I think Gardening Grandma was absolutely correct to ask the poster to thank folks afterwards, it's not always easy to post something on the forum, as you're only relying on words, not tone of voice, gestures, body language etc. It's very easy for an off-hand comment to be taken the wrong way.
I know there are quite a few teachers on here, and everyone who works in such a stressful occupation needs an outlet. I'm not a teacher, but my husband is a post-16 lecturer, which he says is much easier than teaching (if your students consistently don't turn up, a phone call to their employer is enough to rectify the situation). I enjoy gardening, my Husband enjoys restoring old cars. Each to their own.
In my humble opinion, the BEST teachers are naturals, you can teach someone to stand at the front of the classroom and try to impart knowledge, you can't instill a love of passing on knowledge to those who don't possess it in the first place. Once a GOOD teacher, always a GOOD teacher. God knows I've had enough useless teachers, the great ones you always remember. Like Mr King, my Physics teacher who gave up this lunchtimes twice a week to coach those who wanted to take the higher paper, and could always explain things in million different ways, and didn't make you feel thick if you didn't 'get' it the first time. That's the mark of a great teacher, 23 years later he's still remembered with affection and respect. And yes, I did get an 'A' at GCSE because of the effort he put in.
All Gardening Grandma tried to do was find out what this chap wanted, and I think folks have been quite rude to her. It doesn't matter if the guy is 5 or 95, she's tried to help, which is more than others have. Think it must be something to do with the weather, as we're all cooped up inside, we've resorted to bitchiness.
