The office

A huge fight has exploded at the c9 website I frequent. I haven't logged on for a few days and missed most of the chatroom action but luckily the posts in the forum are still there. The gist of it goes like this:

Someone started a thread about a TV documentary on the ridiculous lengths some parents go to in order to secure their kids a place in "good" schools. Cramming, extra-curricular activities, competitions. The accumulation of certificates, the like. One parent (A) wrote reflectively about how the system takes all the fun out of childhood and how parents should take a step back and get their priorities right etc.

Nothing earth shattering really.

Then another parent (B) responded to this and quite blatantly suggesting that A had actually done the same stuff herself when trying to get her daughter into a top school and that she's being hypocritical. Again, pretty much your standard internet flaming action. But the interesting thing is, the webmaster blocked B from the site and so B went to another site and started badmouthing everyone at this site where she was denied access.

It's pretty entertaining stuff in that it's so blatantly juvenille (almost reassuringly so). However, also slightly sad to see how raw some of these nerves are. Competitive, defensive, irrational, petty? Is that what parenthood does to people? If only their kids know what their parents are up to when they are typing away in front of the computer.

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Two more tutorials and two more lectures and teaching wise that's me this term. Was in the process of marking essays from a test which took place seven weeks ago. Why did I let them write an essay? I'm crap at marking them. After a while they all start looking similar(ly incomprehensible) to me. Probably need to spend another week or so marking term papers as well....

Meanwhile, let me leave you with this piece of light entertainment.