Only on MN ...

[cathf]

Not a TAAT as such, but inspired by a response on a thread running at the moment.
It got me thinking of the differences between MN and my RL friends and acquaintances, and things that are accepted wisdom on MN that no-one I know in real life cares about at all.
I will start off:

1. Little girls who wear pink clothing, and gendered clothing in general;
2. Scented sanitary towels;
3. Fruit Shoots
4. People cuddling/touching/talking to your child;

The amount of threads and angst over these topics is staggering, yet no-one I know would even think any of the above were worth discussing, never mind getting worked up about. Anymore?

The Christmas present threads are hysterical. Descending into farce with posters trying to compete over how un-materialistic they are.

"We don't give our dc gifts, we take them to homeless shelters on Christmas morning so they understand the true meaning etc"

Ptolemy and Cressida must love going back to school in January and feeling smug they aren't in possession of a PS4 and a Radley tote bag like the rest of their year.

I do get very, very confused about how the competitive anti-materialistic sentiment (weddings, gifts etc) can sit so well alongside the obsession with class markers.

MN also taught me that a lot of people consider it 'common' to buy a birthday card designed for a specific relative. So no 'Happy birthday to a wonderful mother/son/granddad' or whatever. I bet these people are real fun at parties.

My Mum was of this ilk so when she received a birthday card from her brother on the other side of the world to the effect of "Happy birthday to my dear sister across the sea" she visibly shuddered (but still put it on display).

She was excellent fun at parties though.

Also everyone is size 8 or 10 post baby and never has a take away or mc Donald’s !!

Actually, to be fair, I think people have been very very honest and open about what pregnancy and labour/C sections did to their bodies.

My Mum was of this ilk so when she received a birthday card from her brother on the other side of the world to the effect of "Happy birthday to my dear sister across the sea" she visibly shuddered (but still put it on display). She was excellent fun at parties though.

I bet. She wouldn't be hard to shock, that's for sure.

I'd never heard of scented sanitary towels before! I can imagine them causing gross itchiness and the smell mixed with menstruation would be gross.

Who would let someone they don't know kiss and cuddle their child? I doubt the child would like it, it's bad enough with relatives.

Everything else OK.

People IRL get annoyed when non-parents use parent and child parking spaces.

On MN you are scoffed at for even thinking about using a P&C space, even if you have 4 toddlers and newborn twins, because there may or may not be someone who has something wrong with their foot (despite leaping out of a sports car and running into Tesco in high heels) who apparently needs it more than you.

Oh and people IRL expect family to come round when they've just had a baby. On MN you have to wait 4 months, write a dissertation on why MIL and FIL should be in Precious's life and the baby isn't exposed to the elements until they are pre-School age

I have another one.
The general snootiness about perfumed anything at all.
We have seen sanitary towels covered on this thread, and I read another one over the weekend when the usr of fabric conditioner was discussed , along with lots of faces as to why people use it.
Is it a - trigger warning - class indicator? Am I common because I like things to smell nice?
Obviously the exception is Jo Malone or Diptyque candles.

I use - - Lenor Unstoppables.

Yes OP I've noticed that!!

There's also snobbery and faux confusion around the use of tumble dryers. I've sent posters swear that, even after 47 days of continuous torrential rain, using a tumble dryer hasn't even occurred to them, and what do people even need tumble dryers for (to dry things, dummy)?!

I use - shock - Lenor Unstoppables

Oh, I do like my laundry to announce itself.

I have another one!

IRL if you find out someone is sending their child to private school, you say "good for you" and generally think this is a good thing. On MN private school parents are shot down in flames for disadvantaging children other than their own!

The clean-freakery. Particularly towels - having to wash them after one or two uses. Oh, and the poster who said she couldn't possibly use a towel her do had used, since it would have his dead skin cells on it.

How do such people ever manage to do anything as messy as have sex? Do they have to give his willy a good going-over with Dettol and a Brillo pad first?

There's also snobbery and faux confusion around the use of tumble dryers.

Yes. Amazed at how some posters seem to equate tumble dryers as the height of indulgent, excessive hedonism and environmental vandalism (as they type furiously from the airport departure lounge)

I am having a real chuckle with some of these replies.
Only on MN is the answer to just about everything a Dh might do 'wrong' 'just book yourself a spa day'. If dh ever dared a spa day to me then I'd KNOW something was seriously wrong ' I can't imagine anything worse and what's more, Dh, and pretty much Most of my family are very well aware of that.
I reckon that half the people who post with such incredulity about other's choices/lifestyles, are no different to the ones they ridicule with such ease. After all, we pretty much have to take what they claim about themselves at face value, we have to way to prove/disprove what they say. I bet they all demand huge ostentatious presents at Christmas and birthdays and would be devastated if they didn't get something on Mother's Day, even if it is chosen and purchased by dh/dp because the baby is too young to do it themselves.

bananasandwicheseveryday
I agree with the 'oh it wouldn't cross my mind to have a cup of tea made for me on mother's day, as my 7 month old can't use a kettle and i am not my husband's mother's comments.

