Cry me a frozen river.

Jeez, what a bunch of wusses:

The South Lyon Community Schools and Brighton Area Schools were the only districts open in Metro Detroit today as winter keeps the region in its icy grip and students are not happy about it.

Parent Tina Rochowiak said she kept her son home Monday but sent the senior to class today at South Lyon High School. She said her son text messaged her and said students have gathered in a commons area and are refusing to go to class.

Melissa Meister, South Lyon Community Schools’ assistant superintendent of administrative services, confirmed that the students had gathered and said the matter was being addressed. Meister could not say how many students were protesting.

The school is heated. The buses were all running fine. I presume the commons area where the protest happened was heated, too.

Kids these days. But worse, of course, is the parental reaction:

Rochowiak said the district could have let students stay home today without impacting their studies.

“They are ridiculous,” she said. “I kept him home yesterday because I thought it was absolutely ridiculous. Winter is almost over. Give them a break. It is just dumb.”

Thank God my parents weren’t this silly.

Posted at 1:48 pm in Current events |
 

58 responses to “Cry me a frozen river.”

  1. LA mary said on February 6, 2007 at 2:45 pm

    This sounds like a cliche’, but I never had a day off for cold weather and it got really cold in Northern NJ. We were not allowed to wear pants to school then, and there were no school buses. Try a good mile hike in a miniskirt on a windy 10 degree day. Your legs sting and burn from the cold, even with tights.

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  2. Onderay said on February 6, 2007 at 4:25 pm

    Look the only reasons the students protested was because so many of them have to stand out side and freeze waiting for a bus, also the superintendent makes the students come to school on the worst or more dangerous days whether it be by bus or car. The buses were not heated let alone most of them even working yesterday. The bus drivers were there at one O’clock in the morning trying to get them running but still many buses had to carry extra students to school for lack of buses. there was around 800 students protesting in the commons which is around a third of the schools population. Cry me a frozen river really doesnt suit this atrical and maby you would have more answers if you would ask the right people instead of the people who are lying threw their teeth while students are asking questions on their decisions

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  3. SL High Student said on February 6, 2007 at 4:48 pm

    Hi I’m a student at South Lyon High School. Yes we protested today but for more reasons then you are putting on your website. Yes its cold and yes we should of had school off but thats besides my point. They tell you the buses were running but really they weren’t and many buses had to make as many as 5 routes this morning making many of us wait outside for more then a half hour. Also our boilers were broken so no our school wasn’t heated today or yesterday and we had to sit in classrooms that didn’t get much higher then 60 degrees.

    Also there have been times worse then this were we havn’t gotten school off. We never complained before but now we want someone to listen to us. A lot of adults today think that our opinion doesn’t matter. We try to get our word out but we get shut down and treated like idiots for trying to change something. We had over 500 kids at the protest today.

    When our Mr. Pearson came in to talk to us he treated us like idiots were our words didn’t matter. When we would ask an important question he would blow us off and skip on to someone else. We got no answers today. Sure they can suspend but oh well.

    Our point is we would like adults to listen to us. Not treat us like kids anymore. We have opinions and we want to help do things and help change things but how can we do this when everyone blows us off. We write letters like people tell us to but we get no reply and if we do it says something that they send out to everyone. We want people to listen to us. We want to be heard. And if this is what it takes we will do it again until someone starts to listen!

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  4. SL High Student said on February 6, 2007 at 7:12 pm

    ooo and Nancy get your facts right!

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  5. brian stouder said on February 6, 2007 at 8:52 pm

    SL High Student – well done!

    Possibly one avenue for effectively engaging the administration of your school is to enlist the assistance of like-minded teachers. One would think that the teachers would have some ‘workplace’ issues with the cold classrooms you describe.

    Here’s hoping that reasonable people – students and teachers and parents and adminstrators – can sit down and listen to one another, and the go constructively forward toward the successful fulfilment of everyone’s responsibilities

    (and in the meanwhile, SLHS, you have to grant some slack to old timers like Nance who think that the problem reduces to ‘kids nowadays’, or parents with whom they disagree; it is the prerogative of any internet blogger to have opinions on any and every subject, regardless of facts!)

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  6. Oooster465 said on February 6, 2007 at 9:38 pm

    You go SL High Student! I also go to South Lyon High School and every word she says is true! And what ever you people have heard form the superintendent is mostly lies! Yes he maybe drove his car around at 2 am but did he stand out side at a bus stop for 20 minutes! Did he drive his black jagwire done to the farest spot where a student has to walk form and walk to school? Did he try to put him self in a 7 year old shoes when they stand outside for the bus in the morning? Did he think about that?

