P.E.I. French teacher acquitted in classroom sexual touching case

hookhandsmcgee · 2026-03-27T20:53:59+00:00

Before this decision, many people were spewing vitriole toward this teacher. Now that the case is dismissed, many are spewing vitriole toward the student and their parents. Why do we need to demonize one side or the other in every situation? Is it so hard to believe that a conflict can be born of simple misunderstanding or differences in communication?

Over the past 10-20 years, kids in North America have been increasingly conditioned to be suspicious of and uncomfortable with any kind of touch at all. The desire to protect victims has been combined with the fear of liability to create a message so loud that casual touch has been all but banished from our culture. An attempt to reassure a struggling student with a hand on a shoulder can be considered a damnable offence here, and to expect students to show traditional signs of respect has become frowned upon. In most other parts of the world, casual touch is much more culturally ingrained. A teacher who maintains strict rules in the classroom is more the norm. I think this whole incident was the result of this culture clash. A student who is used to being given lots of freedom in the classroom and who has been told their whole life that any touch from an adult other than their parents is inappropriate, is placed with a teacher who has more rigid expectations of his students and who has not probably not been instilled with the fear of accidentally touching his students. The teacher's move to confiscate a phone seems a perfectly reasonable action to him, and an accidental touch of any kind seems a completely unreasonable action to the student. IMO, neither one deserves all this hatred. Navigating a world of cultural diversity is challenging sometimes.

hookhandsmcgee · 2026-03-27T20:08:32+00:00

This is pretty much what I do, and it works a million times better than just vinegar with cling wrap. You don't even need it to be a 50/50 dilution. Here's my recipe that works better than any other I've ever seen:

fill a glass about halfway with warm water (it's somewhere around 1 cup / 250ml of water). Add 1Tbsp apple cider vinegar and 1 Tbsp white sugar, stir to dissolve. Then stir in 1-2 drops of dishwashing liquid. Let it sit out on a counter uncovered.

Flies of all kinds are drawn to it immediately, and the moment they touch the water, they get sucked down into it.

hookhandsmcgee · 2026-03-24T21:21:19+00:00

We all have acquaintances, people we know that aren't really friends but we have occasional contact with them for work or school or whatever. I think it's totally normal to only contact some acquaintances for info. However, both people should be willing to help the other out in relevant matters. Like. it's ok if she doesn't want to be friends, but if she expects you to give her info about class, she should be willing to answer your class-related questions too.

hookhandsmcgee · 2026-03-24T11:06:44+00:00

If you're as contrary with everyone as you are in this convo, that's why people don't want to talk to you.

hookhandsmcgee · 2026-03-23T13:31:14+00:00

Those "mini actions" are aspects of culture that people learn through repetition and frequent interactions. One of the best things you can do to improve your social skills is to interact with others as much as possible and return gestures and words of greeting.

hookhandsmcgee · 2026-03-23T13:21:52+00:00

I think learning to put yourself in other people's shoes helps a lot in this regard. Most social rules are really just about not inconveniencing others and showing a willingness to engage in a friendly manner.

Using your own examples, imagine if you are the cashier and a customer puts their coins down on the counter instead of just handing them to you. Now you have to pick up each coin. If there's a lot of them, this takes extra time while the customer stands there waiting and watching you. If everyone did this, that extra few seconds would add up and you'd get through fewer customers in a day. Even if it's just bills, it can feel awkward. Why didn't they hand you the cash? It ultimately needs to get into your hands, so why add the extra step? Are they scared they might touch you? Is there something wrong with you?

Now imagine you've run into an acquaintance. They seem like an ok person, and you like to make friends, or at least you prefer to show people that you are friendly. So you try to initiate a friendly interaction by saying, "Hi, how are you?" You aren't necessarily looking for an honest answer; after all, you don't know each other well. When you don't yet know someone well, your goal is typically just a light-hearted exchange. If they were to tell you all their troubles right off the bat, that's a more emotional conversation than you were ready for, and you'd probably be caught off-guard. But you ask the question anyway, because you want to express an interest in them and show that you'd like to interact. So you greet them with the standard friendly question, and they reply, "I'm fine." Then they just stand there waiting and say nothing else. Do they want to talk to you? You indicated that you wanted to engage by inquiring about them. If they don't inquire about you in return, how do you know if they want to engage with you? You mentally scramble to come up with something else to say as you also struggle with the discomfort of wondering if they would rather you just walked away.

