Monday, January 10, 2011

Snark du Jour

I'm never sure if people like this are being facetious or not, but here's a comment that was just posted on my Welcome letter. As is typical with snarkers, this reader is long on criticism and short on what, precisely, he finds offensive or why my "poor" kids will be unable to function in society.

Patrice,

I don't know how I found this blog but I think you and your fans are total nutballs. Your poor kids...how are they ever going to function in society?


Ahhhh - let's hear it for us nutballs.

24 comments:

  1. Always fun to see people who think that social skills are more important than actual knowledge. Especially when you consider that social skills can be picked up outside of government schools.

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  2. Patrice,
    Well, I guess my unsocialized misfit can friend your misfits, and together they can barely eke their way through life. Seriously, people can take time to fire off a snark but not time to educate themselves on a lifestyle different than their own?
    Proud to be rolled in nuts,
    Lisa

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  3. Wait a minute. Isn't there a big push by the leftwing in this country right now to stop the vitriol? So, along comes a critic full of vitriol. Perhaps s/he didn't get the memo.

    Don't let the critics grind you down, Patrice.

    Anonymous Patriot
    USA

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  4. Raising my hand as a proud nutball!

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  5. I remember when I started homeschooling someone commented on my blog telling me I was making a big mistake. They wrote, "I feel sorry for you and I don't even know you". Don't you love how these people think they know what's best for our kids when they know nothing about us?

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  6. LOL 'smarmy jackass', that gave me a good laugh.

    I don't understand these people. Aren't left wingers CONSTANTLY pushing diversity? And yet, when they see it, they have to chime in about how you're wrong because you're different. I don't get it.

    Besides that, have they seen/heard the crap kids are learning? Doing? Saying? Wearing? Your children are smart, capable, self-reliant, talented, presumably well-mannered. What's the problem here?

    I would be willing to bet your kids will be wonderfully successful (yes, I'm including being a wife/mother/good person in my definition of successful).

    Maybe that person will keep their judgment of us in mind when they find themselves in a situation in which having prepped a bit would have come in handy.

    Sorry for the rant, but I mean, what do people expect of you? You guys live in a rural area, you're snowed in frequently, are you supposed to force your girls to ride in the freezing snow to school where they learn nothing important, come home, run errands because you have to go to the grocery store all the time, and zone out until dinner in front of the TV, then argue and complain over hours of homework? Not a pretty picture.

    That jerk got under my skin a bit, sorry.

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  7. Save the Canning JarsJanuary 10, 2011 at 12:48 PM

    My homeschooled children grew up to be outstanding adults. One was the valedictorian of two colleges and now tutors public and private school students in higher math. The other graduated from two colleges with highest honors and is a computer specialist (you'll recognize him when he looks you straight in the eye and firmly shakes your hand. And you'll notice the crisp short hair, properly fitting clothes, and the absence of tattoos and piercings.) Oh, and did I mention that they graduated from college debt free? They are not a drain on society, but rather they are a blessing to this nation.

    It's true...I've added two more conservative, responsible, prepared NUTBALLS to our society!

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  8. I think for some people who have never been exposed to this it is like culture shock. I believe there is a value in talking to them vs dismissing them. I am not claiming that you can change their mind, that may not happen. But I believe if you were to confront someone like this in the same way they confronted you they would only harden their view. After all it's easier then admitting you are wrong. I think all of us when faced with this should try to not be offended, try to focus on natural or at least "understood" calamities like hurricanes, earthquakes and maybe even the great depression. Once their closed mind opens a crack they may begin to understand. I imagine there are a lot of people in our country who have never wanted for anything, spend their life at the mall or watching TV and have never in their life imagined it could happen here. One last point, I would never suggest you or anyone carry on an extended conversation with someone who prefers confrontation and name calling to talking. So my choice is to respond with calmness and make a minor point or two and if the other person chooses to be nice that's great and if they don't I simply don't discuss it with them anymore.

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  9. I'm proud to be a nutball!!!

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  10. I worked hard to be a nutball, LOL.....

    It never fails to amaze me how some people think their way is superior, enough to sit down and write a letter to make themselves feel smarter/better/whatever by attempting to "talk down" to someone else.....

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  11. I would lay good money on the odds that your kids are much more civil and socialized than this "smarmy" jerk.
    I know plenty of government educated kids that I would not let loose in polite society.
    I have no doubt your children will fair just fine. I do, however have serious doubts that the impolite commenter could survive on their own.

