Trunchbull was just saying the Sarnothi are dangerous because them are apex predators. Guess what? So are humans. And Jessie just showed that humans are harder to train.
You can train a dog to be a seeing eye dog, or a bomb-sniffer, or any number of extremely useful things in less than two years. Meanwhile, two year old humans are completely unemployable.
to be fair there are many cultures that have kids not that much older helping with chores as a bonding activity. It could be just a culture that portrays chores as well… a chore to younger kids and once they get older and get encouraged to help out the ideas are a bit stuck, plus doing stuff alone isn’t fun but is the norm. There’s also the fact that there’s far more chemicals, power tools and other stuff that doesn’t mix as well with toddlers as there used to be.
No? She’s stating a child can get out of hand and do something they’re taught not to do regardless. She’s saying there’s a good chance a biting could occur either way and that she needs to know about things like venomous spit. If it irritated the skin just by being on it, getting in the bloodstream could cause a varying level of reactions from nausea to paralysis for all we know depending on what sort of allergic reaction someone might have.
Not to mention that, if one of the Sarnothi kids gets bitten in such a fashion, there’s DEFINITELY no guarantee they wouldn’t bite back, training be damned.
From the cat (do they still have a cat btw? don’t remember seeing it since…) we did see that biting a sarnothi can also be venomous, so that’s a good point.
Not to mention one other thing relating to a Funny Background Event from way earlier – namely, the list of Class Rules in Selkie’s classroom. 2 were “No Spitting”, with #11 being “Seriously. NO. SPITTING.”
I’m finding myself having second thoughs about this – nowadays people getting to define how they would like to be adressed is kind of a big deal, so even though professor Trunchbull is a jerk, he should get the same kind of courtesy as someone insisting on a non-standard pronoun would.
he´ll get courtesy when he earns it – honestly, a title isn´t the same as pronouns! moreover, he rudely called then by his name only on the last page – no mister, agent or whatever, so he can be glad his title is mentioned at all.
on a completely different note, i wonder what the OTHER reasons for then staying single are 😉
Maybe, but that would be a pivot to the serious, which doesn’t feel like it would belong on this page.
Given context, and Then’s particular brand of humor, I’m more inclined to take it as a self-deprecating wisecrack about being annoying. He knows he’s annoying — I’m pretty sure he’s said so before — and is not in the least abashed about it. TBH, it’s one of the things I like about him.
There also weren’t a lot of immigrant Sarnothi originally it sounded like, so…not so many fish in the sea to catch? Esp. with his wit – although, we have seen similar wit in Pohl’s family, so his sense of humor may not be so rotten, considering what he’s been through…
I’m sorry, but unless he is TEACHING my child at the time, or at some sort of scholastic function where being called “Professor” is the correct form of address, fine, call him Prof.” but otherwise he’s just a “Mr. Trunchbull”. especially after he prefaced it with “i’m here as a concerned PARENT”… sorry but a parent is not the same as a professor… therefore again he’s “Mr”
I notice Professor Trunchbull still hasn’t mentioned that Sarnothi are also poisonous. (Although that might take care of itself– any human child who bites a Sarnothi child hard enough to break the skin will get sick and learn not to do that any more.)
It tickles me that they’re all upset about POISON SPIT, which seems similar to bee/wasp/yellow fly venom. It hurts. It itches. It leaves a welt that will stay there a couple of days.
But no one seems worried about a mouthful of shark teeth.
Seems to me that if Selkie bit somebody, an itchy welt would be the last thing someone would worry about.
Worry about the big hunk of missing arm, but not about the red itchy spot.
The biting, if it broke skin, could still be short of actually removing flesh. Then you have a bunch of wounds…coated with venom…which doesn’t seem great.
And humans can curl their hands into lumpy clubs of bone and gristle.
All animals have their own natural kinetic weapons, so that’s not such a big deal. It’s the whole “Someone might go into anaphylactic shock if a kid spits on them” thing.
