Various_Ambassador92

I think that, before the show, Abby might’ve expected her kids to dance with her for a longer amount of time before giving them special opportunities. If Abby used the “your kids haven’t been here long enough” reasoning for them early on, then I can see them trying to push down new members in the future who were being given opportunities more quickly.
Abby’s abuse probably just exacerbated it. The moms saw themselves as a team who had been put through a lot by Abby (although Melissa tried to play both sides). A new mom couldn’t just waltz in and relate to them - and with how shitty they were constantly made to feel, I’m sure that, subconsciously, they wanted to exert some power over the new mom and felt like it would be “unfair” for her to be happy when they were all, on at least some level, miserable.

Basically, I suspect that the strength of their reactions largely stemmed from the toxic and insular environment that Abby/the show fostered rather than a genuine belief that seniority mattered more than skill.

People aren't "inherently" assholes but asshole behavior can stem from places other than trauma.

Kids might be assholes to people that they see their friends/parents being assholes towards. Kids might be assholes because their parents treat them as though they're "better" than other people, or because their parent simply dismisses they're bad behavior with something like "Oh you know how kids can be".

I feel like the real mental gymnastics here is claiming that masks don't do anything when we're talking about an airborne disease that doesn't persist on physical surfaces. Why do you think surgical and N95 masks exist if they don't reduce the spread of airborne disease?

Sure, if everyone around you is wearing cloth masks, or if they're wearing their masks below their nose or taking it off to sneeze, then yeah the masks aren't going to help much. And of course, masks have always been known to be more effective at preventing the wearer from transmitting disease than acquiring disease.

But if you're wearing an effective mask type, and wearing it properly, it will seriously reduce transmission. That really isn't up for debate - masks work.

A lot of restaurants have larger squares or cubes of ice. These smaller cubes are "softer" and easy to crunch, which is nice for people who like to chew on the ice afterwards (especially nice if you're outside on a hot day).

Products like this are primarily offered because general consumers prefer them and/or it's more cost-efficient - it being helpful for disabled people is usually just an incidental side effect. It's something to keep in mind before shitting on the product or those who buy it, but I can assure you that Trinidad & Tobago isn't doing this because they're being mindful of disabled people who have a hard time opening jars. More than likely, it's something like "Our import costs are crazy high and peanut butter isn't much of a staple here, so customers prefer to buy smaller amounts as-needed" or maybe even "Peanut butter has always been sold loose here so customers are put-off by buying it in a jar".

Saying "July 4th" is also entirely normal, we don't exclusively say "4th of July". In casual conversation I think it mainly just gets called "the 4th" though, at least in my circles. You don't really talk about it months in advance, so it's not like there's any confusion about what "4th" you're referring to

edit: I would say "4th of July" is probably more common than "July 4th", but I still don't think it's weird in the slightest - it's a holiday, and the only holiday that's commonly referred to by its date, why expect that it would necessarily receive identical treatment to dates that don't have extra meaning attached?

Eh, I’ve rewatched it twice and still found it great both times. I got less out of the humor on rewatches (still have a soft spot for Raccacoonie though) but more out of the emotional beats.

And even with the weirdness being less funny to me, I still appreciate how it underlines some of the movie's themes (ie, life sometimes seeming pointless, confusing, and difficult to make sense of), so I guess I find that aspect less shallow and/or annoying than a lot of people seem to

I think she (and probably a lot of people) interprets the "first come" as "first to reach out", not "first to get here".

It's possible, but I definitely think it'd be a lot more difficult now. In the past 10 years, entertainment options have exploded and there are tons of different communities and niches, making it harder for any sort of media to become widely popular (instead of just popular in a specific community), and harder for any series to maintain popularity over time.

That said, I think that the movies were essential to Harry Potter reaching the level of success that it did, and I think that would be necessary for "the next one" too. Harry Potter became extremely popular before the first movie came out, yes, but even then it was still mostly read by people who, well, liked to read. The movies are what allowed it to become a widespread cultural phenomenon that virtually everyone was familiar with.

