Ok so I'm about to cross a main road at a pelican crossing, I look both way's there's not a car to be seen so I go for it even though the red man is showing obviously this is perfectly legal in the UK (it is isn't it?), mid way I notice a mother waiting at the lights with her kids, even though the road was clear…

Now assuming the children were actually paying attention to my actions they would have seen me crossing even though their mum would have said wait at the lights am I a bad person for doing this or should I stop thinking about such stupid things?!

Let's hope they don't read STW fora either as they would get a really bad lesson in grammatical correctness as well!

😉

I suspect you've remembered a hell of a lot more about the incident than they have.

Good use of the correct form of plural there, Pook.

I'd say he missed a comma.

Its up to parents to teach their kids. I cross roads when I want to and when its safe.

Good use of the correct form of plural there, Pook.

Fora is incorrect.

Latin word, Mike, therefore the correct Latin plural is fora.

😉

not settled:

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_plural_of_the_word_'forum'

http://painintheenglish.com/?p=627

Loving the 'banter'.

Yeah, xc, I contemplate such things too. If it's of concern, then act on it.
I know the kids will grow up in a world of confusion and contradiction anyway.
The mum you saw may drum 'road'sense' into her kids, but who's to say she didn't drop litter and set a bad example once they were out of your sight?

Just a thought

Like most of these stupid plurals (I even saw some idiot claim Octopii was the plural of octopus once!*) forums is right in English (it being the language we are speaking I assume).

You can see it in the OED.

http://www.askoxford.com/concise_oed/forum?view=uk

Fora might arguably be correct if you are referring to multiple public squares in Ancient Rome, as that is just doing as the Romans did. Forum is surely correct assuming you are referring to something recent.

Joe
*octopuses and there is no argument there, is isn't even the right type of word to pluralise with ii even if it did make sense.

I thought the plural was octopron 😯

(that painintheenglish page is pedanticness GOLD !)

(I know 😉 )

I am not paid to be a role-model.
8)

Thats the kind of thing I'd have seen as a kid with my mum, thought was cool, and done it when out with mates to be cool.

The mum you saw may drum 'road'sense' into her kids, but who's to say she didn't drop litter and set a bad example once they were out of your sight?

She actually said "Look at that f^*&ing ****t"

I notice the cognoscenti (jeez, I've probably spelled that wrongly) tend to pronounce restaurant without a silent "t" at the end. So if we're referring to, say, a chain of "restaurants", how should that be pronounced?

Surely "drumming" things in is something only I experienced in going to a religious order school in Ireland. Isn't it better just to teach?

Who cares, it's not your child and you were not doing anything illegal. If you'd been toting a gun while smoking a joint and crossing the road I'd have thought it slightly more worrying, but still only slightly.

Me and Mrs ST try our best to set a good example as far as we can tyo our young ones including crossing the road. Our (nearly) 5 year old daughter knows what's right and wrong and realises that some people chose not to wait for the green man before crossing but knows that she should wait.

It's just one of those things, if the children do have an appreciation of the right way then I reckon it'll take a fair few bad examples to change things for them (hopes).

Thes best of it is that I now find myself waiting for the green light when there's nothing coming and i'm out on my own!

I was once stopped and questioned doing just that by a policeman at 3am, in Germany. He said what if some children saw you?

In my defence I was pissed and had just come out of a brothel…

I went to cross a road recently and my GF grabbed me and pulled me back, same situation as the OP but the kid was on her own, patiently waiting for the lights to change. Quite a risky stretch of road, but also quite sporadic traffic and a long phase for the pedestrian signal. tempting to just nip across. I hadn't even noticed the wee girl there, but then I don't really notice people at all usually. So we both waited too. Felt a little bit daft doing it, but I'm sure the wee girl felt daft waiting too, she was right to do it though. And I'm glad I did and would make a point of doing so now too.

Its no good saying the responsibility lies with the parents then undoing their hard work. We should all be parents, whether we have children or not.

We did some filming on an estate in Edinburgh a few years back and we got adopted by an old lady who would bring us flasks and biscuits. She was reminising on how there was a time when children, any children, would call her "Aunty" and responsibility for children lay with everybody. Now we just blame everybody.