<p>Sarcasm? Sarcasm? Well, that’s just great. How was I to know?</p>
<p><em>blush</em> :o</p>
<p><em>raises hand sheepishly to confirm cameliasinensis’s take on my post</em></p>
<p>I have just undergone a pretty wicked (though fully unnecessary 
) character assassination in another thread…not ready for another one. ;)</p>
<p>~berurah</p>
<p>On the after-Thanksgiving shopping thread?</p>
<p>cheers~</p>
<p>no…this one…</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=263851[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=263851</a></p>
<p>page 7 has some doozies…omg, in one fell swoop I find that I am “holier-than-thou,” I think I’m “better than everyone,” and I “protest too much” about my kids being non partiers (D2 was <strong><em>rollin’</em></strong> at THAT one, wild gal that she is with her Broadway tunes and karaoke!!). I am also prone to “spinning rages.” <em>roflmao</em> Someone needs to visit the political threads!! 
'</p>
<p>In addition, my internet usage is dysfunctional and my life is not enriched.</p>
<p>Whoda known? 
</p>
<p>Note to others…if your kids are not problem drinkers, don’t tell <em>anyone</em>!!! :eek:</p>
<p>~berurah</p>
<p>Didn’t notice the “wink” smiley face icon. That aside, the post is not unlike others that appear daily. CC is one of the few places where such an outrageous post could be taken seriously. I’m sure reading the thread in it’s entirety would also have helped ;). -Derek</p>
<p>That’s understandable, although as as whole I’ve seen less of that attitude in the Parents’ Forum than elsewhere on CC. I’m sorry if my reply to you came off as rude or insulting; it’s hard to convey good-humored sarcasm (as opposed to mean-spirited sarcasm) in writing.</p>
<p>man berurah…I’m gonna have to go back and read that thread. Much must have happened after my couple of measly posts…lol! </p>
<p>And here I was afraid to go back to that thread because I figured I would be torched for criticizing Towers…who’d thought berurah would go in there and fall on her sword? 
Ah well… b takes care of us all in one way or another. ;)</p>
<p>Re: Posts 33 and 34
I don’t mind talking about their colleges and such, but I can’t quite bring myself to get too personal about them (unless I ask them first) or list their stats. It’s a little selfish though, as I have certainly found that info helpful when offered by everybody else. </p>
<p>Re: post 44
B, now you made me go over there and look at that! I’m sorry for you. The internet is harsh. Don’t you love getting scolded by newbies? Cripe.</p>
<p>b-
I reread that post carefully now. It must have been your indiscriminate use of the word “gonif.” What a shonda! ;)</p>
<p>Thanks y’all…I truly appreciate the kind words.</p>
<p>When I went back and looked at my first post, I realized that one thing I wrote could have seemed abrasive, but I was just too incredulous at the prospect of the first response by some being to blame the college, esp. when the dorm was an off-campus one. I <em>was</em> careful to phrase it in a personal context, as in, “If it were I…,” but I guess that slipped by some. </p>
<p>The people who really know me after my 2.5 years on this forum will realize how genuinely hurt I was by those exchanges…and still am. I think I took a beating that was far in excess of anything warranted. :(</p>
<p>Politics. Religion. Frats and alcohol/ alcohol-related teen deaths. </p>
<p>After a week on CC, one knows these are cyber road-rage topics that bring out deeply felt opinions, passionately expressed. One either avoids them or prepares to get down and muddy. FWIW, berurah, I don’t agree with your position on personal responsibility versus college responsibility in the UT tower-fall case — I think somebody oughta get sued for what happened — but you should not have been attacked *personally * for your opinions or how you express them. Change colors, use big fonts, write in caps — shout away. It’s your right. The newbies will get used to it. (I did.) As for the college student lecturing parents on how to express opinions on parenting, I won’t go there. :rolleyes:</p>
<p>jazzy~</p>
<p>I really appreciate your comments <em>and</em> the way that you expressed them. Regarding the U.T. case, there is much still unknown, at least to me. The funny thing was that gist of the entire thread ended up being based on the unconfirmed hypothesis that alcohol was involved. I don’t believe that that has even been established. For all we know, the fall could have been accidental, in which case there would be (for me) a number of different factors to examine in order to determine culpability.</p>
<p>We do part ways on the position of personal responsibility with regard to college students/alcohol, but that’s o.k. Everyone is entitled to his/her own opinion. What was NOT o.k. was the abuse I took on that thread from three different people. Like you, I took very, VERY serious issue with this:
