About those cotton bolls

[cyclonefence]

I was engaged in arguing with a bunch of people yesterday over Hobby Lobby's cotton bolls. I was under the impression--from material posted here--that the bolls in question were in a display window (I've never seen a Hobby Lobby store, so I don't know what kind of windows they have; I know other craft stores don't have small display windows, but as I say from what I read here, the bolls were in a display window), and right up to the end, *nobody* pointed out to me "Hey dummy--it's not about a display window. It's about what they sell in the store."

Now I have an excuse--I was engaged in a solitary drinking game during Trump's UN speech (I don't know how to find the number of the post, but it's titled "A Drinking Game (yes, at 9:30 in the morning)) and I think could be excused for misunderstanding in the first place.

The people who responded to me, though--especially those who were intemperate--never corrected my misconception, although I typed repeatedly about "fucking sticks in the fucking window" and made many other references to the cotton being on public display visible outside the store. I wrote a "for example" about someone displaying primitive art in a living room window, visible from the sidewalk and being unwilling to move it farther inside after a neighbor's complaint. So I think it was pretty clear what I believed the situation to be.

Here's my problem--and it's one I've had before, though not as dramatically evident as in this case: either the responders to my posts did not read the actual words I wrote, or they were under the same misapprehension as I was and believed Hobby Lobby should not remove a display that offended at least one person in a window visible from outside the store.

I am guilty of responding without reading carefully. I think it's easy to do, especially if you've already made up your mind on the topic, and even more especially if you believe the title of the post is the actual nub of the poster's point. (Nub of a point? Interesting)

This is lazy and sloppy, and it truly does a disservice to the group. It is impossible to have exchange of ideas without really understanding what the person you're talking to is saying. I'm going to try hard not to do this in the future. I'm going to force myself to read a post twice before I respond to it.

The other reaction, apparently believing as I did that it was a matter of a display window, is actually pretty amusing to me. I was told more than once that mine was not a popular reaction, that there was "no movement" to redress this wrong--by people who *may* have thought redressing the wrong involved removing the fucking sticks from the fucking window.

[Oneironaut]

1. This whole cotton thing is professional shitposting by the media to get views / clicks.

One ridiculous complaint on Twitter is not worthy of journalists' attention. Of course, the media disagrees.

[tymorial]

2. I have no idea what you are talking about.

[cyclonefence]

4. Thanks for the heads-up

[crazycatlady]

3. The only Hobby Lobby near me

Is an old K-Mart. It has no window displays and the only thing you can see from the outside is orange block letters with the store's name.

(I was in there once looking at pink yarn, but their prices weren't good and I wasn't about to buy from them-- I was curious).

(The other craft stores near me-- AC Moore and Michael's have less square footage than Hobby Lobby, but also don't have window displays. I just don't think that's a thing for strip mall medium box stores).

[snooper2]

5. I don't know what bolls are, but you do know that the drinking game is supposed to end

once the speech is over, right?

[cyclonefence]

6. Wait--what?

[cyberswede]

7. You don't know what cotton bolls are?

The weevils weep.