To think there is an appalling lack of comprehension on these boards?

[DijfunvKd]

Honestly, the lack of basic comprehension skills from grown adults is mind blowing when you read the AIBU board.

OP 'I have £100 left until Monday. All my bills are paid, plenty of food in, AIBU to splash out on a new dress?'

Replies 'YABU to spend so flippantly when you can't feed your children'.

'£100 isn't very much, OP. Will you be able to afford your bills if you buy a new dress?'

Or

OP 'I am going to a wedding in June and staying in an Air b&b. I am single and don't have any children. My brother is also staying in the air b&b, along with his wife and two children. There is no one else staying with us. He wants to split the cost of the accommodation and food 50/50. I think I should pay less. AIBU?'

Responses - 'YABU. Presumably your husband and kids will be staying too'

'Who is staying in the house OP? YABU if you are also bringing your kids.'

'When you have children OP you will understand why your brother doesn't want to leave them at home just to go to a party.'

Why can't people read and understand what the OP is saying without having to make up and invent half the story, or alternatively ask things which are quite blatantly obviously written in the OP?

AIBU?

I do agree with you, though, OP - it's very irritating indeed.

Some of the replies are very funny.

But yes, I think there are a lot of people who only read the title or maybe opening sentence and then comment. It's more understandable when people miss things in a long thread and I am sure most people occasionally get the wrong end of the stick, but some errors could only be the result of not actually reading the OP.

I joined Mn about 12 years ago.
People used to READ the Op AND the replies, then post their comment.

Around 5 years ago people just seemed to read the OP, now people can’t be arsed to even do that!

I think it’s because people are used to scolding through SM and have lost the ability to concentrate for longer than 30 seconds.

Leave the brother and pay off your bills with the £100, you wastrel

It's bad when an influential poster (for good or bad reasons!) reads something wrong or doesn't pay attention and then suddenly their made up version becomes the 'truth'

ie

OP: My ex DP cheated on me so now I'm wary of my new DP cheating one me

Poster: Why are you with a man who cheats on you! You deserve better, you must have depression/anxiety, you should seek help to deal with your lack of confidence

Other posters: yeah I agree I couldn't forgive a cheater
Once a cheater always a cheater
LTBLTBLTBLTB
etc etc etc

Its just mumsnet.....a 2 bit forum to waste a bit of time. Not an exam!

op..can't quite comprehend your username though

I have to go back and read the OP sometimes because a post is so at odds with what I thought the OP said.

@LizzieSiddal

I joined Mn about 12 years ago. People used to READ the Op AND the replies, then post their comment.

Around 5 years ago people just seemed to read the OP, now people can’t be arsed to even do that!

I think it’s because people are used to scolding through SM and have lost the ability to concentrate for longer than 30 seconds.

yes but this place had much less traffic back then. Nowadays you think you are at the end of a thread and can post a replyo,nly to find in the time it took 10 other people have also posted

Yesterday's mother of the groom thread in Style & Beauty was ridiculous. The OP was unsure about dresses and was asking for advice, her very first post stated it was a gay wedding and there will be no bride. There were multiple replies saying 'you can't upstage the bride with that dress!'. The OP must have come back at least 3 times to say there was no bride to be followed by more replies of 'but it will look like you're the bride!' The OP comes back again to say the dress has been chosen and paid for. Then there were replies going on about 'I prefer the other one' 'I think you should get the red one'. OP comes back again, 'the dress is paid for'. The replies then were 'that dress is hideous'.

Another one today. OP clearly stated her DS was 3 and she was thinking ahead to when he starts school. It was a question about unauthorised absence when he reaches the qualify age. Cue loads of responses about how she can't be fined as DS is only 3 etc etc. Read the post people!

@LizzieSiddal

I joined Mn about 12 years ago. People used to READ the Op AND the replies, then post their comment.

Around 5 years ago people just seemed to read the OP, now people can’t be arsed to even do that!

I think it’s because people are used to scolding through SM and have lost the ability to concentrate for longer than 30 seconds.

Ding Dong! People’s attention spans are shrinking faster than the value of the £ 😭

You knew when you married him he had children soYABU

Cancel the cheque

AutomaticMoon

"Ding Dong! People’s attention spans are shrinking faster than the value of the"

At a work seminar about 8 years ago, I was told to work based on an attention span of 7 seconds for ads. I'm assuming that's why you can skip Youtube ads after 5 seconds and also why people talk so fast.

Oh look, the £ vanished already 😂

I had this on one of my posts, it was so frustrating having to rewrite the same response.

It went something like this:

Me: I blocked my neighbour in as they parked on my drive AIBU??
Posters: ‘You don’t own the road outside your house’ ‘why don’t you block them in’ ‘are you sure you own the car park space and it isn’t shared by the street’

In the end I gave up and left it to the equally frustrated posters who spelt it out for me

Last night's best one.
Within 20 words had said mother of groom, gay wedding, can I wear this?
So many posts saying omg what about the bride.

Twenty words. I think she even said "no bride, it's a gay wedding "

@EishetChayil

Since the average reading age in the UK is 9, it's not surprising that a lot of posters have lower comprehension skills.

But with low reading comprehension usually comes limited language skills, poor expression, bad spelling etc. The responses given by the posters are often very well written and erudite and not that of someone with a reading age of a young child - they just bear no relevance to the actual question that has been asked, because they can't be arsed to red it properly!

OP - YA (SO!) NBU. I have asked the same question before. I thought my (bog standard primary and comp btw) was following a fairly normal curriculum in relation to doing reading comprehension in english for about 11 years, but apparently from reading MN this was a new and avant-garde idea!

I was on a thread before where the OP was literally, a very short post 'please recommend me pink nail varnish, just not x brand.'
There was at least 3 "Have you tried x brand?" or "I would recommend x brand!" How do you manage to read enough of the post to comment but miss the key element???

People sometimes reply to me saying "The OP never said her child wasn't NT" and I end up writing YES SHE BLOODY DID, LINE 3 OF THE OP. And mentally adding "you patronising imbecile".

One yesterday was so blatant, they just said "I apologise for my reply, your title said x".

Leave the brother and pay off your bills with the £100, you wastrel

A new variation on LTB

I liked the recent one about the OP supposed to be going to MADRID for a few days holiday _ someone posted that they should not bother going to Milan but should go to Turin instead!

Its just mumsnet.....a 2 bit forum to waste a bit of time. Not an exam!

That may so but it takes away from the thread when people commenting are even too lazy to read the OP’s responses and it having to be repeated over and over what the OP has said. If people can waste time commenting, they can waste time reading at least the OP’s posts.

it really is annoying. There was one a while back where the OP was asking what the best holidays for newly widowed middle aged women as she just wanted to take some time out for herself. She stated very clearly (I thought), that she did not want to go on a cruise. First reply "Have you thought about a cruise OP?"

LTB, does he have any redeeming features?

If you need an extra £100 to buy a dress you can't afford, take in some ironing.