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By stuffisthings on How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Chain Restaurants
@josefinastrummer We've got a nuclear reactor running on locally-sourced uranium with artisanal fuel rods.
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By stuffisthings on So Long, Sedan; Hello, Bus
@sintaxis Sigh. I mean you have a perfectly good point, that one of the big reasons many people (who are in the position to do so) choose not to take public transportation is the level of harassment and danger, which especially affects women. Fair enough! I just think the claim of phallocentrism is way over the top and unfair to the piece and the author, especially as he DOES address -- albeit glancingly -- the very issue whose absence concerns you. I'm not ready to concede that this short series of anecdotes by a male writer featuring mostly, but not exclusively, male characters, performing an activity not usually associated with any gender (riding the bus), is therefore a "male dominated" piece of writing. Any more than my telling you a story about a guy I saw wearing a funny hat is a "male dominated story." I also stand by my "snarky" comment: if you really do go around counting the ratio of male to female pronouns in every piece of writing you encounter, well, that DOES sound exhausting, at least to me. Maybe you enjoy it, or believe it to be somehow useful. To each her own. And who knows -- maybe the women he encountered in his bus rides failed to make an impression as colorful characters because most them were hunkered down in their headphones trying to avoid eye contact?
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By eaglet on Logan Saw a Dude Steal Some Coffee And Said Nothing And Mike Is Like, That's Wrong
I work at a Sbux in San Francisco, and we get a lot of people stealing whole bean coffee. Apparently they sell it to convenience stores and to other folks who sell the bags (along with other pretty random groceries) on the street. As a barista, I don't have a stake in stuff being stolen (other than when someone tries to grab the tip jar), but the management does and so they're definitely more proactive about confronting people who they see stealing. Personally, I have a bit more sympathy for people who are stealing actual food, but I've never personally had to intervene in a theft situation (though I've given plenty of stare-downs to people who were lurking suspiciously.) At least where I work, if Logan had said something before the guy left the store, a manager would've walked up and told him to put back what he'd taken, and to please leave and not return. Occasionally we threaten to or do call the police, but it's very rare that they show up in time to do anything, which is just fine by us. So I wouldn't be too worried about ruining the guy's life if you say something to a manager. But, I would probably have done the same thing as Logan, which is to waffle about what to do until it's too late to do anything. And as a lowly barista, saying something to me after he's gone is almost worse than not knowing-- because now I'm annoyed at us being busy, annoyed at myself and my coworkers for not being on top of things and noticing him, slightly annoyed at the customers for not saying anything, and annoyed that now I have to tell my manager (who will be annoyed at us). Unless you recognized the guy and can give a good description so we know to be on the lookout for him later, I'd rather not know in that exact moment. We'll know it was stolen later because of inventory counts anyway, and management can give us a pep talk about vigilance if it's having a major impact on store finances. So, if you see something, say something, or don't, because I've got a gajillion lattes to make right now.