No, this is a small private school.  I agree that using Ricochet could be inappropriate in a public school setting, depending on how it is used.  Even in this situation, though, we chose essays about pop culture and other less political topics--if I'm remembering this right. 

Sure, Dave.  As long as you have time on the road to read assignments carefully and take notes.   She's a stickler for that.   ;-)

My thoughts, too, Ryan.

But actually, not my classroom.  It's the classroom of a co-worker. With an English teaching background, I can give this fine teacher occasional long-distance support.

We are delighted you think so, Susan.

This reminds me of when I was about eighteen, working a relatively easy hostess job at a pizza joint.  Except it wasn't easy, because the manager had poor people skills and I felt extremely tense about making mistakes. He hadn't provided training like I had gotten at Denny's . . . he seemed to feel that quick explanations and demonstrations would do.  (The hostesses I was replacing seemed cheerful and easygoing. I'm not sure why the position was such a big fail for me.)

Anyway, I had forgotten to take the menu home and memorize it over night like he asked, so he threatened to fire me. I felt so tense I ended up crying.  And when I told my older brother about it, he stopped me at the part about the tears and disregarding the rest said "Crying? You were crying? You don't cry at work!"  He couldn't believe it.   To him, it wouldn't have mattered if the boss had taken my firstborn child. Crying was not an option. He was probably right.

My boss and other male faculty where I work are very deferential, often seeking input from me. It was that way since I started this position eight years ago.  I'm not sure I've earned that level of respect (I think the leader sets the tone--and they are all great people anyway), but it sure makes this a plum job. 

Good point.

Yes.

Yes.  The topic should be discussed.  But the discussion would be more fruitful if it hadn't become a conversational toy, tool, and even weapon for both sexes.

 Err . . . not to claim it is a sacred topic, or anything.  But we would benefit from a little more discreetness when it comes to this.

Yes, I agree that if it's an issue for an individual, she needs to recognize it.  I'm just not sure if the discussion should be so public.  I hear men and women using their knowledge of the condition in insulting ways, (i.e., to dismiss someone's opinion).  This widespread public reference is odd to me after women's decades-long fight for dignity.

I don't read anywhere that women are less rational than men on the whole.

I do hear this said about women.  It's repeated by scholarly men I respect.

Lack of reasonableness and choices fueled by emotion are not the exclusive domain of women.  I know plenty of men with inscrutable moods, and plenty of calm, rational women. 

I've never enjoyed our culture's ongoing public discussion of PMS (it seems vulgar to me, and belittling, whether women are talking about themselves or men are explaining women's behavior), but I do acknowledge that I have not seen every case and some women, as the one you describe, DocJay,  have a harder time than others. 

But we all, men or women, are responsible for our own behavior, no matter how grouchy or anxious we are feeling. Unless we are truly out of our minds and need professional help. 

I know this discussion was intended to be light and humorous, but this touches on a topic I've thought about for a long time.  I just don't buy the conventional wisdom that men are guided primarily by rationality and women by their feelings and hormones.  I know too many stark exceptions to this. 

I'm guessing your suggestion to the husband that he apologize was a joke. Because, obviously, she should be the one apologizing.

Skipsul, your childhood experiences sound wonderful. 

My husband's parents just gave us their RV. They had had it maybe fifteen years, and it has just sitting in their driveway for the last few seasons.  Perhaps it's dated, but to me it's very nice, very big, and furnished with everything one would need to be comfortable in the wilderness.  I never dreamed we'd own such a thing.  We were talking about making payments on a new one, but having a great one fall into our hands is far preferable.

We don't plan to drive it far, since it's 8 MPG.  We have hundreds of possibilities for using it locally, from nearby Glacier to lakes and mountains that we've never explored.  My two girls are going to love it. We have a certain area of a campground that the girls have had picked out for years.  That will probably be our first destination.

Now that tune is going to be stuck in my head all day . . .

Really, the music was kind of catchy, and the presentation fun visually.  Take it from someone who watched concerts on night buses commuting between Bangkok and Chiangmai.  This is better.

Can anyone translate?  What do the lyrics mean?  Some tribute to the Leader, no doubt.

Per Larry K., no more than five years ago.  I'll just look on and not end the contest with my entries, then.  ;-) 

I very often feel vague and easily lose my train of thought during a conversation. Especially with social anxiety in the mix, but even without that element, it happens all the time.

I think part of what happens, besides just aging, is that we accumulate more and more responsibilities as we have jobs, marriage, and children, and those pressing responsibilities take up much of the room in our brain. We no longer have time to while away and feel the seconds tick by (unless we're at a school band concert--but there the cacophony discourages contemplation).

At the same time, perhaps we get into certain patterns of thinking as we grapple and cope with life's challenges and our patterns ossify?  So that it is harder to integrate new info from our working memory?

Oh, yes--then we have babies and lose a lot of sleep.  Then we become terrible sleepers.  That can't help, either.