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On WWYD: A Christmas Caroler
@RachelG8489 I'm Jewish too, and it makes me more likely to give money to homeless people, not less. My religious education left me with the feeling that my own money doesn't even really belong to me if someone else needs it, and even if people asking for money aren't always honest, it's not like they're living the high life on the change people toss into their cups! And I think giving a few people on the street a couple bucks can actually do more than donating to an organization, because it gets the money directly to an actual person, and because it's a way of acknowledging the existence of these generally marginalized people instead of making them feel like they don't exist. I've never really cared if they spend the money on a drink or a movie instead of something more "deserving"--I like movies, I like a drink, and who am I to say they shouldn't be able to have one too? There's an old joke about it: The schnorrer is begging for money for a bite to eat, so a well-to-do businessman gives him a dollar. Half an hour later, the businessman is returning from lunch, and spots the schnorrer in the window of a fancy delicatessan, gorging himself on bagels and lox. The businessman is furious--he storms into the restaurant and confronts the schnorrer: "You told me you were starving, but here you are spending my money on the most expensive meal in town! What do you have to say for yourself?" The schnorrer replies, "How can you ask me a question like that? This morning I had no money, so I couldn't eat bagels and lox. Now G-d has smiled on me and given me the benefit of your generosity, so I could buy my lunch-- but you say I still can't eat bagels and lox. So tell me, when *can* I eat bagels and lox?" I understand not wanting to feel like you've been scammed, but it's not like the homeless blind veteran is trying to steal your life savings!
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On Skipping College, Two Ways
Why would anyone ever take anything from the NYT's Style sections seriously?
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On Back to the Land Without Health Care
@josefinastrummer People without health insurance do scare me! Because they haven't proven that they can survive outside of social norms, they've just proven that they've done so up to now. It's not like they know they won't get sick in the future; people don't need medical treatment until suddenly they do. I've heard and read enough stories about people going into massive medical debt, or suffering serious complications because they didn't seek medical attention quickly enough, that I know how quickly people shift from the "doing just fine without insurance group" to the "my life is completely fucked now" group.
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On Back to the Land Without Health Care
I think it's incredibly shortsighted to put your faith in your lifestyle to stay healthy. Humans lived for millenia eating lots of vegetables and spending lots of time outside doing physical work, and they still got sick and died for lack of adequate healthcare. What if, God forbid, one of you gets cancer? Living your ~natural life doesn't actually guarantee you won't, and next thing you know, one of you will be slapped with a bill for $67,000 like we saw earlier on the Billfold.
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On My Nana's Will of Iron
@aeroaeroaero Huh, I didn't have any trouble following it, unless I'm missing something?
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On A Thank You to My Daughter for Her Untraditional Wedding
@kellyography My friend makes "Inception brownies"--you wrap cookie dough around Oreos, then pour brownie batter over them.
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On I Thought Socialized Medicine Was Soooo Great, But Now I'm Like, "No Thanks"
Two of my friends are studying abroad in England and their experiences with the NHS have been uniformly positive (typical interaction: Perfectly normal appointment, then "wait, I don't need to pay? At all? Really? Are you sure?") You had a bad medical experience, the kind people have in every country all the time, and the only difference is that at least you didn't get charged for it.
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On My Debilitating Digestive Disorder Has Saved Me Hundreds of Dollars
I took a course of doxycycline for Lyme disease and I can't imagine taking the stuff for two months. Just a week and a half of it gave me weird acid reflux and the one time I took it without food I ended up throwing up in the bushes half an hour later.
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On Oh, to Be the Owner of This ATM Receipt
@la_di_da Me too. My brain just rejected the last three digits.
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On WWYD: A Christmas Caroler
@darklingplain Ugh, rereading my comment, obviously I don't think a few bucks to panhandlers is a substitute for bigger more formal donations. I meant "do more in certain ways."