I am not a parent who in comfortable with <em>any</em> person as young as my son thinking that he is entitled to address me that way or treat me as a peer. Clearly he is <em>not</em> my peer. And there is a WORLD of difference between “intelligence” and “maturity.” As old as <em>I</em> am, I even treat <em>my</em> elders with a very special respect, habit, I guess, as I am old fashioned in that way. </p>
<p>~berurah</p>
<p>Fascinating, truly fascinating!</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I’m pretty new here (posting, that is - I’ve been lurking for about a year), but I just wanted to say: amen, sister. :)</p>
<p>Hmmmm…this is way off topic but I think there are a few young posters on CC that do nearly meet the intellectual ‘peer’ requirement. For myself, I don’t want to be ‘friends’ with any 19 year olds, thanks. That is too big a stretch for me–and them. Personally, I enjoy the sharp posts and bravado of young posters such as xiggi and FS. FS is a far more knowledgeable literary critic and xiggi can bullwhip statistics like a Jedi master–just to name two. I don’t respond to their posts hoping to be treated like a respected elder, LOL.</p>
<p>And, ya know, it’s the internet and we’re spread out all over the world, having good and bad days, using different styles of expression. I wouldn’t take those attacks too personally, b.</p>
<p>Cheers: There’s no question about whether certain students have the wherewithal to match wits with parents and sharpen their intellectual prowess in the parent’s cafe. Of course they do and they’re welcome to. What I, and I think other parents, react negatively to is having said college student attacking and berating another parent for her views on parenting and instilling individual responsibility and to imply that she is demeaning the parenting skills of people who have lost their child to a tragedy. She was not, IMO. If he wanted to argue with her about her statements, it was not necessary to take a How-Dare-You attitude and accuse her of hypocrisy and cruel insensitivity. It was not warranted. Personally, on emotional topics like these, I think there should be a rule that before pressing the submit button, one must get up, get a drink of water, pet the dog or cat, or walk around the block and come back and read it again before sending. Less verbal bloodshed that way.</p>
<p>Thank you, Jazzy. I have also been known to admonish young posters who like to admonish adults who post on a parents forum.</p>
<p>I don’t mind having the kids here, and in fact, rather enjoy them (although do question why they are hanging out on a message board with adults, rather than with their peers in college 3D); I just don’t need them pretending their 18 years or experience supercedes my 50, or that they have learned everything there is to know in less than two decades. I still have plenty more to learn in my second five. ;)</p>
<p>And Berurah, sorry you took the verbal beating. As a mom of six, you are allowed some additional latitude on parenting issues!</p>
<p>And now, back to the thread in progress!!! ;)</p>
<p>I understand your feelings, I do. I know there are CC parents who want the younger posters to hold their tongues. All I am saying is that I am not one of them. I accept–and am fascinated by-- the level nature of the internet. I was once verbally stung by the hubris of both the young posters I mentioned–long ago–yet found a way to establish good natured communications with both. That’s a responsibility I took on as the adult in the situation. I often take that role with clients, contractors and employees. It works for me. </p>
<p>There are so many really nice passive teenagers–with no there there. Give me the brilliant firebrands any day of the week. I’ll take their initial outbursts with a dose of bitters and I bet I will be able to get to higher ground.</p>
<p>
I was in <em>no</em> way referring to an “intellectual” peer. I will go so far as to admit that some of the young posters are my intellectual superiors. My own son is, though he is not a poster.</p>
<p>I was talking about an <em>AGE</em> peer and a peer in life experience. I am just foolish enough to believe that those things count for something. Something very important in fact. Just ask my kids! ;)</p>
<p>Like I said above, intelligence and maturity are two very different things.</p>
<p>~berurah
p.s. My son has some <em>TRULY</em> brilliant and amazing friends from whom I’ve learned a great deal, but the last thing they would ever do is to address me disrespectfully. It is simply not a necessary thing for getting your point across, and a truly wise and mature poster realizes that.</p>