WE know what effect the poison spit has on human skin, THE CHARACTERS don’t. Then didn’t say it’s a mild irritant for humans and went to “the kids are taught not to bite” right off. And as has been pointed out, biting might make the reaction worse.
The more this goes on, the more I agree with the commentators who wonder how the HECK Then got the job as the face of the Sarnothi at this meeting.
In fairness, it was a mild irritant when just applied to unbroken skin – no telling how it’d be if it got into an open bite or some exposed soft tissues (eyes, nose, mouth).
I imagine Sarnothi kids are taught much earlier and more harshly not to bite, because they have sharp teeth. Humans tend to forget that their teeth can do anything until they instinctively bite something and it bleeds, because we have blunt teeth.
Yes, and those kids were NOT trained not to bite. because nobody raises their kids anymore, and if you try to discipline them properly you get arrested. The difference is not really hard to grasp.
Though really our bites can get badly infected too
actually, my mom(!) taught me to bite as a last resort if someone attacks me – basically, if you get wrestled to the ground and can´t nail that b&# between the legs, bite them in the nose
also, you DON`T get arrested for properly discipling your kids – only if you use physical violence to do so, which is a BIG no-no…..and entirely unnecessary. just take away their playstation or handy 😉
which is EXACTLY the point that ColdFusion made… YES, Whack-jobs that break bones, and throw their kids into “solitary confinement”, etc. like some news stories revealed recently, SHOULD be removed from the ability to be near the kids… but if my kid goes on a rampage in a public place over wanting candy or a toy or whatever, because i’m not giving it to him, and whack him up side the butt, and “I” get arrested… THAT’S the BS ColdFusion was alluding to. in my opinion, that’s one of the things wrong with today’s youth.
I’m Done on this topic and i’m out of any further responses to this thread… just had to put my $0.02 in…
You’re saying that my parents failed not only as parents but also as human beings because they spanked me.
I’m here to tell you that’s not so. People don’t raise their kids that way now, which is fine, but stop judging other times and cultures. I was there. I know. That’s not how it was.
I’m starting to think sending Then was a bad idea. Snark *really* isn’t what is needed right now. Plus open contempt for children? They probably should have sent a poet.
If we can make the assumption that Selkie is representative of her species, the temptation to bite has been conditioned out of them – probably harshly – by the time they’re three.
Added thought: Is Sarnothi spit/blood poisonous to other Sarnothi? Seems like a handy self-defense in an aquatic environment. If other predators know you taste bad they’ll leave you alone, right? Maybe it extends to themselves, too, and that’s why the kids are trained not to bite or spit.
Wouldn’t that mean she would have pale blue eyes? Friend of mine from elementary school who had albinism had very light blue-grey eyes, and almost white hair. (and a baseball cap and a long sleeved shirt in Spring/Summer.)
I appreciate how much Jessie worries about taking proper care of the children. Not just the human ones, the Sarnothi ones too. I think she’ll be a good teacher one day.
“Taschenmonster” – brilliant use of German there.
It’s *awesome*.
For those of you who don’t understand German:
taschen = pocket
monster = started out German, so monster
You figure it out.
Jawol!
I always hear Kenneth Williams’ voice when Then speaks…
Trunchbull was just saying the Sarnothi are dangerous because them are apex predators. Guess what? So are humans. And Jessie just showed that humans are harder to train.
You can train a dog to be a seeing eye dog, or a bomb-sniffer, or any number of extremely useful things in less than two years. Meanwhile, two year old humans are completely unemployable.
Dammit Timmy, put down that binkie and get a job! NO, we will NOT do storytime first!
to be fair there are many cultures that have kids not that much older helping with chores as a bonding activity. It could be just a culture that portrays chores as well… a chore to younger kids and once they get older and get encouraged to help out the ideas are a bit stuck, plus doing stuff alone isn’t fun but is the norm. There’s also the fact that there’s far more chemicals, power tools and other stuff that doesn’t mix as well with toddlers as there used to be.