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  7. Oooster465 said on February 6, 2007 at 9:39 pm

    and also did he think about trying to pack a 50 kids on one school bus?

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  8. Jim in FL said on February 6, 2007 at 10:21 pm

    Holy Sha-moly…60 degree classrooms!!!! Thirty whole minutes in the sub-zero cold!!!! How awful is that????

    Please explain to me why you couldn’t put on an extra sweater and a pair of long johns before leaving home this morning.

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  9. Danny said on February 6, 2007 at 11:36 pm

    Jim, since by default, you are in Florida, you can’t have an opinion about this. Neither can I here in San Diego. LOL!

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  10. alex said on February 6, 2007 at 11:50 pm

    I have an opinion. Why doesn’t South Lyon teach kids how to spell?

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  11. Danny said on February 7, 2007 at 12:18 am

    LMAO!

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  12. Jim in FL said on February 7, 2007 at 1:25 am

    Hey, it gets cold in FL. When it does, we put on extra clothes. It gets down to 50. the kids wear their parka’s, caps and mittens when they wait for the bus. 😉

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  13. Jim in FL said on February 7, 2007 at 1:33 am

    and I always wanted to get me one of them jagwires.

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  14. Kim said on February 7, 2007 at 9:11 am

    Grew up in Chicago in the 1900s, back when it snowed. Never had school cancelled. Ever. Like LA Mary, no pants allowed (till sixth grade, when “pantsuits” were OK for the ladies). Also didn’t have North Face gear or even down (too expensive and out there, unless you got the kit to make one of those down Michelin-man coats in blaze orange). From their posts, these kids could stand a few extra hours in the classroom, as could the reporter who used “impacting” and the copy editor who allowed it. On the other hand, I do so love it when our youth get righteously indignant.

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  15. Kirk said on February 7, 2007 at 9:46 am

    kim, bless you for being repulsed by the all-too-prevalent misuse of the word “impact” as a verb.

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  16. Dorothy said on February 7, 2007 at 10:37 am

    Spell AND proofread. Sheesh. They have many valid points. But please, learn to read before you click on Submit Comment!

    For the record, kids – it’s “should have”, not “should of”. And a Jaguar is a mighty fine car to drive, regardless of the weather conditions, I’m sure.

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  17. John said on February 7, 2007 at 10:50 am

    “old timers like Nance”….

    Sounds like a throw down to me!

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  18. Danny said on February 7, 2007 at 11:06 am

    Gawd, don’t we all sound like a bunch of grouchy aunts and uncles.

    And Jim, like Florida, it gets downright bone-gnawingly rigid in San Diego too because we sometimes have to close the windows at night and even turn off the ceiling fans. And instead of a cold brew, a nice Shiraz goes well as we shiver indoors.

    Now, Marcia hates me too, I expect.

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  19. brian stouder said on February 7, 2007 at 11:08 am

    If you want a culturally attuned phonetic mis-spelling of jaguar, spell it jagYUahr (gotta love ‘alumineyum’, too)

    but aren’t we a bunch of fuddy-duddies, going after a kiddo’s grammar (as if what we wrote when we were 15 would pass muster! My poor penmanship probably saved me from as much red ink as it cost me…the now-prevalent word processors would have left my poorly processed words nowhere to hide!)

    PS – quick – is it ‘grammer’ or ‘grammar’?

    ‘prevalant’ or ‘prevalent’?

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  20. Dorothy said on February 7, 2007 at 11:29 am

    Yeah yeah, you guys are right. Some of us (me included) do sound like a bunch of grumps. However, I think the youngsters need to know their words will be paid more attention if first they pay attention to the words themselves. Call it free advice – we aren’t giving them grades on their report cards, right?

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  21. LA mary said on February 7, 2007 at 11:44 am

    I may live in LA now, but I grew up in a cold place and moved to a colder one, Colorado. We got snow days off when the roads weren’t cleared, but cold never caused a shut down, and I do remember there being no heat from time to time. When school closed for snow, we usually spent the day sledding or ice skating or something outdoors. Keep moving and you stay warmer.

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  22. LA mary said on February 7, 2007 at 2:42 pm

    I was a better speller than those guys and so are my sons, who are teenagers. Readers tend to be better at spelling, and my kids are readers.

