It ain't paradise.

Here are a few things that I don't like about HVSS:

There is no defined eating space. They have a big kitchen but half of it is given over to a pool table. That's what democracy gets you-a pool table in a kitchen! Actually I don't know how it wound up there. There is also a mobile work table that kids eat at but it is too tall for the little kids, if they don't get a stool they stand on a folding chair and eat. Or they eat underneath it. There is also a large conference table in the lounge that is used for different purposes, I don't know if eating is one of them. There is something to be said for defined eating spaces and mealtimes. It makes the meal more pleasant if you share it with someone and I think gathering to eat is one of the great human social experiences. If I was on staff there I would eat lunch at the same place and at the same time every day and invite people to join me until there was an unwritten lunchtime because you find out a lot of interesting things about people when you eat with them.

The cursing. I have to check the handbook but I don't know if there is an actual rule prohibiting foul language but I think there should be. We are having a real problem with Des and Amelia right now because the teenagers curse and they think they should be able to as well. Contrary to what the user might think, profanity waters down a message, it doesn't strengthen it. Your listener becomes so focused on the epithet that they stop listening to what you are saying. It also opens you up to judgement and criticism if you can't use self control or imagination and need to resort to cursing. I understand when you curse because you are angry or stub your toe its the everyday use as adjectives that I object to.
Raymond had a funny take on why its ok for adults to curse and not children. Since adults have the stress and pressure of going to work and maintaining a home and raising their kids, cursing is an outlet for all of that buildup, a waste product. He referred to it as the "poop of adult life". Well, the way he explained it was funny.

I guess I think they should give the little kids more of a hand but maybe they do and I don't know. Or maybe that is a conflict that I have with the philosophy itself. I am still a mom so its hard for me to watch my kids or kids the same age as my kids struggle.

Hmm, this isn't as long a list as I thought it would be. Not bad.