These badass teachers aren't taking Trump Jr.'s judgmental speech lying down.
Trump Jr. messed with the wrong powerhouse educators.
ICYMI, Donald Trump Jr. gave a speech at the Republican National Convention in which he dismissed public schools and their teachers.
Trump Jr. throwing shade on public schools. Image via Patsy Error/YouTube.
Here are just a few choice phrases from that particular segment:
"Our schools used to be an elevator to the middle class. Now they are stalled on the ground floor. They are like Soviet-era department stores that are run for the benefit of the clerks and not the customers, for the teachers and the administrators and not the students."
Needless to say, it ruffled the feathers of many educators at both public and private institutions for a number of reasons, perhaps the most significant being that he spoke from no experience.
Trump Jr. grew up in a privileged household and went to The Hill School, a preparatory school in Pottstown, Pennsylvania. After that, he attended The University of Pennsylvania — another privately owned institution.
Simply put, Trump Jr. has no idea what it's like to be educated in public schools.
Photo by John Moore/Getty Images.
Thankfully, one incredibly eloquent teacher decided to call out Trump Jr. on his misinformed speech.
Dani Bostick is a Latin teacher at a public school in Winchester, Virginia, who just happened to have the RNC on in the background while working on lesson plans.
After she heard what Trump Jr. had to say about her profession, she simply had to respond.
Bostick wrote on The Huffington Post about how dedicated she and her colleagues are to the kids they teach despite their "pitifully low" salaries. She wrote about how time in the classroom is such a small part of the hours teachers put into their work. And she stressed how "reckless" it is to say public schools serve teachers instead of students because it's simply not true. One quote sums her sentiments up pretty perfectly:
"Tenure or no tenure, union or no union, teachers dedicate our lives to students. Or, as we teachers call them 'our kids.' ... They are our kids because we are as invested in their academic growth and personal development as if they were our own literal children."
Once her post was up, teachers of the world (well, at least those on Twitter) united behind her.
Erin Johnston, a public school teacher from North Carolina, responded succinctly to the Democratic Party's "fear" of free-market education:
"The only thing I fear is yet another politician running their mouth about how education is broken while at the same time passing legislation to break it even more because it gets them elected."
Boom! Mic drop!
There is a good lesson to be learned here that can be summed up by a quote my high school English teacher had on her classroom wall.
"I say, there is no darkness but ignorance." — William Shakespeare, "Twelfth Night"
If you're going to trash talk the people who educate others, you'd best do your research; otherwise they'll take you to church.
Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images.
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An actual beaver dam on the now-thriving Price River
Not just coworkers—family, friends, strangers, kids…
Imagine having to go so badly but being out of euros. 
Anything hobbit-esque can't be wrong. 
But what if you need pain meds AND mascara?!
Imagine how this would affect childcare.
Honestly…where's the lie?
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Urgent dash to the bathroom! 🚪🏃♂️
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There's a reason why some people can perfectly copy accents, and others can't
Turns out, there's a neurodivergent link.
A woman in black long sleeve shirt stands in front of mirror.
Have you ever had that friend who goes on vacation for four days to London and comes back with a full-on Queen's English posh accent? "Oooh I left my brolly in the loo," they say, and you respond, "But you're from Colorado!" Well, there are reasons they (and many of us) do that, and usually it's on a pretty subconscious level.
It's called "accent mirroring," and it's actually quite common with people who are neurodivergent, particularly those with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). According Neurolaunch, the self-described "Free Mental Health Library," "Accent mirroring, also known as accent adaptation or phonetic convergence, is the tendency to unconsciously adopt the accent or speech patterns of those around us. This linguistic chameleon effect is not unique to individuals with ADHD, but it appears to be more pronounced and frequent in this population."
Essentially, when people have conversations, we're constantly "scanning" for information—not just the words we're absorbing, but the inflection and tone. "When we hear an accent, our brains automatically analyze and categorize the phonetic features, prosody, and intonation patterns," writes Neurolaunch. For most, this does result in copying the accent of the person with whom we're speaking. But those with ADHD might be more sensitive to auditory cues. This, "coupled with a reduced ability to filter out or inhibit the impulse to mimic…could potentially explain the increased tendency for accent mirroring."
While the article explains further research is needed, they distinctly state that, "Accent mirroring in individuals with ADHD often manifests as an unconscious mimicry of accents in social situations. This can range from subtle shifts in pronunciation to more noticeable changes in intonation and speech rhythm. For example, a person with ADHD might find themselves unconsciously adopting a Southern drawl when conversing with someone from Texas, even if they’ve never lived in the South themselves."
People are having their say online. On the subreddit r/ADHDWomen, a thread began: "Taking on accents is an ADHD thing?" The OP shares, "My whole life, I've picked up accents. I, myself, never noticed, but everyone around me would be like, 'Why are you talking like that??' It could be after I watched a show or movie with an accent or after I've traveled somewhere with a different accent than my 'normal.'
They continue, "Apparently, I pick it up fast, but it fades out slowly. Today... I'm scrolling Instagram, I watch a reel from a comedian couple (Darcy and Jeremy. IYKYK) about how Darcy (ADHD) picks up accents everywhere they go. It's called ADHD Mirroring??? And it's another way of masking."
(The OP is referring to Darcy Michaels and his husband Jeremy Baer, who are both touring comedians based in Canada.)
Hundreds of people on the Reddit thread alone seem to relate. One comments, "Omfg I've done this my whole life; I'll even pick up on the pauses/spaces when I'm talking to someone who is ESL—but English is my first language lol."
Sometimes, it can be a real issue for those around the chameleon. "I accidentally mimicked a waitress's weird laugh one time. As soon as she was out of earshot, my family started to reprimand me, but I was already like 'oh my god I don’t know why I did that, I feel so bad.'"
Many commenters on TikTok were shocked to find out this can be a sign of ADHD. One jokes, "Omg, yes, at a store the cashier was talking to me and she was French. She's like 'Oh are you French too? No, I'm not lol. I'm very east coast Canada."
And some people just embrace it and make it work for them. "I mirror their words or phrase! I’m 30. I realized I start calling everyone sweetie cause my manager does & I work at coffee shop."