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  23. SL High Student said on February 7, 2007 at 2:46 pm

    Ok just so you know I had on a t-shirt, long sleeve t-shirt, and a hoodie and I was still freezing. And I wouldn’t be talking Jim you live in Flordia where it is warm all the time. So don’t tell us what to do.

    And oh STOP RIPPING ON MY FRIEND!! Oooster may not be able to spell but thats not the point. Who cares if words are spelled right! She is just trying to get a point across. Oh and notice how in the article NO KIDS were interviewed. No one really cared what are side was. Oooster has to walk about a mile to school everyday and luckly her parents work so she can afford something warm to wear when she walks. Its not our fault that some of our parents can’t afford to buy us gloves or are to cheap to. Thats not my fault.

    Ok Dorothy I don’t really understand what your saying. “their words will be paid more attention if first they pay attention to the words themselves.” What do you mean by that? I’m not understanding.

    But maybe all of you are being a little bias. Yes a lot of us were down there. But a handful of then were there just to skip and w/e. But there were also a lot of us that actually cared about what we were down there for. I’m an A student and I was down there because I wanted answers and I wanted to be heard. But when I tried to talk they pushed me away and my questions weren’t answered. That’s what made me really mad. That Mr. Pearson came down there to talk to us but wouldn’t even answer any of our questions.

    Now you may call me a spolied little brat all you want. But think about your kids. If you have a little kid in elementary school would you want them out on the street for more then a half hour waiting for the bus?? I wouldn’t want my kid to have to do that.

    Also our point was that Mr. Pearson doesn’t follow some policies. There is a policy about how cold it can be before we have school closed. On both Monday and Tuesday the temperature was below that rate. Umm so whos breaking the rules besides us???

    I don’t care if your on my side I just want some adults to learn to listen to us. I want people to believe that teenagers can do something important. A lot of teenagers do but no one gives them credit. The credit will usually go to someone older. Thats not right and thats what needs to be changed.

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  24. SL High Student said on February 7, 2007 at 2:50 pm

    I read a lot. I read about a 600 page book and finish it in 2 days. So yeah we read too. Just some can’t be as good of spellers and some other people are. We all have our faults and people need to accept them and move on. 5 words are misspelled BIG DEAL! Move on people.

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  25. Kim said on February 7, 2007 at 3:00 pm

    Just one last point from a grumpy adult: It has never been easier to achieve perfect spelling and/or grammar than it is today, kids. Bill Gates saw to that.

    Wait. I lied (proof I’m an adult, no doubt). One more thing: You may get a little more out of that 600-page book if you slow it down. Unless you’re the spawn of Evelyn Wood, you know?

    Stay warm, children.

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  26. Kirk said on February 7, 2007 at 3:05 pm

    Who cares if words are spelled right!

    well, mcdonald’s doesn’t much care about it when it’s hiring french-fryers.

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  27. SL High Student said on February 7, 2007 at 3:13 pm

    lol ok you got me the mcdonalds thing totally got me. lol

    Just on the point I can’t slow down. I read nonstop. I love books and when I find a good one I can’t stop. Its hard to slow down when reading books that you like. Everyone knows that.
    I get a lot out of the books though. If I’ve read a book once I can give you the whole plot some of my favorite quotes and many other things like that.

    Perfect grammar isn’t everything though. On job interviews they don’t judge you on how you spell but what and how you say things. Now things are more verbal. Grammar is a good thing to have. I know that. But today it isn’t as big of a thing as it was awhile back.

    (oooster is my buddy)

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  28. Danny said on February 7, 2007 at 3:28 pm

    SL High Student, for the record, I am not one of the folks here lampooning you (or your friend) for spelling and grammar. Granted, if you are just texting someone using your thumbs, abbreviations and errors at fine. But one thing I can tell you is that written communication is actually more crtical these days than it used to be. Email is the reason. At work, that is our main method of collaboration. Before email, this was not so.

    Just something for you to consider.

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  29. Kirk said on February 7, 2007 at 3:29 pm

    SL High Student, grammar and other factors that go into being able to communicate still count for plenty in a lot of jobs and businesses. I think one point one of the earlier posters was trying to make was that it sounds as though you guys really have some legitimate gripes about going to school in the cold but, like it or not, you don’t do yourselves justice when you express those gripes using poor grammar and spelling. The better you can communicate, the better off you’ll be at whatever you do. I’m not a fuddy-duddy; I’m just someone who knows the value of effective communication. I wish you success.

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  30. Danny said on February 7, 2007 at 3:39 pm

    Gawd, just reread my post and noticed the typo.