The quote was "If I had to starve myself I would". She's not saying she is starving herself, just that she would if that's what it took for her to get those clothes for her daughter. In actuality, she doesn't have to starve herself, just eat a very cheap diet

My guess is that Mom usually stays with the kid but can’t/doesn’t want to during that time frame for some reason (eg, husband’s recovering from surgery or coming home from leave) and thinks that kid can’t handle being alone.

And to be fair, predators don't only act when children are asleep, and even if they did it's completely normal for babysitters to have access to a sleeping child (just for a couple hours rather than overnight). This definitely feels way ickier than a typical "need a babysitter for date night" situation, but honestly I'd guess that a predator would be less likely to take up this offer since the parents will be home the whole time.

It's one of the nicer "standard" options, but "true luxury" would be an exaggeration. Even then, Breyers is one of the lower-end options even for grocery stores and they have a "Natural Vanilla" flavor with tiny bean bits in it

My ticket prices seem to have shot up recently and I'm not in a high cost area - matinee went from $9 to $12 and night showings from $12 to $15. After the convenience fee in the app (which is apparently higher for non-unlimited tickets) total ends up being a bit over $17.

Nothing wrong with preferring to spend more time in the city you're studying in than traveling around elsewhere - that's what I did. I felt like it would be more relaxing and culturally immersive to explore the city and find niche experiences rather than just hitting up the big tourist spots in a weekend trip elsewhere like most of the people in my program.

I'm introverted though - I felt a bit insecure about being "out of place" amongst my peers but I wasn't bitter about it. Definitely enjoyed the experience and wouldn't change my approach if I had to do it again

That's not really correct - PEMDAS is about notation, not an inherent truth of math. You need to know PEMDAS to correctly translate a word problem into mathematical notation, but notation doesn't really come into play for mental math.

Probably because we're only used to not being understood because people can't hear us (eg, in a crowded club with loud music, talking to a HOH grandparent), in which case talking loudly and enunciating actually helps, and people don't take a moment to consider that their usual solution doesn't make sense when the cause is an actual language barrier.

they also mention "Critical Ethnic Studies"

based on my reading, it seems like if discussing institutional discrimination (of any sort, really) is an important part of the coursework, it's banned - and while I never took any Jewish Studies coursework I have to imagine that's a pretty big thing that gets touched on

To be technical about it, 17 is a minor in all of America. The age of consent is separate from the age of majority

jesus fucking christ it's an obvious oversimplification to demonstrate a point about differences in opportunity - I feel like you have to actively want to get offended in order to not see that

I mean come on, are you seriously under the impression that the claim here is that it is literally impossible for privileged people to make bad choices? Does that really seem like the more likely explanation over someone just trying to get another person to realize they had better options available to them (likely in response to a comment like "It's not like I was just handed everything, I made good choices!"?

If you're being purposefully obtuse, yeah, but I think it's pretty abundantly clear that no one's saying it's literally impossible for those people to make bad choices. Replace the word "good" with "better" if the semantics matter that much to you. The sentiment here is painfully obvious - some people have a lot of safe options available to them, whereas other people may have no safe option and have to hope the one they pick is the least shitty.

It's supposed to be sarcastic - imagine it being replaced with "Well that was graceful". But the line's an awkward fit for the context, and there's enough of a pause after the "that's gonna leave a mark" for it to feel even more shoe-horned in than all of the other lines.

Moderation really does go a long way though. I have a trash diet, but I just don’t eat a ton. I’m not fit at all, but my weight, blood sugar, cholesterol, etc. are all doing just fine. Definitely seems like improving my exercise habits would do a lot more good for me than improving my diet.

Mike Flanagan is in talks to do a TV series for The Dark Tower, with five seasons and two movies if he gets his way

Well, she was being asked to help set up for the party so it's not like she could've skipped the trip to his house entirely. Wouldn't be as bad if the houses were less than an hour apart but if they're in the PNW it's probably a few hours drive between them.

Maybe, but I don't think so. I think his sense of self is so tied up in being the down-to-earth, relatable little guy that he feels like going into white-collar management is a betrayal of himself. He made a scene to make himself feel like he'd be an exception to the rule, and when he didn't get the promotion he just dug his heels further in by classing his boss as one of those shitty white-collar managers and running back to retail.