I was just telling co-workers today how much I enjoy the grammatical explanations and - sometimes disputations - that arise on Mudcat. We are certainly a large and diverse group, and it appears that there should be plenty of room here for all of us. As one person wrote a while back, those who don't appreciate these "tangents" are only a mouse-click away from escape.
    Those of us in the States may recall that it was only a few months ago that a young mother was caught on videotape shaking and striking her four-year-old in a store parking lot. In a press conference following her arraignment, she identified herself as a member of The Travellers, which led to a spate of network stories about the ethnic subculture composed of several branches, some of which are quite large and unsavory. They are described as moving about the country during our good-weather months, and then returning to enclaves of very closed-community, middle-class "neighborhoods" in milder climates during winter.
    Here in the South, one group preys upoon the elderly whose homes may be in need of repair. The husband of the woman in the child-abuse story had previous arrests (I don't remember whether there were convictions) for home-repair fraud.
    Another subgroup that got extensive coverage promotes precocious sexuality and marriage of their very young daughters to middle-aged men in the group.
    These groups are certainly not to be confused with retirees who spend much of their time "on the road," or migrant workers whose low pay and often miserable living conditions keep produce prices in check for a society that pays little or no attention to their situation.
    Talk about Thread Creep!!!   But not much. I had very mixed feelings after that young woman brought so much negative attention to a culture that is largely unknown, certainly not well-understood, and often romanticized. It will be some time before I can listen to Free-Born Man of the Travelling People again without mixed feelings.   M.