    Physician, heal thyself.

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  31. MarkH said on February 7, 2007 at 3:48 pm

    SLHS –

    Unbelievable…

    You’re no ‘A’ student, unless you skipped English class so far. Either that, or your teachers are incredible slackers

    Stay in school, pal. That way, you’ll have to learn less about things, like the job market, the hard way. Oh, yeah, and you might want to keep a dictionary handy at all times. It’ll help you know the difference between “your” and “you’re”, among other little niceties of proper communication.

    On the other hand, are we being had? Is SLHS really just one of the regular smart alecks on NN.C having fun under an assumed name? My high school senior son is proof enough for me that things aren’t THAT bad.

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  32. Dorothy said on February 7, 2007 at 3:58 pm

    Yes what Kirk and Danny said.

    My point was this: If you pay attention to things you type and say, and make sure you do it correctly, people will pay more attention to your thoughts and wishes. It might not sound fair, but it’s the truth. By the time you are in high school you are nearly an adult. Even if you are a good reader and a good student, if you do not present yourself as one (i.e. good spelling and grammar), adults might not take you seriously.

    BTW, I had a boss who was a college graduate, and she was very intelligent. But she could not spell for crap. That’s why she turned over the job of doing the store newsletter to me.

    And remember – even Spell Check can’t figure out “there”, “their” and “they’re” for you, and “your” and “you’re”. That’s something taught in grade school, I believe.

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  33. Jim in Fla said on February 7, 2007 at 4:33 pm

    Welcome to the real world, my young friends. You’re going deal with this “unfairness” for the next 70 years or more.

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  34. LA mary said on February 7, 2007 at 5:25 pm

    SL
    On job interviews they do judge you on your spelling. I work in human resources. Trust me. We toss applications and resumes if they are full of misspellings and grammatical errors. If someone isn’t going to take the time to present themselves well on paper, why would I bother interviewing them?

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  35. Marcia said on February 7, 2007 at 5:44 pm

    Don’t worry, Danny, I already hated you.

    Dear God, get those kids the hell back in school before my head explodes reading those comments. What the hell’s an atrical, anyway?

    The waiting at the bus stop complaint kills me. I mean, make the kids do that, and it’s tragically unfair.

    Cancel school, though, and they’re all outside playing hockey and sledding. Someone, please, explain the difference.

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  36. Dorothy said on February 7, 2007 at 6:00 pm

    Marcia I almost did a spit take on my computer screen and keyboard after reading your last comment!

    These kids are in for a very rude awakening if they think this stuff doesn’t matter at job interviews. I feel kinda sad about it, honestly.

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  37. LA mary said on February 7, 2007 at 6:03 pm

    I don’t know about the rest of you, but some of the best times I’ve had in my life were in less than perfectly comfortable situations. I remember skating on a lake in the Rockies, no one there except our little group of friends, skating until the sun started to set, and then watching everything go gold and pink. We were freezing, but it was so wonderful. Comfort can be overrated.

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  38. Danny said on February 7, 2007 at 6:14 pm

    You guys are so right. Some of my fondest memories were snow days. My mom and I would be at breakfast with the radio tuned to KCBM (Baltimore). I would listen intently for school closings. If B’more county was closed, I gulped the rest of breakfast, asked to be excused, got something warm on and was on my way. Outside, sleigh riding and skating and throwing snowballs. My shadow did not darken the threshold the rest of that day.

    And if it was a a foot or more of snow and school was likely out for several days, we were usually out at night too.

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  39. nancy said on February 7, 2007 at 6:21 pm

    I knew if I waited long enough, this thread would start to rock.

    Marcia, I puzzled over “atrical” for a while, too. LAMary figured it out: atrical = article.

    “The outdoors is good for children. It gives them pink cheeks and healthy appetites.” — Benjamin Spock, M.D.

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  40. Dorothy said on February 7, 2007 at 6:21 pm

    I just love the fact that Danny said he “asked to be excused”!!

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  41. Kirk said on February 7, 2007 at 6:35 pm

    he was trained to spell correctly AND be polite — and he liked it!

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  42. Marcia said on February 7, 2007 at 7:04 pm

    Nance, I actually figured that out, but was still so appalled by it that I commented anyway.

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  43. Danny said on February 7, 2007 at 7:30 pm

    Why, thank you, Dorothy!

    And Kirk, not sure if you ever caught Dana Carvey’s Grumpy Old Man sketches, but some of this thread has brought that to my mind.

