I take off my shoes at home, but at my best friend’s house I leave them on because she has pets and the floors are always filthy.

OG Princess Leia

Firefly, because the music was so good

Speaking as a wife and mother, it’s likely the only time in her adult life that somebody focused on her wants and needs instead of expecting her to cater to theirs.

As a woman, I really feel bad for men in our society, especially straight men. They get very little positive interaction at all. I like to compliment strangers; it usually makes my day when somebody says, “I like your hair,” or whatever, and I like to spread the joy. But I have to be cautious about giving compliments to men. A lot of them look at me weirdly if I say, “nice tie,” or “snazzy shirt.” I smile, say it, then move on so they don’t feel obligated to respond. It appears most of them aren’t used to it and don’t know how to handle it. I guess other men don’t compliment them (maybe for fear of being thought gay?) and women don’t, either (for fear of encouraging stalking or harassing behavior). It makes me sad to think of all the lonely people who get no affirmation from anybody. I’m old enough now that my days of being constantly sexually harassed are over, so I feel safe offering a few nice words.

Gay men, OTOH, totally know how to give and take a compliment.

Printers that work.

There seems to be a shortage of critical thinking and problem solving skills, that’s for sure.

What I see that makes it worse now than in the past is the Internet. It’s easy now to find a group that agrees with your delusions and live in an echo chamber where mistaken beliefs are not challenged.

FBI Surveillance Van

Personal anecdote: now that I know I’m autistic, I look back at most of my corporate interactions and see how my literal-mindedness, bluntness, lack of ability to play political games, and overactive sense of justice combined to make me a pain in the ass to management. I had a coworker tell me, after I’d once again banged my head against a brick wall trying to explain to my manager why his decision was going to lead to disaster, that I was the most optimistic person she’d ever met. I was very confused, having just finished an angry rant about the situation, and said, “Why in the world would you say that?” She replied, “Because you seem to think things can actually improve. We all know they won’t, which is why we don’t bother to say anything.”

Talk about a lightbulb moment. I quit soon after and came back as a contractor for 4x the money, so win-win.

I’m picturing something that walks like a spider.

You echo my experience to a T. Sometimes people assume I’m a man to hilarious effect, but most of the time it’s a non-issue.

Won’t it starve in a month?

They are useless, as anyone who’s ever tried to get redress through them knows. Don’t trust their ratings.

I mean, have you SEEN Prince?

Exactly my point

Unpopular opinion: I play Candy Crush and that makes me a gamer.

I was born in the 60s and didn’t get my social security number until I got my first job. That’s the way it used to be.

I’m Christian and usually stay out of these discussions because it’s a waste of time to try to change anybody’s mind here, and anything I say sounds like “not all Christians” anyway. I can do without the hate and contempt in my inbox.

Exactly this. I still have several close friends from my big corporate IT job even though I quit in 1992 to start my own business. We had a blast at work, which was the only thing that made the hours and stress bearable. Those people were my tribe. I couldn’t care less about the company other than to hope it does well for my pension’s sake.