the snow day produced by MCPS Superintendent Thomas Taylor. Many posters were critical of the video, arguing that Taylor should be spending his time doing more to get schools reopened instead of making silly videos. Other posters applauded the video and argued that making it would not have taken much time or effort.

The next most active thread was the Golden Globes thread that I discussed yesterday. Skipping that one today, the next most active thread was posted in the "Jobs and Careers" forum and titled, "Predictions for fed gov't tomorrow (Tuesday)?" According to the original poster, yesterday she worked from home. She hopes to have the same opportunity today because she is scheduled to go into the office and, apparently, would rather avoid doing so. Posters are divided in their predictions about whether offices will stay closed or will reopen. Cogent arguments for both options were made. Much as in the previous thread, many posters say they won't be able to work regardless of what the Government decides because their kids will be home from school and they will have to care for them and won't be able to work. This includes many who otherwise would be able to telework. Some posters argued that they had been able to drive around yesterday with no problem and, therefore, federal offices should not have closed. In response, other posters pointed out that the only reason that the roads were clear is that almost everyone stayed home. Had the streets been full of rush hour traffic, the plows would not have been able to have worked as effectively. As the day went on yesterday and more and more area school systems announced that they would be closed today, the clamor for the Office of Personnel Management to announce a closure increased. Eventually, OPM did announce an office closure. With many federal employees having telework agreements, most of the government's work can theoretically continue with employees working from home. Realistically, many will be unable to due to childcare responsibilities. Several posters expressed frustration that the public thinks that they are getting the day off of work when, in fact, most area federal employees will still be expected to work, just from home instead of their offices. The OPM decision did not end the dissension in the thread. While some posters celebrated their predictions turning out to be correct, others complained that the streets were fine and the closure was not justified. Other posters described the conditions of their streets, which were still buried in snow, and said that it would be unsafe for them to try to get to their offices. One poster wanted to transition the discussion into predictions for tomorrow.

Next was a thread titled, "Bucknell, The Street, and Pipelines not named Keystone", and posted in the "College and University Discussion" forum. Some background is going to be necessary for those who don't frequent the college forum. Over time, the forum has attracted a number of boosters or detractors of various colleges. These posters become recognizable to many of the forum’s active posters. One such booster is a supporter of Bucknell University and argues incessantly that the school has a pipeline to Wall Street. To hear this poster tell it, a Bucknell diploma practically comes with a Wall Street job offer attached to it. To say that other posters are skeptical of the Bucknell Booster's assertions is to put it mildly. On the face of it, the original poster of this thread is seeking objective data that compares Bucknell to other colleges in terms of leading to Wall Street jobs. However, as is often the case on DCUM, this thread shouldn't be taken at face value. The original poster authored two follow-up posts that I could easily identify (I suspect there were several more, but I didn't feel like making the effort to prove it). In one, he argued that for anyone other than low-income students, Bucknell graduates would be worse off for having the school on their resume. In the other, he argued that the salaries commonly received by Bucknell graduates were not "Wall Street pay” but rather salaries more suited for the "Omaha branch of a small consulting firm". These posts suggest that the original poster is not all that interested in objective data but rather has already made up his mind. On the other hand, what appeared to be multiple posters rather than a single Bucknell booster did show up to praise the school. One poster made no bones about it, saying, "Bucknell is a known pipeline to The Street", fulfilling expectations if nothing else. One poster who did seem to take an objective look at the available data proclaimed Bucknell's record of leading to Wall Street jobs as "Not bad", but he didn't seem especially impressed. Rather, he concluded that Bucknell is an "Interesting school for those scoring in the mid-to-high 1300s on the SAT." Another poster who identified himself as the parent of a happy Bucknell student lamented how the college is discussed in the forum and stated, "It is a great school for the right kid. No one ever said it was Harvard, and the kids are happy and learning." While some posters suggested that the Bucknell Booster had quit DCUM, one poster did post a series of pro-Bucknell posts that were pure boosterism. In one post, the poster argued, "if you want your kid to make serious money, send him to Bucknell" and that Bucknell is the place for "kids who want big money". On the other hand, one poster noticed that the Bucknell Booster never clearly identified which "street" to which Bucknell leads and that "it could be working at a 7-11 on Maple Street in Chattanooga for all we know."

The final thread that I will discuss today was posted in the "Off-Topic" forum. Titled, "What happened to the 'popular kids' from your high school?", the original poster says two of the popular girls from her high school ended up not being very successful. This made her realize "how silly it was to care about these things back then." She wonders what happened to the popular kids in other posters' high schools. Posters are quite eager to disclose what happened to the popular kids in their schools. At least those who know. A significant number of posters have no idea of what became of them. Posters who do know are particularly excited about posting when things didn't turn out all that well for the popular kids. There are a number of posts in which the popular kids ended up failing or not accomplishing very much. However, one poster argues that, "The whole popular kids peaked in HS and became losers afterwards always reeked more of jealous stereotyping than reality." This poster, and a few who agreed, contented that more often than not the popular kids went on to be successful adults. Consistent with this, many posters told of the popular kids going on to have a lot of success in life. I don't have much to say about this thread. I am not particularly interested in what happened to kids in other posters' high schools and it is hard to summarize all the anecdotes. For that matter, I can barely remember the popular kids from my own high school and with one or two exceptions, don't have a clue what happened to them.