PRIVATE DIPSHIT WHAT DID I TELL YOU ABOUT PULLING THROWING THE PIN ON THE GRENADE!
MR GRENADE IS NOT YOUR FRIEND ONCE MR PIN HAS BEEN REMOVED!
YOU! PRIVATE SHITHEAD WHAT IS YOUR MAJOR MALFUNCTION… DO NOT EAT YOUR DAMN CRAYONS MARINE!!!.
oh yes… humans are MUCH harder.
No? She’s stating a child can get out of hand and do something they’re taught not to do regardless. She’s saying there’s a good chance a biting could occur either way and that she needs to know about things like venomous spit. If it irritated the skin just by being on it, getting in the bloodstream could cause a varying level of reactions from nausea to paralysis for all we know depending on what sort of allergic reaction someone might have.
Not to mention that, if one of the Sarnothi kids gets bitten in such a fashion, there’s DEFINITELY no guarantee they wouldn’t bite back, training be damned.
From the cat (do they still have a cat btw? don’t remember seeing it since…) we did see that biting a sarnothi can also be venomous, so that’s a good point.
Not to mention one other thing relating to a Funny Background Event from way earlier – namely, the list of Class Rules in Selkie’s classroom. 2 were “No Spitting”, with #11 being “Seriously. NO. SPITTING.”
The government must really be stretched thin if they send the happily child-free guy that has no empathy for kids to be their PR at a school.
“Proff Trunch” *snerk*
I’m finding myself having second thoughs about this – nowadays people getting to define how they would like to be adressed is kind of a big deal, so even though professor Trunchbull is a jerk, he should get the same kind of courtesy as someone insisting on a non-standard pronoun would.
he´ll get courtesy when he earns it – honestly, a title isn´t the same as pronouns! moreover, he rudely called then by his name only on the last page – no mister, agent or whatever, so he can be glad his title is mentioned at all.
on a completely different note, i wonder what the OTHER reasons for then staying single are 😉
Sounds like he’s hinting at being gay – sarnothi society might not be as progresive as the human characters in the comic have been so far.
I think he might be asexual! (Well, I hope so! I don’t recall any ace characters in the comic so far!)
Maybe, but that would be a pivot to the serious, which doesn’t feel like it would belong on this page.
Given context, and Then’s particular brand of humor, I’m more inclined to take it as a self-deprecating wisecrack about being annoying. He knows he’s annoying — I’m pretty sure he’s said so before — and is not in the least abashed about it. TBH, it’s one of the things I like about him.
More like he hates drama… Kids, people, could be just a general misanthrope
Seconding the “a title is not the same as pronouns.”
There also weren’t a lot of immigrant Sarnothi originally it sounded like, so…not so many fish in the sea to catch? Esp. with his wit – although, we have seen similar wit in Pohl’s family, so his sense of humor may not be so rotten, considering what he’s been through…
I’m sorry, but unless he is TEACHING my child at the time, or at some sort of scholastic function where being called “Professor” is the correct form of address, fine, call him Prof.” but otherwise he’s just a “Mr. Trunchbull”. especially after he prefaced it with “i’m here as a concerned PARENT”… sorry but a parent is not the same as a professor… therefore again he’s “Mr”
Considering most professors have doctorates, “Dr.” is probably more suitable than “Mr.”
I notice Professor Trunchbull still hasn’t mentioned that Sarnothi are also poisonous. (Although that might take care of itself– any human child who bites a Sarnothi child hard enough to break the skin will get sick and learn not to do that any more.)
Yeah that’s why you’re single, dude. It has nothing to do with your glowing personality.
It tickles me that they’re all upset about POISON SPIT, which seems similar to bee/wasp/yellow fly venom. It hurts. It itches. It leaves a welt that will stay there a couple of days.
But no one seems worried about a mouthful of shark teeth.
Seems to me that if Selkie bit somebody, an itchy welt would be the last thing someone would worry about.
