The Most Active Threads Since Friday

The two most active threads over the weekend were the thread about DCPS's release of PARCC scores and the thread about Arlington County Schools closing Nottingham Elementary School. I've written about both of those already, so I'll start with the third most active thread over the weekend which was titled, "Wife is super rigid about showing up on time" and was posted in the "Relationship Discussion (non-explicit)" forum. The original poster says that his wife has always been strict about arriving on time to events. She believes that arriving late demonstrates a lack of respect for others' time. The original poster then goes on to describe a recent incident in which the couple, along with their three-year-old daughter were preparing to go to dinner at the original poster's in-laws home. The three-year-old began to engage in typical three-year-old behavior which delayed them. When the original poster's wife noticed that it was the time that they had planned to leave and their daughter was still not ready, she walked out of the house telling the original poster that she would take one car in order to be on time and he should come in the other car with their daughter when they were ready. In the original poster's opinion, it would have been alright to have been a few minutes late in this instance and he asks whether his wife is too rigid. As far as I can tell, the original poster did not provide any further input into this thread and may not have even read the responses. Most posters agreed that the wife is acting very rigid. However, several of them offered potential explanations that excuse the behavior. Some posters suggested the wife might have anxiety that causes her to want to be on time. Others suggested that the original poster, either being habitually late or by not always carrying his parental weight, might have triggered her. A few posters sided with the wife, agreeing that being on time is important. The thread eventually veered off of talk of the original incident and simply became a discussion of the importance of being on time. On that topic, posters were very divided. A number of posters described their frustration with those who arrive late to things and, like the original poster's wife, consider being late to be disrespectful of others' time. Other posters argue that being a few minutes late is normal and acceptable. Some posters even argue that being exactly on time is rude with one poster saying that she dislikes people arriving exactly on time to her home. Another poster consulted Emily Post about this, but there is still disagreement even about her advice. She says that it is rude to arrive early or more than 15 minutes late.

The next most active thread was posted in the "Private & Independent Schools" forum. Titled, "GDS just dropped AP testing", the original poster notes that after having dropped advanced placement (AP) courses in the past, Georgetown Day School has now stopped offering AP tests. A statement provided by the school says that conversations with a range of colleges and universities suggested that AP tests offer no advantage for admissions purposes to students whose high schools do not offer AP classes. GDS and several other DC-area private schools recently stopped offering AP classes. However, the original poster is concerned that this decision might not take into account students who are applying to schools abroad that often rely on AP test scores for admissions considerations, US-based institutions that accept AP test scores in lieu of SAT results, and prevents students from receiving advanced college credit from those schools that offer it. Several of those responding either support the decision or believe that it is not a big deal. I'm not sure what their reasoning is other than perhaps they agree with the school's explanation. Other posters find this to be a poorly thought-out decision. There are a number of posters in the private schools forum who are heavily fixated on the idea of "equity" and seem to believe that a desire for "equity" motivates nearly all the behavior of private school administrators. Consistent with this view, these posters quickly criticized the decision as an effort to increase equity. According to these posters, AP tests, like SAT or ACT scores, are objective measures of student ability and, these posters believe, progressive schools like GDS want to eliminate objective factors and replace them with subjective measures such as essays about adversity. However, as other posters point out, while students won't be able to take AP tests at GDS, those who want to take the exams will still be able to register to take them elsewhere. Therefore, this decision is merely an inconvenience, though a significant inconvenience to some posters. The top area private schools are always extremely critically analyzed on DCUM with every move questioned and debated. There are a number of posters who seem to relish any opportunity to knock these institutions. This thread is rife with such posters. Nevertheless, there is an interesting contrast between the public school forums where thread after thread discusses loading up on AP credits while in the private school forum there are discussions of dropping AP classes and exams. There is a stark divergence between the schools on this issue.

Next was a thread titled, "Americans at high risk advised to wear masks as new Covid variant detected" which was posted in the "Health and Medicine" forum. The original poster says that there is a new Covid variant that has mutated significantly and is not covered by the existing booster shots, leading to a "huge increase" in cases and hospitalizations. Therefore, the original poster writes, those at high risk should wear masks. Frankly, there is very little reason to read any thread about Covid these days and I have read very little of this one. The arguments are all well-trod and familiar to all at this point. Posters like the original poster are accused of fear-mongering at best and actually rooting for Covid at worse. A number of posters pointed out that the article to which the original poster linked said that there has not been increased transmission or higher hospitalization rates, directly contradicting what the original poster claimed. There are definitely posters who are very sensitive to any threat of Covid, often understandably so because either they or family members are high risk. There are other posters who have concluded that Covid is either not a big deal or there is nothing that can be done about it. This group has no interest in masking and often rejects the notion that masks have any impact at preventing Covid in the first place. The result is that even the mildest suggestion of precautions — keep in mind that even the original poster who is accused of exaggerating only recommended masking for those at high risk — are accused of supporting draconian and unacceptable measures. The thread also continues what has been a troubling trend of presumably younger posters advocating for letting the elderly simply die rather expecting society at large to observe precautions. One poster responded to another whose parents are currently in the intensive care unit suffering from Covid by saying "Your parent is what— in their 70s? Maybe 80s? Did you think they were going to live forever?" and later saying that the poster had "wildly unreasonable and unrealistic expectations regarding geriatric health". It is disappointing to see posters not only accept, but actually advocate for the deaths of others rather than tolerating any accommodations whatsoever.

The last thread at which I'll look today was posted in the "Health and Medicine" forum. Titled, "Dinner party in Europe: Americans look older, more tired, are more unhealthy", the original poster describes a dinner party she attended in Europe. The attendees were from a number of European countries and were fifty-five years old and older. They were all in remarkably good health, not overweight, looked at least 10 years younger than they are, and were vibrant and happy. When the original poster asked how they managed to live so well and look so great, they attributed it to universal healthcare, less stress, and great food. A number of posters agreed with the original poster's observations and also blamed food in the US for a number of health problems. Several posters reported that when they travel to Europe, they lose weight. DCUM posters tend to be fairly liberal, cosmopolitan, and well-travelled. As such, they are not offended by criticism of the US and praise of Europe. But, for the most part, these posters attempted to be objective in their analysis. Several accepted the observations of the original poster but proposed alternative explanations. However, there is always a cohort of users who are determined to stand up for the United States. One poster, for instance, responded to the original poster by saying, "That explains why the US is the leader of the free world with the most powerful armed forces and the most dominant economy and the source of the most trusted currency in the world." According to this poster, Americans are fat, ailing, and working themselves to death so that Europeans can relax and enjoy themselves. Other posters believe that the original poster's observations are misleading. One poster who says he has lived in a number of countries found no differences in the weight of people with whom he worked regardless of the country. Moreover, he says that people everywhere are gaining weight. Posters go back and forth on a lot of issues, not all of them related to health. For example, one poster pointed out that many Americans are still working like crazy in their 50s because they have to pay for outrageously expensive colleges for their children. Others pointed out that Europeans tend to get more exercise by walking and biking more. Multiple posters attributed healthy life styles, fitness, and body weight to social class. These posters said that among the wealthy in the US, people tend to be fit and not overweight. They get plenty of exercise by working out or playing sports. Similarly in Europe, they say, the working and lower classes tend to have worse diets, are heavier, and suffer increased health problems. In the view of these posters, the original poster was a privileged American meeting with privileged Europeans and the dinner was far from representative.