Reply #34: The problem is the post is itself the context for many.

[Gormy Cuss]

We don't have visual or aural cues to understand the underlying issues and most of us don't know the back stories of each poster. There's also an unfortunate tendency to write about personal issues in the shorthand that we'd use with those who know us well. If my friend called me up and said simply "my mother's such a bitch!" I'd know what she meant. If a stranger told me that her mother was a bitch over the backyard/front yard thing, I'd think the stranger was probably the one with the problem, not her mother. I wouldn't say anything however because I wouldn't know enough to be sure.

I like XemaSab's posts and think that I would like her IRL, but the OP does come across poorly -- had there been a small preface admitting that the REAL issue isn't Fritos but frustration with feeling stuck back under her mother's control, I doubt that most others would have tried to take her to task for her characterization. Fortunately, there are many others here who DO have a longer context with XS and they have jumped in to defend her.