Nothing is making you either read nor respond. If you are offended or find things obnoxious that easily, this has nothing to do with me. I’m not offended. I’m not finding anything obnoxious.

Hmm... Not at all sure where the hostility comes from. I definitely agree that some basic English would make a huge difference. I said as much twice in my post. I made no assumptions about you. I added some extra info because I think, in general - based on both conversations with people who are uninvolved in ESL…

Just want to jump in here and say that I really appreciate and enjoy your posts about this. I wonder if you could write an article about it? You seem to be really good at explaining these things to people (like myself) who know very little about the topic.

Well to be fair, it’s much harder for adults to learn a second language, especially if the adult has other priorities. I agree it would be helpful to learn at least some English (functional, survival English) but it’s unlikely that they’d learn much. Children soak it up like sponges. I taught English in a refugee…

That is an incorrect assumption. While I don’t support the detention of children in any way, it’s just not true that the people working these systems are all a bunch of monsters. Normal people get caught up in bureaucracy- this was driven by politicians and industrialists (who make a shit ton of money off contracts…

Personally, I think it is a bigger deal than that. Here is what overwhelms me. If you look at the entire power structure, including industry and the economy, then it exists entirely because the status quo continues. I want that to happen too as I’m a citizen of this country and I like my life and my job, etc., and I…

Look, I’m on your side and mostly agree with your sentiment, but don’t let your totally justified anger muddle your ability to think. There are all sorts of problems with your point about people making the government they deserve. I’m going to point out just a very few of them. 1) The people who read Jez are not…

Thanks to her. This sort of petty harassment is really serious when it happens repeatedly over years and years. It restricts people’s movements and activities- like they are being constantly threatened and bullied at every turn. And it’s such a hassle- you have to plan ahead for it and you are never sure if you’ll…

Well, seriously, that’s what I’m wondering. I mean, if a dude is wearing reasonable pants (and you tend to, at work) and also has a pair of briefs on underneath, is the boner really all that conspicuous?

Umm... Note she said she has to ask him if he’s WEARING them, not if he owns them. It’s really hard sometimes to get teenagers to make rational choices when dressing themselves in the morning. I don’t understand why, but it is.

Not first person (or even second) but it happened to my bf’s brother while we were in high school. I was on the phone with her at the house while he cried and his mom tried to help him. It sounded HORRIBLE. Also we laughed. And we felt really bad for him, but teenagers laugh at wrong things.

Ugggh.

Me either. Could be there is a world of boners around me and I never noticed. I’ve seen a few over the years through swimming trunks and running shorts- but that’s really rare. I have absolutely never noticed one on a coworker or a friend in a non-sexual social situation. And surprise boners at random times is not a…

You’re totally right, of course. Blows my mind too. Plus it’s my personal preference to dress for comfort and function like 98% of the time I have a say in the matter. (I don’t always have a say- at work, at events, etc). The other 2% I’ll put on something pretty. I figure athletic shorts and t’s are the dude’s…

If your boyfriend isn’t 15, he should be secure enough to wear whatever the hell he wants.

Why? This website’s discussions always amaze me with the random things people decide to hate. Really, I’ve learned that there are people who will break up with / hate / judge the following: men with gray hair who ride skateboards, any adult who does not have a bedframe, Gwenyth Paltrow and Pippa Middleton, now men who…

I’ve asked my husband about this a few times. Not that he can speak for all men, but he claims it happened sometimes during adolescence and not really after that unless there were some special circumstances. (Young 20s, at a topless beach for the first time in his life.)

Uggh. The fact that some religious institutions are opposed to birth control in the first place should be enough to make every single member of that religious institution have a major crisis of faith. You would think that even a complete moron would think it’s absolutely absurd that god would have any interest in…

Yup exactly. It’s unbelievable what went down as normal.

Meh. I did some pretty hard partying with shady folks when I was that age. You are surrounded by crazy stuff going on around you. You are intoxicated for long periods of time. Things get blurry and misinterpreted, even by the victims and the perps. It takes a long time to sort it all out and understand what you saw…