Quote from: TanyaG on February 15, 2025, 02:40:18 AMTo lighten this up, because the last thing we should be doing is fighting each other, I think? How about what the name Lotus is supposed to mean... as in Lotus the car maker, whose most famous product is probably the Elan. In the UK it always used to be said it stood for Loads Of Trouble, Usually Serious.

I don't have particularly fond memories of Lotus.  Many years ago, my brother persuaded me to lend him the money to buy a second-hand Lotus Europa.  He was going to pay it back in instalments with interest which would be somewhat higher than I would have gotten in my savings account.  Safety belts were not yet compulsory where we lived and my brother thought that only sissies like me used them.  He totalled the car within a week but was thrown from the car and amazingly received only minor injuries.  He did keep the car badge a souvenir.

He eventually paid me back ... except for the interest.  I felt too sorry for him to raise the subject.

Lol, I used to own a Lotus. An Elise. Very fun little car. You could chuck it around anything and it never lost grip. It's like the British Alfa Romeo. Big dreams, big repair bills. I will always love that little car though. Lotus were always about stripping out as much weight as possible while still making a car. They have done some amazing stuff with electric cars as I understand it.

https://www.carscoops.com/2024/04/lotus-evija-x-becomes-the-third-fastest-car-recorded-around-the-ring-with-a-sub-630-lap-time/

Quote from: MaryT on February 15, 2025, 05:23:06 PMI don't have particularly fond memories of Lotus.

I owned one of the origninal Elans, very second hand. It travelled everywhere leaving a thin haze of blue smoke, which was the next cylinder head regrind's way of telling you it was going to happen sooner than you wished. I sold it on to someone I warned about  oversteer in the wet and they left it backward up a tree a week after they bought it! But it was serious fun as long as you shut your eyes to the expense.

My first car was a VW squareback I bought for $100 dollars. The muffler was shot(but sounded like a hot car) and drivers side door was ripped off its hinges. 

The girl I had recently met showed up for our second date while my car was up on ramps and I was under it trying to line up the *%%#%~>¥£€ German fine machined threads of the muffler assembly.

Next thing I knew, the girl had crawled under the car and held the muffler in place while I bolted it together.

I later married her and we are still together.

You knew she was a keeper then!! That square back would be worth a few $ now!!

Davina, when the Squareback died two years later, I sold the various parts off of it and made more money than what I paid or put into it. I saved the horn button as a souvenir.  I still have it.

I won't buy another Squareback now.  Neither of us would be able to get up from under the car.    

It was a neat little car.  Reminded me of the Morris Minor.

Have worked on loads of type3s (thats what it is) and I could assemble a Morris minor from a pile of bits!

So I should have married you?🤪😁

No I would do your head in!! (maybe )

That may be true Davina but we would have one helluva garage!😁👍

Quote from: Emma1017 on February 18, 2025, 05:39:25 PMThat may be true Davina but we would have one helluva garage!😁👍

With cars AND robots! 

God, if we ever all got together, the world would tremble...as long as we kept money aside for bail....a helluva party at least!

I wrote this and thought I would share. 


I am a substitute teacher for an LGBTQ-focused high school in my city.

I did four years of teaching early in my career. I missed the personal satisfaction I felt working with kids and knowing that I was doing the right thing. 

Six years ago, gender dysphoria exploded into my life, ending decades of transgender denial. I suddenly experienced the deep pain and loneliness of being transgender. It tore me apart until I was able to find some of my answers with the help of therapy and new friends.

At the same time, I became aware of the growing transgender bigotry and hate in the world. 

It made me very angry.

That's when I started writing. It provided me with an outlet and a community that allowed me to connect with others who were transgender and with cisgender friends who were looking to understand. 

As I learned more about gender dysphoria and being transgender, I also saw the tragedy of how transgender children and their families were being mistreated in communities around the country.

I wanted to do something to help.

I thought that I could be more supportive going back to teaching. I applied and was hired as a substitute high school teacher for a school focused on LGBTQ students who have experienced problems at their prior schools because of their identities. My regular job was very supportive and allowed me to be away from the job a few days a month to teach. 

It was a great decision and I love every moment I am with the kids.
 
There is a typical mix of teenagers, except they are all LGBTQ, which brings a whole new dimension to working with kids.

