5 ms·

The very first sentence: > The studio for what is arguably the world’s most successful online course is tucked into a corner of Barb and Phil Oakley’s basement

The very first sentence: > The studio for what is arguably the world’s most successful online course is tucked into a corner of Barb and Phil Oakley’s basement, a converted TV room that smells faintly of cat urine. I feel embarrassed on the Oakley's behalf. But I'm not a cat owner so maybe a room in one's home smelling (however faintly) of cat urine isn't particularly embarrassing. Am I unreasonable in thinking that the author is an asshole?

pavanred 9y ago
To me that sentence reads as a factual description devoid of judgement. EDIT: I am surprised so many feel strongly about this and it didn't strike to me as insensitive at all. Just makes me realize that being sensitive to others is quite hard, specially while writing for platforms with such diverse set of users. How would one know? :)
- mamon 9y ago
  It might be factual, but the mention of cat urine smell is unnecessary and rude.
- stinkytaco 9y ago
  You're right, but it's a totally irrelevant fact that other people will still judge on.
  - deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]
- i_cant_speel 9y ago
  Would it be okay to point out that he's fat if he was overweight? Pointing out a negative fact unrelated to the topic like this is a rude thing to do.
- droidist2 9y ago
  "Hey, it's true" but it doesn't really add any useful information, it's just mean.
jedberg 9y ago
I think the author is trying to paint a picture of just how unprofessional the setup is, how it's just the corner of a house, etc, but it sure comes off as rude and unnecessary.
- baby 9y ago
  People try to be good writers and they forget that people they're writing about have feelings too.
  - gamad 9y ago
    And the cats! They have feelings.
cholantesh 9y ago
From a brief perusal of the article, there doesn't appear to be much point to the sentence you quote. It's irrelevant at best and, yes, rude at worst. I'm a cat owner; if I or any of my cat owning peers were told our homes smelled, we would be embarrassed.
- pavanred 9y ago
  Honest question. If it really smelt, would you still be offended? I am genuinely curious. I watched Bill Burr stand up comedy routine recently and he touches upon a similar topic. Though its comedy, I thought he made a good point - shame is a valid human emotion, why are we as a society so against feeling it, even when it is justified.
  - glitcher 9y ago
    Define "valid" human emotion. And after feeling shame or embarrassment, if someone then transitions to feeling offended, is that somehow not a valid emotion? I can see Bill Burr's angle - just own up to what's yours, be honest about your own shortcomings and move on with life. But everyone handles negative emotions differently, often in spectacularly unproductive and defensive ways. Which might help explain the abundance of stand-up comedian talent in the world today :P
    - pavanred 9y ago
      I guess I was trying to paraphrase the comedian there, I guess I can just remove the "valid" qualifier and use embarrassed instead of offended, but the point I was trying to make pretty much remains the same. My point, shame has always been useful, at least for me. Feeling ashamed is a sign of knowing I can be doing better, and it generally motivates to do better. Its not easy. But, why do we draw lines that shouldn't be crossed on anything that might make us feel this. You shouldn't call a smelly apartment smelly, because someone might feel embarrassed, even if you are not trying to be a dick. For instance, the author researches and publishes an article about a popular course and the people offering it and gets called an asshole for one sentence without any judgemental qualifiers, ignoring everything else in the article.
seanccox 9y ago
Not condoning the decision: however, as a former journalist/editor, I think the effort was to highlight the contrast between the popularity of their work, and its humble origins. It's a somewhat common approach in the journalistic community and was probably intended to make the Oakleys more relate-able. That clearly misfired with some readers, so I think that means it wasn't an effective use of detail. Still, I don't think the author was actively trying to be a dick about it.
rifung 9y ago
I am a cat owner.. it never would have thought that my home smelling slightly of cat urine was embarrassing. Perhaps the author also didn't think it was? I don't think cat urine smells bad.
- busterarm 9y ago
  A cat owner would say that...
- BinaryIdiot 9y ago
  I'm a cat owner and cat urine smells horrible. Our home does not have the smell of cat pee because we clean up after our cat quite regularly. I don't get it. I would be embarrassed if someone said my home smelled like cat pee.
  - cortesoft 9y ago
    I am a cat owner, and if you have a good sense of smell, you can't really avoid the smell, no matter how often you clean. All homes that have animals have a smell.
    - simcop2387 9y ago
      You can't avoid some smells but the strong ammonia odor of urine is usually easy to avoid if the cats are well trained and the litter is changed/cleaned regularly. I think the most common reason that it smells are cats that are spraying/marking which isn't always something up to the owner.
tdsamardzhiev 9y ago
You're perfectly reasonable. Journalism at its "finest".

