When I was younger, my parents got a small pop-up pool. It wasn’t long before the “NO DIVING - SHALLOW WATER” sticker that came with it ended up on the toilet.

My guess is they mean “a conscience,” but they used a terrible word choice. One doesn’t need an inner-monologue in order to have a conscience.

I had a job where I was made to “look busy” by carrying around a clipboard. I pretended to look at shelves as if I were writing down product information, but I was actually doodling and writing down story ideas.

Prior to that, I would legit look up product information, so that I could better inform the customers who asked me questions. But management didn’t like seeing me standing at a computer and told me to stop. Ah well, malicious compliance it is.

I bought two big batches of toilet paper from Costco last December. Considering it’s August and I’m still in the first batch (and near the end of it), I’m happy to say my initial calculation of “a year’s worth of toilet paper” is holding up!

And the toilet’s clogged. Now where are you gonna hide away and procrastinate?

When I worked at a place with such a rewards program, the amount of people who put in their number/signed up for rewards was included in our performance metric. It’s so fucked up, because it impacted how many hours we were given. Never mind that if someone only works part time their numbers will naturally be lower than those who work full time, making it a self-perpetuating cycle for those who want to move up to full time.

Anyway, point is - if the cashier cares, it’s because a messed up system is compelling them to. Which is why instead of saying I don’t have an account (which will prompt them to ask me to sign up), I just use Jenny’s number.

Wearing a skirt implies consent.

I’m amazed it has to be said, but no, wearing a skirt does not imply consent for anyone to look up it. The fuck kind of rapist thinking is that?

Edit: ITT people with poor reading comprehension skills. “Rapist thinking” doesn’t mean “looking = raping,” it means “the way rapists think.” As in, rapists also think that the clothing someone wears “implies consent” for their actions.

If you’re using the same reasoning as a rapist to justify looking up a woman’s skirt, and you don’t see what’s wrong with that, I worry for the women around you. Be better.

You gotta put a \ before the asterisk to cancel out the mark-up, like this: \*

(I used a second \ to cancel out the usual effect in the example. Fun fact, that cancellation is why the “shrug emoticon” sometimes loses an arm.)

I don’t expect anything anymore, that’s why I stopped speaking out. People ask how I’m doing and I just keep it light, because there is nothing that can be done on an individual level when the issues that drag down life are systemic (unless everyone bands together to revolt, but I’m not holding my breath on that.)

If only I could afford the $200 co-pay per visit. Some of us are too poor to afford mental health.

There’s also the “Oh yeah, same situation” crowd. People who feel the same way, who agree about the state of the world, and also struggle to get by.

Which in itself, isn’t a bad way to respond - it’s honest, after all. However, it makes the idea of “reaching out for help” worse than pointless - not only won’t I get any help, but I’ll get more validation that I was right to feel hopeless in the first place.

My mom learned this lesson after she told people about my sister-in-law’s miscarriage. My mom wondered why I didn’t send her get well wishes and I was like, “Well, I wasn’t supposed to know about it in the first place, since sis-in-law didn’t tell me she was pregnant. So messaging her about it wouldn’t be very tactful.”

It took many years and being kept from a lot of information, but she’s finally learning.

It’s wild how many people can’t separate an animal from the ways it can benefit people. If a goat is making milk, it probably has a baby to feed. The idea of just letting it feed that baby doesn’t seem to occur to people. They see the milk as a product for their own use, and if people aren’t using it, it’s “wasted.” It only makes sense if one’s never critically examined their choices in a world full of exploitation.