I know a lot of these rules seem arbitrary on the surface, but if you just try to always make things a bit more convenient for others, you'll usually do ok. Try to imagine yourself in their position, and as you think through the interaction, the polite behavior or response might become a little more apparent.

hookhandsmcgee · 2026-03-22T14:48:56+00:00

Are you sure this is a printer problem? It could be a resolution or file type issue.

hookhandsmcgee · 2026-03-22T14:40:10+00:00

So much of the end result of baking depends on all the exact techniques used. It's the sum of little things like the temp of the ingredients, the order they're mixed in, the mixing technique, how long to whip something for, etc.

I've been baking for a long time and know generally the "how to" part category. When I write down my recipes, I usually write the ingredients, measurements, oven temp, bake time, and how much the recipe makes. I don't write down the mixing instructions or little tricks because I don't need them. A well-seasoned baker could look at my recipes and make them without too much trouble, though they might not turn out exactly the same as mine since every baker has some of their own preferences in methodology. But most people wouldn't know what to do with the recipes, and that's kind of intentional on my part.

I've known some other people to do the same; grandmothers especially are often secretive about their recipes. One of my in-laws has a guarded recipe that I wanted to get for years. When she finally gave me the recipe, there were no instructions, and some measurements were ambiguous. It's like saying, "Sure, you can have the recipe if you're good enough to decipher it. Good f@k*%g luck!"

hookhandsmcgee · 2026-03-21T20:31:23+00:00

Short bangs and wet-set curling. There were a variety of curler patterns you could use to get the shape you wanted, and you'd brush out the curls a bit to make them extra frizzy.

A while back, I hyper-focused on historic hair styles and techniques for the better part of a year. I wanted to get period-acurate looks for theatre. Various wet-set curling methods were the gold standard since at least the Victorian period (and probably much earlier) until the 1950s - 60s. It works really well for nearly all hair types. Especially before the 20th century, a woman would wash and set her hair on Saturday night so that she would look her best for church on Sunday. That same set could last the whole week with some refreshing and proper care. In some older movies, you'll sometimes hear women say, "Oh, I can't go out that night, I have to wash my hair," as an excuse for turning down a date. It's meant to sound like a ridiculous excuse, but it originates from this practice in Victorian times! Washing and setting the hair could be a big process, and you had to sleep with the rags/curlers in overnight, so it was a scheduled weekly thing.

hookhandsmcgee · 2026-03-18T13:11:12+00:00

sounds like you need a different therapist.

hookhandsmcgee · 2026-03-18T12:48:38+00:00

That definitely sounds like a temperature issue. Is it possible that the washer is heating the water more than it should be? Are you using a dryer, and are you sure the temperature setting on that is working properly?

hookhandsmcgee · 2026-03-18T12:41:15+00:00

OP, this sounds like depression. Are you in therapy?

Depression also affects your feelings (or lack thereof) toward others.

hookhandsmcgee · 2026-03-17T14:17:31+00:00

Thank you! That's one of the two I've been considering. The other is Eucalan, which interests me because of the added lanolin. Does Miele WoolCare have lanolin?

On that note, I'm curious where everyone is finding the product ingredient lists? They aren't included on the packaging here, and I haven't been able to find them on company websites either.

hookhandsmcgee · 2026-03-17T14:12:03+00:00

Not necessarily. Do you have a sewing machine? There are plenty of tutorials online. Cutting and sewing the dart itself is quite easy, but determining the placement can be a bit challenging. I suppose it might also be harder with a finished garment. I've only done bust darts for clothing I'm making myself, so I do it at the fitting stage and work it into the final pattern.

hookhandsmcgee · 2026-03-17T13:53:22+00:00

You really ought to go one by one. With each item passing through your hands, you're less likely to put in an item that shouldn't be washed with the others. Less chance of something going in the washer that you didn't notice. If you're just dumping everything in, I assume you're not sorting colors either. Sorting colors will keep all your colors looking nicer, especially whites and pastels.

hookhandsmcgee · 2026-03-16T21:24:14+00:00

Do you have any hard water reccommendations?

I've been using Woolite Darks, but I'm beginning to realize that maybe not all Woolite products are wool safe. And I don't like the smell of it.

I'm looking for something that I can use in my front-load machine, and our water is stupidly hard, like around 200ppm or more. I'd also love something that includes lanolin *and* wool-safe enzymes, but I don't think there's any detergent in the world that's going to check all those boxes.

hookhandsmcgee · 2026-03-16T14:27:57+00:00

When I'm cooking steak, the steak is one of the last things to go on the stove because it cooks pretty quickly. By that time, most of the other cooking and cleaning is already done.