    “Why you young whipper-sanppers! Back in my day we didn’t have any of these fancy-schmancy computers and this world wide web thing-a-ma-bob. We just held and etch-a-sketch in one hand and put a finger from the other hand in an electrical socket and whatever came out on the etch-a-sketch from our spastic involuntary convulsions was the web page we were browsing at that moment.

    “Sure, our hair was singed and it smelled like burning flesh, but that’s the way WE LIKED IT! YEAH!”

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  44. Danny said on February 7, 2007 at 7:32 pm

    Also reminds me that I told my nephews that remote control for a TV used to be laying on your back and switching the knob with your toes.

    …or threatening your younger sibling until they changed the channel for you.

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  45. Kirk said on February 7, 2007 at 7:41 pm

    danny, that’s exactly what i was thinking about.

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  46. Joe Kobiela said on February 7, 2007 at 8:58 pm

    Spelling not important??? Try telling that to a certain v-president.

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  47. Sarah said on February 7, 2007 at 10:43 pm

    I am a Student at south lyon high school. when i heard that other schools were closed i didnt understand why. its to cold are you kidding. then i relized that it is really to cold kay students have to walk to school and stand at the bus stop forever sometimes. our pricibles are saying that the buses were on time and ready to go however many friends i talked to said they waited 25 before their bus actually came. i know we are kinda acting like babies about what about the younger students in the other schools it is just too cold.

    other thing i would like to point out is what about a fire. as many people know our school is known for starting fires. last year we stood outside for about an hour because our school caught on fire lucky it wasnt this cold out. the day of the protest there was a fire, yeah someone started it and it was way to extreme but i wouldnt be suprised if a few people get fired this year. you cant keep students in a school where there is a fire and yeah i keep hearing you just need a hat and groves but do you really think we have time to go to our lockers to get those things. and what about if your in gym and swiming that day how could you possible go outside no not at all.

    basically our school never calls off. last year every school in our area was closed but south lyon and one teacher and myself both got in a car actident due to weather. winter is almost over they could have gave us the day off when everyone else was off.

    one more thing i would like to say…if it was a detriot school who was the other one open i bet there would be a little more than a peaceful protest going on.

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  48. Bob said on February 8, 2007 at 7:41 am

    You old fuddy-duddies are placing unrealistic amounts of emphasis on verbal communication skills.

    Even an inarticulate, semiliterate cracker faces no limits. Have you not paid attention to any White House press conferences?

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  49. Dorothy said on February 8, 2007 at 7:47 am

    Oh Sarah, Sarah, Sarah….

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  50. John said on February 8, 2007 at 8:55 am

    Just remember these are the citizens who will be paying into Social Security to support our dead asses.

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  51. Colleen said on February 8, 2007 at 9:11 am

    Good Lord. Does this school not have any English teachers?

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  52. Marcia said on February 8, 2007 at 9:30 am

    Bang. Bang. Bang.

    No, not gunshots. Merely the sound of my head hitting the desk.

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  53. Beth said on February 8, 2007 at 9:30 am

    Perhaps we can attribute this lack concern for spelling and grammar on the increased use of text messaging:

    http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070207/ap_on_hi_te/techbit_im_speak_2

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  54. Danny said on February 8, 2007 at 11:09 am

    Wow, up until now, I’ve been able to maintain a gentle, patient, pedagogical outlook, but each new post from these “students” is a baser and more horrifying mutilation of the English language than the last.

    Sarah, SL High Student, Onderay, Oooster465: Have a care. Stay in school and do some actual studying. I mean, the world needs ditch diggers and hamburger flippers too, but you don’t have to be one if you don’t want to.

    Oh, and you may want to stay OFF the computer and google and pick up a book. I don’t care if one of you says you read incessantly. You have NO basic command of English.

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  55. Kirk said on February 8, 2007 at 11:12 am

    good advice, danny. those posts are disconcerting

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  56. brian stouder said on February 8, 2007 at 12:11 pm

    After “Sarah”‘s post, Mark H’s theory appeals to me.

    I think ‘Sarah’ is a ringer – especially with the blast of semi-racism at the end of the post

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  57. Kirk said on February 8, 2007 at 12:29 pm

    i thought the same thing, especially when i saw “pricibles.”

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  58. Mark said on February 11, 2008 at 5:05 pm

    Wah wah wah!!! Little pansies can’t take the cold? Take that silver spoon out of your mouth and suck it up. Life is much harder than windchill.

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