Saturday, August 13, 2011

The rich and educationally advantaged reply

The subject of this post has replied. Comments to that post are now closed (I have comments sent to moderation for all posts that are more than a couple of weeks old, to cut down on spam), but I published Ms. K's because it's only fair that someone who discovers she's being discussed by a bunch of random people on the internet--in a discussion that will turn up whenever people Google her name--be permitted a public response.

However, further comments to that thread will get deleted. If Ms. K's NYT letter was already a bit of a fish, barrel situation, that barrel is now crammed full. I don't take much pleasure in unequal contests.

5 comments:

Brian W. Ogilvie said...

On rereading my comment on your post, I wondered whether I had been too harsh. Then I read her response. Nope, I wasn't too harsh. I don't wish her ill, but I hope that with age comes some softening of the sharp edges. Perhaps the fact that my father worked his ass off to be the first in his family to go to college, and then spared no effort to open up opportunities for my sister and me, makes me especially sensitive to the claim from privileged youth that they got where they are entirely on their own merits. I wouldn't be where I am without my dad, and I am grateful for that.

Flavia said...

Brian:

I feel exactly the same way. Her utter cluelessness makes me feel rather sorry for her, and I had misgivings from the beginning about identifying her by name, which is something I probably wouldn't do if I could do it over (though it's true that she's the one who made herself a public figure by writing into the NYT). But the mean-spiritedness and self-righteousness that go along with that cluelessness even out the balance.

thefrogprincess said...

Well, she sent me a somewhat bitter, private email via my blog, which just makes me wonder why this is such a big deal for her. I forgot about the whole thing weeks ago.

Flavia said...

FP: !!!!!

This confirms many of my suspicions.

Historiann said...

I feel utterly overlooked.