I also like threads where the OP mentions something that most people might side eye or think wasn't right or might judge and then 80% of posters turn up claiming that 'I'd rather do X than be a judgey fucker.'

E.g. AIBU to think that groups of 13/14 year olds shouldn't be hanging around the shops drinking and being antisocial? It also concerns me that some of the girls on the estate are dressed provocatively and there's lots of men in their late teens and early 20s in cars trying to hook up with them. It makes me feel uncomfortable that they're potential at risk from predatory men. Is it worth logging it witj the police or is there nothing they can do?

Replies: OMG OP. Nice piece of victim blaming there. Who are you to decide clothing is provocative? If the girls want to dress how they want then that's their choice. You're saying if a girl gets raped then it's her fault. Bore off! I can't believe you'd call the police because a girl dares to show a bit of cleavage. Quick call the 1800s I can see some ankles. There's so much internalized misogyny on this thread.

Reality - The posters would never let their teens dress provocatively or hang around drunk at night but from the comfort of their nice little bubble they can focus on creating a debate about clothing choices whilst ignoring the very real fact that girls who engage in such activities are usually more vulnerable, often have lack of stability at home and are by far more at risk of child sexual exploitation. But you know, posters like to make it a clothing debate about empowerment because they can prove how 'right on' they are.

To be fair, I have actually never seen anyone seriously suggest a spa day when their husband is being a dick, though I do see posters suggesting that the OP fucks off out of the house and leaves him to it.

The posters would never let their teens dress provocatively or hang around drunk at night but from the comfort of their nice little bubble they can focus on creating a debate about clothing choices whilst ignoring the very real fact that girls who engage in such activities are usually more vulnerable, often have lack of stability at home and are by far more at risk of child sexual exploitation. But you know, posters like to make it a clothing debate about empowerment because they can prove how 'right on' they are. Very well put. This is a lighthearted thread so I won't derail it with darker thoughts.

Only on MN are housewives so possessive of their toilets that they don't allow tradesmen/workmen/husbands/children to use them, in case they accidentally shit nuclear waste. Such users must walk to the nearby public toilets, because public toilets are everywhere, innit.

Only on MN are housewives so possessive of their toilets that they don't allow tradesmen/workmen/husbands/children to use them, in case they accidentally shit nuclear waste. Such users must walk to the nearby public toilets, because public toilets are everywhere, innit.

I can't believe I forgot about this one!

Except that there are also posters who think it is wrong to shit in public toilets as well and you should instead make yourself sick, cramped and constipated by holding it in until you get home. I once had an exchange with one of these. Eventually I asked, "What are toilets for?" and she replied, I kid you not, "Not for shitting!"

Not to mention the fucking 'hoverers'. Every time I go into a ladies' toilet and see it completely covered in piss, I know it was one of you dolts. It's a toilet seat. What are you so terrified of? Do you think people actually place their urinal openings or anuses on the toilet seat to use it?

I would tell people just to get a toilet brush and some air freshener, but of course we all know what MN thinks about those!

In real life, people understand that other people have different lives/circumstances. On MN a baffling number of posters simply can’t fathom that not everyone lives the same kind of life. I’m thinking particularly of the driver vs non-driver and the door answering threads:

Poster 1: ‘I don’t drive; I live in central London in walking distance of three Tube lines, plus I’ve got nowhere to park a car’.

Poster 2: ‘How can anyone not drive? My village is 50 miles from the nearest train station and we only get one bus a decade! If I didn’t drive I’d be housebound!’

P1: ‘I don’t answer the door if I’m not expecting someone. This flat used to belong to a drug dealer - anyone banging on the door after 9 is probably high and looking to score. I’ve got a toddler; I don’t want her around people like that’.

P2: ‘Why wouldn’t you answer the door?! It might be a neighbour popping by with some lovely cake!’

I’ve actually seen that last post, by the way. I swear to God, ‘lovely cake’. Did they really have to specify? Are they worried we might think it’s shit cake?

Just reading this thread- you lot gave me some hope that common sense is still alive and out there, thank you 😊

derxa
Yes. I wasn't meaning to be too dark, but felt it somewhat highlighted the laughable attempts to be 'right on'

E.g. there isn't anything wrong with a 10 year old wearing fishnets and a short skirt to a school disco. If you see anything wrong with that then that proves how much you're living in the 1700s. Why should girls change to appease men?