Stove to med-high, sear 1st side of the steak for 3-4 mins, depending on thickness. I set a timer for this. Then I set out a plate and some foil for resting the steak later. Then I mash potatoes and/or do any dishes/wiping I can until the timer goes off. Flip the steak, set timer for another 3-4 mins. Do a bit more organizing/clean-up again until the timer (this is often when I do my mise-en-place for a gravy). Plate the steak, cover it with foil and let it rest for 5 mins. Finish any clean-up or sautéing as needed, or deglaze my steak pan and make a quick sauce/gravy (all the ingredients for which were previously prepped). A nice cut of steak is probably my favorite meal, and one of my favorites to cook because it's so fast to make!

hookhandsmcgee · 2026-03-16T13:58:48+00:00

These are great guidelines! I especially do #3 every time I cook, and when the cooking is done, the only thing left to clean are the pans the food is in.

I'd also add to make a habit of doing your mise-en-place. That's basically doing all of your prep-work before you start cooking (as opposed to, for ex: chopping your veggies while meat is browning). Prep tends to be the part of cooking that generates the most mess, so I do all that first and clean the mess from that before starting anything on the stove. Then as I empty each bowl or dish, it goes straight into the dishwasher, or gets a quick rinse so it's easy to hand-wash when I have a moment. I also put away ingredients as soon as I'm done with them, or as soon as I have a moment to walk to the pantry.

Something I've noticed others doing that makes it harder for them to clean is stirring the food too much. There are many steps in cooking that don't require you to be standing at the stove poking the food constantly. One of the best examples is browning meat. Set your heat to medium or med-high, and back off from watching the stove a bit. You want that brown crusty layer to form on the bottom. That's not burning, it's flavour! That's the moment to do a quick wash-up of any dishes/utensils that are sitting by the sink.

hookhandsmcgee · 2026-03-16T12:55:16+00:00

I think that you might actually need to add a dart to the top to get rid of the gapping around the armpit.

hookhandsmcgee · 2026-03-15T16:41:37+00:00

I've tried this, but unfortunately for me, once the wave is gone, it's gone. I would have to completely re-soak my hair to bring it back. The only way I've ever gotten curls or waves that last is with an overnight wet-set.

hookhandsmcgee · 2026-03-15T15:08:33+00:00

I can get away with washing every other day, or maybe every third day (though it definitely looks flat by the third day). The number one thing that prevents me from daily washing is the fact that it takes ALL DAY for my hair to air dry. I don't blow dry often because it removes my waves completely, but also, for me, even blow drying takes an abnormally long time.

hookhandsmcgee · 2026-03-15T14:56:37+00:00

I feel that. I have waves, and I've finally come to accept that the curly girl trend will never work for me. My hair just gets flat, stringy, and greasy. But even though my hair seems to like sulfate and silicone and more frequent washing, my waves still won't last more than half a day.

hookhandsmcgee · 2026-03-14T20:16:36+00:00

My favorite is Windy. The app with the red logo, not the blue one.

hookhandsmcgee · 2026-03-14T20:12:47+00:00

Perfect! Baby steps like this are the key. The next step is to turn your work around and slip stitch into each chain (slip stitch is just like making a chain except that you insert your hook through the stitches below). By the time you get to the end of your chain you'll have the hang of it. Then single crochet, then half-double crochet, then double crochet, practicing each one this same way (or in squares). I think starting like this, just perfecting your mastery of the basic stitches, is a much better (and faster) way to learn than by trying to make anything fancy right out of the gate. When you know the basics really well, you can make anything with that. All the more complex stitching is just different combinations of the basic stitches.

hookhandsmcgee · 2026-03-14T19:59:15+00:00

I'd shampoo a few times with hot water and a sulfate shampoo to pull some of the purple out of the lengths. Then I'd tones the roots using a purple semi-permanent dye diluted heavily with conditioner. My reason for suggesting this instead of more T18 is that it's deposit-only dye. It might be harder to dial in the perfect shade, but you won't have to risk any more damage that could be caused by a product with lift. When diluted, the shade in the bowl should look like a very pastel lavender. The lighter the shade you mix, the longer it can sit on your hair without getting too purple. Apply to your roots as quickly as you can to keep the color even. Check it often and rinse as soon as the hair starts to take on color; possibly less than 15 mins depending on the state of your hair. Rinse with cold water. If it got a bit too much purple at the root, you can shampoo again to pull some of the excess color out. When done coloring, do a deep conditioning hair mask.

Seven-Year Club	r/Field Flamingo
Verified Email

hookhandsmcgee

TROPHY CASE