One of the nice things about the comments section of the Times online is it lets us see quite dramatically when the newspaper disappoints its readers (no wonder the paper usually does not allow reader online comments on its staff editorials). The latest example is a Metropolitan DIary item, published by the Times with the byline "Billy R.," a first-person account of being so stoned that he missed his train to work.
Reader comments include "Dear NYT, What are you giving us? A story about someone who gets high, misses his transportation and gets canned? Pointless." That comment was upvoted by 34 readers.
Another reader comment was: "The point of this taking up space as a bylined article is? He gets a chunk of space for being a doofus? Why?" That comment was upvoted by 32 readers.
A third reader commented, "You were fired because you were foolish. Other than that, not sure what the point is of this essay. Is the bar for publication really this low?" That comment was upvoted by 26 readers.