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  12. Wow, where does this person live, have they ever been around children who are being raised in this world, or even better how are they raising their kids ( I doubt they have their own. As a public school teacher I would take your children, Patrice, any time. I know they are respectful, eager to learn, believe in treating everyone equally and strive to be a great AMERICAN citizen. I am so tired of the children these days that cuss out their parents (I've been in meeting where the parents are taking crap from the kids, cops being called because the kids are beating the parents, who dress in appropriate, who are pregnant at pre-teen ages and sexually active at age 10, and who think welfare is how to live and having children from many different partners is a way of life. I feel that this person is just upset that their life isn't what they wanted it to be and feel it's okay to Bully others because they are different, SAD SAD.....Patrice, many of us think you are great parents, have wisdom enough to share things with us and do an awesome job with your kids. This person will one day see the light, this country is going down the pooper and things are seriously going to change, and that change is going to be a different society and many people are going to perish because they can not plant a garden or live without technology etc.... OK off my box and on to better things! :) Prayer go out to this lost person!

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  13. Yes, Patrice. How are your daughters ever going to learn to function in society as brainwashed, illiterate, immoral idiots if you don't force them to attend public schools? As if public schools will teach them how to function in our society! What a laugh! And you live on a FARM! How... backward. And you own GUNS! Tch, tch...

    Children used to have some semblance of decency and respect for others, especially their elders. Every day I see how these so-called "functioning" spoiled brats respond to the way "society" is affecting them. They're rude, discourteous, self-centered, foul-mouthed and barely able to spell their own names, but by golly they know how to use a condom and where to go to get an abortion!

    The person who made such a stupid statement is either a typical lost sheeple who doesn't have a clue, or someone who knows exactly what he/she is doing ("I don't know how I found this blog" my fanny.) In either case, he/she is a thoroughly brainwashed DOPE who really doesn't deserve our attention.

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  14. I was hoping to spread some of the knowledge I have learned in the last year with people that we care about but I realized it was useless. American lives are filled with entertainment and anything that might be useful must be avoided at all cost. I'm over it though. It is time to move on. I just hope none of them come knocking on my door. God says look at the ant. All I see around me is grasshoppers.

    Ouida Gabriel

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  15. Rednecks, nutballs, patriots, Christians, whatever. I would rather be called those names than some other adjectives. Proudly raising our own 2 smart, respectful, hardworking, clothes-fitting, volunteering, gun-toting, fish catching, game hunting, teens.

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  16. Would I be totally wrong to admit that there is a small part of me that wants TSTHTF to see people like that suffer and see how good social skills feed them?

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  17. I have to admit that I too, have had the same desire as the poster above. I have a bad feeling though, that it would not end well. If they are this dismissive and disrespectfull now, there would not be much decorum that would stop them from plowing over others to make sure that their creature comforts were met.

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  18. Hi Patrice,

    Let me preface my comment with, "I do not have children." So, I certainly don't know what it's like to try to raise responsible, respectful kids in today's world. To me, it looks like a very daunting task, at best!

    When I was growing up (and going to public schools), I couldn't stand teenagers, even when I was one! Their crass and immature behavior made me cringe, but there was really no way to avoid being around it in that environment. It is by the grace of God that I made it through those incredibly difficult teenage years in one piece! And, the "socialization" I had going to school and "hanging out" with other kids my age is NOTHING I look back on with fondness, even 25+ years later! I will also say that for most of my childhood years, I lived in a small farming community. So, I am not talking about big city public schools here.

    Fast forward to 2011. Whenever I go to town to do my necessary shopping, I am generally shocked by the kids I see today. If I thought things were bad when I was a teenager, it is far far worse today!

    So, in light of my obvious ignorance about today's teenagers and all of the wonderful social skills they learn being away from their parents for most of their daily lives, would someone please fill me in on what, exactly, is sooo great about today's "typical" (i.e., publicly-schooled) teenagers that every family should "want" their own kids to experience such wonderful "socialization"? Really, I'd like to know.

    Mara :)

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  19. This fellow starts of with a lie. That is the M.O. of any phoney balogny progressive liberal. I know I am giving him more credit than he deserves because I don't think anyone would claim him. He knows where he found this blog. you are dismissed you fake clown. Take a hike!

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  20. I aspire to be a nutball like you someday! As it is, we are nutball-y enough for our friends and family. :)

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  21. It's the whole "socialization" script. People meet our children, who are homeschooled, and comment on how polite and well-spoken they are. Then they say they think kids should be in school with other kids to be "properly socialized." They're saying, "Your kids are so neat! Aren't you worried about them?"

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  22. Oh, this is good. Call me a Payday bar. I'm happy as a clam with all this nutty comraderie. We are going to need official Nutball T-shirts, and a secret handshake, and ...

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  23. You can count me in as one of those "nutballs"

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