It’s all about who the most important prophet is, and anyone that disagrees is wrong and we hate them.

Religion is wild.

1 point - I’ve never sent a postcard lol

A lot of Europe is like this and I think part of the difference is social expectation with dogs. Because it’s more normal for dogs to go places, and less normal to have private yards at your home for your dog to spend time in, people in Europe tend to spend more time training their dogs to be good members of society because they basically have to. If you have to walk your dog multiple times a day for potty instead of letting it into the back yard, you’re probably more likely to make sure your dog is leash trained properly.

I also think the USA (and Canada to some extent as you’ve kind of adopted many of our values, for good or ill) are more individualistic than many European countries. In America we train our pets because WE want them trained, not because of societal expectations about dog ownership. It’s truly telling when you walk a dog that is properly leash trained and get compliments about how well trained your dog is. That a dog can walk on leash without pulling is the exception, not the norm. (This happened yesterday to me, just walking around a park path.) It’s depressing. American individualism insists, “I don’t need to train my dog, he’s perfect being the cute little terrorist that he is, and if you don’t like it, that’s your problem.” As a result, dogs aren’t allowed most places in the US because entitled dog owners are the norm, not the minority. I love dogs, and I love taking my dog places, but if I owned a business of any kind I wouldn’t allow dogs because it’s not worth the headache here.

Oh man I loved Dragonheart as a kid! I haven’t seen it in ages! Guess I know what I’m watching tonight!

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Oh I definitely wasn’t throwing shade at you! I love that your little buddy is all bundled up! I just hate the sentiment in general of people being snarky over dogs in clothes or shoes. Just had to get the rant out of my system is all!

Edit: dog tax

My response to “wolves don’t wear sweaters” is “apes don’t wear coats, yet here we are”. Both are equally stupid. Just because a distinct other species that evolved with/from/alongside doesn’t do something doesn’t mean we shouldn’t if it is advantageous for us.

I put boots on my dog in snow or the little turd gets snowballs frozen between his toes, chews them out, licking his feet, making them wet so snowballs attach bigger and faster, until his feet are ice balls. All this because it feels weird to him when the ice balls push on his toes so he removes them. He gets boots so the balls never form and he can run around like an idiot and enjoy the snow!

Depending on the type, my grocery store is anywhere from $5-9 per dozen. Baking is getting expensive yo!

As an elder millennial I struggle to see the problem honestly. When cell phones first came out and teenagers started getting them when I was in high school, the policy was you could have the phone in your bag, but if the teacher saw it during class they would take it away and your parents would have to come get it at the end of the day.

I am not sure when schools started allowing phones to be a free for all, but going back to the original phone rules I had seems like the easiest solution no? Kids still have the phones in case of emergency, but they cannot use them during class. Is the concern about the confrontation of taking the phone from the kids? That’s the only argument I can see, but if they resist, send them out! I’m genuinely confused here.

Eggs are also used in a lot of baked goods. If you’re cooking at home and making a lot of things from scratch, eggs are common ingredients. In addition to that they’re also an excellent source of protein that doesn’t require any forethought or planning to just make in minutes. My husband and I go through a dozen every 7-10 days depending on what I’m making. That’s not a ton, but considering most grocery prices are up it’s frustrating. I can cut back on a lot of things, and I can make alternative recipes that don’t include eggs for a lot of things, but then those things have a different texture, less protein, or can’t exist at all. I’m already cooking nearly everything from scratch at home to save money as it is. Not buying eggs is a bigger sacrifice than many realize, especially for someone that loves to bake.

While I don’t disagree that it engages different parts of the brain, reading audio books is still beneficial, and no studies have shown a demonstrable difference in a person’s comprehensive ability using physical vs audiobooks. In fact, some groups like the National Literacy Trust have shown that audiobooks can be beneficial for engagement in education and if used properly, beneficial to the learning process in general. Humans (and our precursors) spent millennia conveying stories, culture and history entirely through verbal storytelling. As a species we have spent more time listening to stories and absorbing them that way than physically reading them.

While there is certainly a difference between reading and listening to books, I absolutely would not criticize anyone who chooses to pick up an audiobook vs not consuming books at all. Seeing words spelled out and the punctuation within the writing is helpful, especially for those learning to read or learning the language. But audiobooks are still books and as far as I’m concerned you “read” the book if you listened to the audio in full.

Many cats die every year from them actually, just like children. I am super vigilant about hiding mine out of the way so ours can’t see them to play with because I’m terrified of it happening. I really just need to replace them, but they’re the nice heavy wooden white ones and throwing them out seems like such a waste.

Dame Maggie Smith was a gem in everything she was in. Her performances elevated every piece of media she performed in. I would watch movies just because she was in them, and I never regretted that. Today is truly a sad day. Rest in peace. She gave the world countless masterful performances and now the curtain has closed.

Absolutely. My 2006 car is in the shop right now getting fixed and will ultimately end up costing me around $3.5k. They were a bit surprised I told them to fix it, but I don’t WANT a new car. I like my car, it has all the features I want, is a manual, doesn’t connect to the internet, and most importantly, has physical buttons and dials to control everything! Overall it’s in great condition as well.

I love my car, and like you will be keeping it until it becomes prohibitively expensive to repair vs buy something else, or I can no longer get parts. Hopefully by then something will be done about the privacy and touchscreen situations.

My husband has an '06 Mazda Speed 6 and I swear it’s the most reliable car I’ve ever seen. It’s only been to the shop for repair a few times ever, and it’s been weird stuff like the AC went out, nothing major. Pretty sure my husband has spent more on tires and oil changes than repairs for that car. It’s been an absolute beast.