Skip to main content

What They Say




It’s no secret that I use Twitter as a jumping off point for information about local stories. This one came to me by accident. It began as a simple comment:

Baltimore twitter is a wild place boy.

But then it took an unexpected turn.

This is true. I get involved as well, but let's be real: my county likes to drive around with magnet bumper stickers that read "Choose Civility". City folk treat Howard like it's the Emerald City: far and somewhat mythical.

HoCo: the Emerald City? Hmm...

I often think of Columbia as Stepford.

Now, wait a minute. That’s going a bit far, don’t you think?

I don't think of Howard County as anything remotely mythical or sparkly. I think of Howard County as...like, if TGI Friday's became a whole county.

Lol...damn..exactly!

Ouch. Well, that’s what happens when you are essentially eavesdropping on other people’s conversations, which Twitter allows you to do. And I do find it fascinating to see what people think of us.

I’ve seen so many of those “Choose Civility” bumper stickers in Howard. It’s like a bougier, more selective version of Montgomery County without public transit or anything to do at all.

Excuse me, but I think that the Columbia Association, Howard County Tourism, and the Howard Hughes folks would like a word with you.

There is a lot to do if you mean drinking, eating, or biking.

We have restaurants and pathways. Great.

While I don’t agree with their assessment I have to admit there’s just enough truth in it to make me a bit uncomfortable, You know the feeling:  it’s funny, and you laugh, but you’re wincing a little, 

One humorous note. The opening statement was from a woman commenting on a very specific Baltimore issue that was being debated on Twitter in recent days. All subsequent posts were from men, who turned it into a thread on something else entirely. Go figure.

Now I just have to get that image of T.G,I. Friday’s becoming a whole county out of my head. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Teacher Gifts

Today is the last day of school before the Winter Break. It’s a good time to remember the far-reaching nature of our public school system. You may not have children. You may have sent your children to independent schools. It matters not. You will be impacted one way or another. Yesterday I read a long thread on Facebook about several waves of illness in the schools right now. There’s influenza A and norovirus, I believe. And of course there’s COVID. Apparently in some individual schools the rate of illness is high enough for school admin to notify parents.  When I was little the acceptable holiday gift for a teacher was one of those lovely floral handkerchief squares. (I don’t know what it was for male teachers. They were rare in my elementary years.) These days the range of teacher gifts is wider and I have fond memories of Target gift cards which I have written about before. I think it’s safe to say that giving one’s teacher Influenza, norovirus, or COVID is not the ideal holiday...
1 comment
Read more

They Can Wait

This is not a typical Saturday post. That’s because, in my community, it’s not a typical Saturday.  Oakland Mills High School, after years of deferred repair, needs massive renovation. It’s pretty simple: when you don’t fix a problem it gets bigger. The school system itself said the the OMHS school building was  "no longer conducive to learning" back in 2018.  2018 .  But Thursday the Boad of Education voted to push it out of the lineup of important projects which will be given the go-ahead to proceed soonest.  In my opinion it’s a terrible decision and sets a dangerous precedent. To explain, here’s the advocacy letter I sent in support of Oakland Mills High School. I was rather proud of it. I am writing to ask you to proceed with needed renovation at Oakland Mills High School in the most timely and comprehensive manner humanly possible. I have read the letter sent to you by the Oakland Mills Community Association and I am in complete agreement. You are extremel...
1 comment
Read more

Separate and Unequal

  Remember “Separate but equal”? Remember how that really meant that Black schools languished in  broken-down buildings without adequate heat or toilet facilities, with cast-off, ragged learning materials, underfunded and largely ignored? The Supreme Court struck that down in 1954. The evidence was clear that separate was not equal. Plessy v Ferguson had led to - - no, endorsed - - deeply unequal schooling and opportunities. We tend to think of Brown v Board as being purely about racial integration. It was not.  It was about the logical consequences of segregation. And they were not, not, not equal. The ruling in 1954 didn’t transform public education for non-whites into a land of milk and honey by any means. But it articulated some essential truths in a way that made including everyone a legal precedent which could be relied upon and built upon. It was better than what came before it but it rested upon unsteady ground. It did not necessarily change the hearts or minds ...
1 comment
Read more