Friday's Most Active Threads

Yesterday's most active thread was the redshirting thread that I discussed yesterday. So, I'll skip that one and go to the next most active thread which was titled, "Keenan Anderson - black teacher killed by LAPD" and posted in the "Off-Topic" forum. Anderson is a DC school teacher who was visiting Los Angeles. After becoming involved in a traffic accident, Anderson flagged down a police car. According to the police, Anderson began behaving erratically and multiple officers attempted to restrain him. Ultimately, the police would taser him seven times and, four hours later, Anderson suffered cardiac arrest and died. The use of force by police against black men is obviously a very contentious issue that has been much debated. As such, many posters have reflexive responses to incidents such as this. Some posters immediately blamed the police and the tasering, despite the fact the impact of the tasering is not yet clear. For other posters, there is apparently nothing that could convince them that the police acted wrongly. These posters are big on advising others to "just comply" and demonstrate no sympathy or understanding for those undergoing mental health crises. What is probably most striking is how different posters could watch the same video and come away with markedly different perceptions. Some saw a man in distress being confronted by police whose actions escalated things. Others viewed it as Anderson resisting attempts to prevent him from harming himself or others. Similarly, there are striking disagreements about the racial aspects involved, with some seeing racism as self-evident and others going to great lengths to deny that race had any role in the event.

The next most active thread was posted in the "Money and Finances" forum. Titled, "I have money, but this is where I cheap out", the original poster says that he buys luxury cars, but only used. In response, posters describe things that they could afford, but find ways to save money on. I haven't read many of the 9 pages of replies, but it looks like clothes, cars, and housing are popular responses. Several posters also say they prefer to cook at home rather than spending money eating out. Others cite choosing public schools over private. I haven't read enough of the posts to understand the details, but it looks like there is at least one argument about how a poster spends her money. There is also some debate about the nuances of the discussion and whether examples of simply living frugally should be included with attempts to draw distinctions between "frugal" and "cheap".

Third for today's discussion was a thread titled, "SAHMs and marriage dynamics?" that was posted in the "Relationship Discussion (non-explicit)" forum. The original poster says that she currently makes a similar amount working as her husband and their relationship is very equal. She asks how the dynamics of their relationship might change if she became a stay at home mom. The first two responses advise the original poster that any discussion on this topic will be contentious and unhelpful. That would basically be my expectation as well. Nevertheless, some of those responding attempt to be helpful. Many posters advise that it depends on the relationship and that the answer is not the same for everyone. Some respond by describing their own experiences of becoming stay at home moms. Somehow the thread got sidetracked into a debate about how much men respect their wive's resumes, with some arguing that an important job is a status symbol for a woman and others arguing that husbands didn't care about their wives' professional qualifications. Much of the discussion ignores the original topic about marriage dynamics and instead focuses on stereotypes of stay at home moms and how they are perceived by work out of the home moms. Several posts discussed how stay at home moms might fare in a divorce and were apparently offered as warnings against becoming a stay at home mom.

The final thread at which I'll look today was titled, "13 year old is CRAZY when PMSing and we cannot handle -- what do we do?" and posted in the "Tweens and Teens" forum. The original poster explains that when her daughter suffers from premenstrual syndrome, she engages in extreme behaviors and is forced to stay home from school. The behavior, which includes screaming and crying and making up lies, is so bothersome that the original poster is considering sending the girl to live with the original poster's parents, sending her to boarding school, or home schooling her. Those responding are appalled at the idea of sending the girl away. There are several suggestions that the original poster's daughter might be suffering from premenstrual dysphoric disorder and posters recommend that she see a doctor. Fairly quickly, posters started attacking the original poster's parenting skills and criticizing how she has approached the situation. The original poster strongly rejected some suggestions despite their being offered by posters who have had children go through similar experiences. This increased skepticism of the original poster who eventually got fed up and announced that she would no longer reply to the thread.