pavanred 9y ago

To me that sentence reads as a factual description devoid of judgement. EDIT: I am surprised so many feel strongly about this and it didn't strike to me as insensitive at all. Just makes me realize that being sensitive to others is quite hard, specially while writing for platforms with such diverse set of users. How would one know? :)

mamon 9y ago
It might be factual, but the mention of cat urine smell is unnecessary and rude.
stinkytaco 9y ago
You're right, but it's a totally irrelevant fact that other people will still judge on.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
i_cant_speel 9y ago
Would it be okay to point out that he's fat if he was overweight? Pointing out a negative fact unrelated to the topic like this is a rude thing to do.
droidist2 9y ago
"Hey, it's true" but it doesn't really add any useful information, it's just mean.

jedberg 9y ago

I think the author is trying to paint a picture of just how unprofessional the setup is, how it's just the corner of a house, etc, but it sure comes off as rude and unnecessary.

baby 9y ago
People try to be good writers and they forget that people they're writing about have feelings too.
- gamad 9y ago
  And the cats! They have feelings.

cholantesh 9y ago

From a brief perusal of the article, there doesn't appear to be much point to the sentence you quote. It's irrelevant at best and, yes, rude at worst. I'm a cat owner; if I or any of my cat owning peers were told our homes smelled, we would be embarrassed.

pavanred 9y ago
Honest question. If it really smelt, would you still be offended? I am genuinely curious. I watched Bill Burr stand up comedy routine recently and he touches upon a similar topic. Though its comedy, I thought he made a good point - shame is a valid human emotion, why are we as a society so against feeling it, even when it is justified.
- glitcher 9y ago
  Define "valid" human emotion. And after feeling shame or embarrassment, if someone then transitions to feeling offended, is that somehow not a valid emotion? I can see Bill Burr's angle - just own up to what's yours, be honest about your own shortcomings and move on with life. But everyone handles negative emotions differently, often in spectacularly unproductive and defensive ways. Which might help explain the abundance of stand-up comedian talent in the world today :P
  - pavanred 9y ago
    I guess I was trying to paraphrase the comedian there, I guess I can just remove the "valid" qualifier and use embarrassed instead of offended, but the point I was trying to make pretty much remains the same. My point, shame has always been useful, at least for me. Feeling ashamed is a sign of knowing I can be doing better, and it generally motivates to do better. Its not easy. But, why do we draw lines that shouldn't be crossed on anything that might make us feel this. You shouldn't call a smelly apartment smelly, because someone might feel embarrassed, even if you are not trying to be a dick. For instance, the author researches and publishes an article about a popular course and the people offering it and gets called an asshole for one sentence without any judgemental qualifiers, ignoring everything else in the article.

seanccox 9y ago

Not condoning the decision: however, as a former journalist/editor, I think the effort was to highlight the contrast between the popularity of their work, and its humble origins. It's a somewhat common approach in the journalistic community and was probably intended to make the Oakleys more relate-able. That clearly misfired with some readers, so I think that means it wasn't an effective use of detail. Still, I don't think the author was actively trying to be a dick about it.

rifung 9y ago

I am a cat owner.. it never would have thought that my home smelling slightly of cat urine was embarrassing. Perhaps the author also didn't think it was? I don't think cat urine smells bad.

busterarm 9y ago
A cat owner would say that...
BinaryIdiot 9y ago
I'm a cat owner and cat urine smells horrible. Our home does not have the smell of cat pee because we clean up after our cat quite regularly. I don't get it. I would be embarrassed if someone said my home smelled like cat pee.
- cortesoft 9y ago
  I am a cat owner, and if you have a good sense of smell, you can't really avoid the smell, no matter how often you clean. All homes that have animals have a smell.
  - simcop2387 9y ago
    You can't avoid some smells but the strong ammonia odor of urine is usually easy to avoid if the cats are well trained and the litter is changed/cleaned regularly. I think the most common reason that it smells are cats that are spraying/marking which isn't always something up to the owner.

tdsamardzhiev 9y ago

You're perfectly reasonable. Journalism at its "finest".