There is the classic teacher and student interaction, a very respectful arm-distance relationship combined with a comfortable familiarity -  but they also have additional baggage. For example, you need to ask them their preferred pronouns. 

Never guess!

You can't take a chance and get it wrong. Since I take attendance in every class, I see the name they identify with, regardless of how they dress or what they wear.

The first day I spoke to a very cute girl but quickly found out I was talking to Max. Was Max a lesbian or a transgender female? A fair question, because the classes have both, but not a question I felt I could ask. 

Sitting next to Max was Amanda. Was she a girly gay male or a transgender female? It is better when they tell you. 

Behind them was Dan, who told me he was a transgender male. He complained to me weeks later that he was on testosterone, which was why he had bad facial acne.

In the back of the room was a cluster of female students, lesbian and transgender. Each had a lot of face piercings and multicolored hairstyles. Regardless of their fashion choices, they were all respectful. I noticed that they each engaged with other, quieter classmates in a wonderfully supportive way.

There are no bullies in this school.

Most have an exuberance that they share when they get to know you better. You have to earn their trust first. Some have walls of anger that are so thick that I know that I will probably never reach them in the short time I am around them. 

The group that is the most painful are the ones who are so traumatized that they never look at you and never react or even speak. When you do get their attention, you can see the pain and anxiety in their eyes. The school principal advised me to gently include them in the class and be supportive but don't push them at all. The school has staff therapists on site whom students  can see at any time during the school day.  They make regular use of the opportunity, which is great to see.

What I have noticed about the students is how much they don't respond to the current LGBTQ political environment. Maybe it's because they are isolated by attending an LGBTQ school that protects them and living in a city that supports them. Or, maybe they are just typical kids and have other things on their minds.

National politics is alien to their daily lives, but they are not immune from the reality of being LGBTQ. 

They may not be living on the gender frontline in states that are restricting medical and personal support for transgender children, but some live in shelters, some once lived on the street, and some are dealing with painful rejection at home or the old school they attended. 

The real challenge for them is just getting through every day.

I am glad that they are going to school and have an opportunity to be kids. I wish so many other kids in this country had the same chance instead of being kicked around by politicians hungry for votes and school committees guided by gender bigotry.

I can't stop hoping for their future but I can at least be there for their present.


I hope this was worth reading.

Quote from: Emma1017 on February 18, 2025, 07:41:53 PMThe first day I spoke to a very cute girl but quickly found out I was talking to Max. Was Max a lesbian or a transgender female? A fair question, because the classes have both, but not a question I felt I could ask. 

What a wonderful post that was! One of the things that is hard to walk away from, because we are steeped in it from childhood, is the tendency to gender people. Why do we do it? I guess because it lets us engage the scripts we have for, 'I respond to women like this and men like that,' but wouldn't it be awesome if the human race just had a single, 'this is a person' script instead? Then we wouldn't trigger our learned expectations of masculinity or femininity and that wouldn't cascade dependent scripts about sexuality.

And all of the issues we and everyone else faces would slowly fade away. That would be a thing, eh? But schools like the one you teach at are the beginning of a move that way, perhaps.

I am sure with your encouragement they will blossom .

Tanya, there is no escaping our need to assign a gender.  It is deeply embedded in our DNA but we have the intellectual capacity to understand that gender is not binary, a fact that escapes the majority of the world.

Davina thank you for that very nice compliment.  I just hope that I do nothing to hurt them further than they have already.

Emma, thank you for writing that. As always you use your massive oratory and literary gift to really hit home.

Those kids are blessed to have you giving them part of yourself. They are forgotten these days. Pushed aside in the war of terms and terminology. All they want is to be, and express themselves in a world which seems to be more and more restrictive day-to-day.

Thank whatever deity you want to pray to that they have you in their life. To steer them in the right direction, even if they never reach port. You are an inspiration. And my friend. I count myself massively lucky.

Sephirah, as always, that is a very nice thing to say. I really appreciate it. I count myself very lucky to have your friendship as well.

I'm glad to help the students but I am definitely not Mr. Chips.  These kids have their own trajectory. I am just reducing some of their daily friction.

@Emma1017


Emma,

Did you get some kind of alert because I used the @ in this message?


Chrissy

Have a terrific weekend Emma!

Chrissy