Worry about the big hunk of missing arm, but not about the red itchy spot.
The biting, if it broke skin, could still be short of actually removing flesh. Then you have a bunch of wounds…coated with venom…which doesn’t seem great.
And humans can curl their hands into lumpy clubs of bone and gristle.
All animals have their own natural kinetic weapons, so that’s not such a big deal. It’s the whole “Someone might go into anaphylactic shock if a kid spits on them” thing.
Plus there’s how toxins are always an unknown quality and unknowns are always more worrying for good reason. In general at least.
WE know what effect the poison spit has on human skin, THE CHARACTERS don’t. Then didn’t say it’s a mild irritant for humans and went to “the kids are taught not to bite” right off. And as has been pointed out, biting might make the reaction worse.
The more this goes on, the more I agree with the commentators who wonder how the HECK Then got the job as the face of the Sarnothi at this meeting.
Well, he can speak fluent English, and he can avoid spilling military secrets. So far, he’s one point up on Pohl and two on Scar.
In fairness, it was a mild irritant when just applied to unbroken skin – no telling how it’d be if it got into an open bite or some exposed soft tissues (eyes, nose, mouth).
Then is my favorite. Bless the snark factory!
I imagine Sarnothi kids are taught much earlier and more harshly not to bite, because they have sharp teeth. Humans tend to forget that their teeth can do anything until they instinctively bite something and it bleeds, because we have blunt teeth.
Yes, and those kids were NOT trained not to bite. because nobody raises their kids anymore, and if you try to discipline them properly you get arrested. The difference is not really hard to grasp.
Though really our bites can get badly infected too
actually, my mom(!) taught me to bite as a last resort if someone attacks me – basically, if you get wrestled to the ground and can´t nail that b&# between the legs, bite them in the nose
also, you DON`T get arrested for properly discipling your kids – only if you use physical violence to do so, which is a BIG no-no…..and entirely unnecessary. just take away their playstation or handy 😉
which is EXACTLY the point that ColdFusion made… YES, Whack-jobs that break bones, and throw their kids into “solitary confinement”, etc. like some news stories revealed recently, SHOULD be removed from the ability to be near the kids… but if my kid goes on a rampage in a public place over wanting candy or a toy or whatever, because i’m not giving it to him, and whack him up side the butt, and “I” get arrested… THAT’S the BS ColdFusion was alluding to. in my opinion, that’s one of the things wrong with today’s youth.
I’m Done on this topic and i’m out of any further responses to this thread… just had to put my $0.02 in…
Anyone who has to resort to violence against children has failed not only as a parent but also as a human being.
You’re saying that my parents failed not only as parents but also as human beings because they spanked me.
I’m here to tell you that’s not so. People don’t raise their kids that way now, which is fine, but stop judging other times and cultures. I was there. I know. That’s not how it was.
I’m starting to think sending Then was a bad idea. Snark *really* isn’t what is needed right now. Plus open contempt for children? They probably should have sent a poet.
If we can make the assumption that Selkie is representative of her species, the temptation to bite has been conditioned out of them – probably harshly – by the time they’re three.
Added thought: Is Sarnothi spit/blood poisonous to other Sarnothi? Seems like a handy self-defense in an aquatic environment. If other predators know you taste bad they’ll leave you alone, right? Maybe it extends to themselves, too, and that’s why the kids are trained not to bite or spit.
Pretty random question, but is Jessie albino? Or is her hair just dyed and she wears contacts?
She is an albino.
Wouldn’t that mean she would have pale blue eyes? Friend of mine from elementary school who had albinism had very light blue-grey eyes, and almost white hair. (and a baseball cap and a long sleeved shirt in Spring/Summer.)
I appreciate how much Jessie worries about taking proper care of the children. Not just the human ones, the Sarnothi ones too. I think she’ll be a good teacher one day.
She seems to be a *very* conscientious person, who really cares about her kids.
If she can get a better home situation she would probably be a great mom.