Pretty sure it’s an ADHD thing. I’m like that with people’s faces. For a long time I thought I had facial blindness but realized a couple of years ago, I’m just not generally paying attention to faces enough to record them into memory. When I actually learn what someone’s face looks like instead of their general shape/hair/clothes/accessories, I have no problem recognizing them in a variety of situations.

Huh? I don’t understand this comment. Are you saying you think I’m lying? Lol. I mean more power to you if you’ve never experienced these self checkout logjams. I’m fine with them in concept, but the way a lot of the stores I’ve experienced use them makes it kinda unpleasant. Guess it’s regional.

The downside is forcing a bunch of people through self checkout who need a cashier. Whenever you all talk about how great self checkout is, I wonder what mecca you live in. My only experiences with it are long lines and long waits caused by a number of factors:

-Many self checkout lanes closed because they think everyone is stealing and refuse to staff more than one person to watch over you

-Old people who can’t use technology and don’t want to be using the machines

-People who have entire carts and struggle to effectively scan their groceries on the tiny space allocated.

-Machines that scan painfully and artificially slow because they want to weigh every goddamn item to prove you aren’t stealing

-Machines that record you and yell at you for stealing if you move an item slightly awkwardly

Yeah, same here. I barely dated before online dating (granted I had a boyfriend for a couple years.) When I found online dating, it felt kind of magic. All of a sudden there were all these men interested in me who were actually cute/smart/funny AND into the same shit as me? It even made me realize what a bad match my ex had been and that some portion of our relationship was just out of convenience because he had actually asked me out. (The men I found myself most compatible with online weren’t generally high in confidence and didn’t ask many women out.)

Within a month of trying online dating, I found 2 fantastic men I wanted to be in a relationship with (at the same time… Womp womp.) However just within like 5 years of dating one of them, the online dating scene had already felt like it shifted it a lot. It was way more frustrating with a lot more people I wasn’t interested in and the really compatible ones fewer and further between (or maybe just harder to find.) I ended up casually dating online in earnest for several years before meeting my husband. It was still easier than meeting someone in person imo (but I’m also a woman) and I definitely understand why younger people might believe in person was better.

Yeah, I understand why it’s currently happening like that, but it’s still annoying to call at 2am and be like, “they were so hard to get on the phone!” Seems to be a recurring problem so might be worth it to have a contingency plan for winners within certain time zones, even if you just quietly inform them a few hours earlier that they should make sure they’re available at that time.

The Nobel committee also hit a roadblock trying to reach Brunkow – both researchers are based on the US West Coast, which is nine hours behind Stockholm – but eventually got ahold of her…

In 2020 the Nobel committee had similar difficulties in contacting the winners of the prize for economics. When Bob Wilson’s phone rang in Stanford in the middle of the night, he unplugged it so the committee had to call his wife instead.

When the committee couldn’t reach his fellow winner, Paul Milgrom, either, Wilson had to go and wake him up.

This is annoying to me. Is there seriously no better way than to call older people in the middle of the night and then act surprised when they are not immediately available?

Yeah, this sure sounds like the “free market” correcting itself as these people love to prattle on about.

Seriously, “I don’t like this thing, so fuck anyone who does!” Why can’t we just be chill with people liking whatever makes them happy (within reason obviously) rather than actively rooting against it?

I got it at CVS in California and it was just a box you had to tick on the intake form, “I am qualified to receive the vaccine” lol. It was in same section that asks the standard stuff like, “are you allergic to stuff in this vaccine?” etc. No conversation about any of it at all.

I wonder what today would be like had that first shooter on the campaign trail not missed.

Representation matters

Right, and Irish-Americans have more knowledge and understanding about Irish-American culture.

The other poster was making it seem like American culture is homogenous or like descendants of immigrants can’t still retain distinct cultural traditions and identities outside of generic American. Whether or not those traditions are the same as the original country of origin is immaterial. Nobody is claiming that it is.

What I don’t understand is why Americans portray themselves as Dutch when coming to the Netherlands.

Do they, though? Are there really that many Americans who think or try to pretend they are actually Dutch, instead of Americans who are have Dutch ancestry?

It honestly sounds like they are just trying to connect by sharing a commonality and something that is (probably) important to them in some way. It’s an expression of appreciation. Even if the cultural traditions carried on in the US are different than in the modern-day country–so what? It doesnt make those cultural traditions less important to the people who celebrate them. I fail to understand what is wrong with acknowledging or appreciating where those traditions originated.

Is it just a matter of semantics and an objection to the label itself “(whatever nationality)-American”?

The level of authority that you’re speaking with about another country’s culture while clearly only having a surface-level understanding is actually wild. Maybe accept that the Americans who are telling you otherwise have more knowledge and understanding of their own culture.

Yes, that reminds me of when Florida(?) started requiring drug testing for welfare recipients and ended up spending more on the tests than whatever they saved uncovering fraud.

The Mountain Goats

You can’t truly believe rich people are just inherently better at not dying of heart disease or cancer.

It’s such a a ridiculously niche joke and it’s soooo good.

For real, I thought he was going to name something of actual consequence even if it wasn’t true like, “it makes your head explode.” But, “it wanes”??? Uh ok, it wanes so some people might get measles anyway. Isn’t that just problem solved then since you think infection is good? Completely nonsensical.

“Another day in paradise.”