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On When You Ask Me If I Can Spare a Dollar
-Am I alone or with a group? How fast is the group moving? Will I get left behind if I stop? -What is the perceived likelihood that I will also get sexually harassed during this charitable transaction? -Have I heard that this guy robs people? -Where is my money? Will I have to open a complicated bag, or reveal other money to access it? -Will I get to leave, or will I still be stuck waiting for the bus/train with this person? -Does this person seem like they intend to rob me? -Is it night time? Are there other people around? -Does this person live on my street and so will this lead to future requests for cash?
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On The Three Ways I Got Schooled: As a Student, a Teacher, and a Person Trying to Pay Rent
Well, and there's this: if you are a person who reads for pleasure, and so develops decent grammar, spelling, and usage, your takeaway from your K-12 years might be that you are extremely hot shit, and that writing well is a super power. Kids who write clear sentences and who have decent comp skills make teachers' jobs easier, and I think that, say, a well-written in class assignment is such a handy way to show that "yes, this kid gets it!" that some teachers take good written work as a kind personal validation, so really reward kids who write well pretty disproportionately. I had a professor who called the students in my college's locally-famous writing program "writing jocks," and the metaphor kind of holds. Just like student athletes get groomed in a particular way and may be allowed a lot of outs when it comes to academic standards, you get away with EXTREME SHENANIGANS if you're a clever kid who writes well and gets along OK with your teachers. I know I used to be so proud of the way I could effortlessly BS my way through papers, and I also didn't have to study much, and I still got a lot of praise and validation from adults. The Internet has told me that this is a pretty common experience. When it came time to pick schools and majors, super duh, I picked a tiny liberal arts college that came with not just a heavily-endowed English program, but a large cash prize for the graduating senior writer who was The Best, and I was obviously The Best, so I dug in for an English major and a creative writing minor....and now I cut hair and make lattes. .
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On How Much is Your Phone Bill Each Month?
Guys, I Got Rid of My Smartphone. I paid about $70 for a crappy phone, and bought $100 of credit for minutes and text through Tmobile. This was in late February, and I still have about $35 of credit left. So, let's say it costs me $20/month, plus my dignity.
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On I Hired an Esteemed Cat Photographer to Take Photos of My Cat
I shared this with my whole cat lady group. No reactions yet. I worry they will find it too flippant. I am dying, though.
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On Next Time You've Got a Craving for Some Cheap Clothes
Specifically, US policies that allow US companies and other companies selling in the US to surmount pesky obstacles like flawed-but-extant US worker protections and environmental regulations killed those girls. You cannot ask people to shop their way out of this one. Whatever twig-based tea cozy I can buy on Etsy will not offset the effects of larger economic policies like this for an effing second.
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On The New $100 Bill Won't Be Circulated in My Wallet
I volunteer at an animal shelter that only accepts cash to get dogs out of dog jail, and they never have change, yet people persist in paying in hundreds. Luckily, I always have wet, crumpled singles and fives from my shampoo girl job, so I can exchange my inconvenient money for different inconvenient money, while nominally helping a quasi-nonprofit agency.
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On Do You Have a Uniform?
My uniform is, sometimes co-workers bring garbage bags of clothes to the break room for everyone to go through before the clothes get donated or thrown out, so I dress like my co-workers, if my co-workers chose their clothing sizes based on availability rather than fit.
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On Living on $15,000 a Year
@wallrock Did you have to take your fifty lbs of potatoes to the interview, and if so, do you feel like this affected the outcome?
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On Ways to Say You Don't Have Any Money Without Saying You Don't Have Any Money
-The wifi at my work is down, so I can't take a picture of my pay check, and I'm not just going to trudge to the bank like an animal.
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On My Visit to a Life Coach
The more I volunteer in animal welfare, the more I see working for pay in that field as an ironic, "The Moneky's Paw" type punishment for people who love animals.