What is something that is accepted by society that you find creepy/weird?

[Ataal]

8 hours ago, JaguarCrazy2832 said:

The idea of asking people why they don't want to have children or wont have them. Like why are you digging into a very person part of their life?

1. Maybe they cant

2. They are expensive

3. It turns your whole life upside down

Why do you want to pressure someone into something they dont want? I have 2, I wanted them and still do but its so cringe that people feel pressure to have them

Also doing that just makes people into deadbeat parents and puts excess stress on a relationship

As a childfree person who knew from a very early age that I did not want to have children, this is one of my biggest pet peeves.  Like, why do people care if I don't have kids?  But, generally they do, en masse.  Teachers, family, friends, coworkers, random strangers, etc..  I really don't get it.  I'm 3 months younger than Tom Brady and I STILL get the "well, it's not too late!  My neighbor's, friend's, uncle's pet gerbil's, aunt's, barber had kids at 68!"    

[Sugashane]

18 minutes ago, Ataal said:

As a childfree person who knew from a very early age that I did not want to have children, this is one of my biggest pet peeves.  Like, why do people care if I don't have kids?  But, generally they do, en masse.  Teachers, family, friends, coworkers, random strangers, etc..  I really don't get it.  I'm 3 months younger than Tom Brady and I STILL get the "well, it's not too late!  My neighbor's, friend's, uncle's pet gerbil's, aunt's, barber had kids at 68!"    

I was adamant I'd never get married and didn't want kids due to how jacked up my family's marriages turned out. Brothers, parents aunts/uncles/ and older immediate cousins all had their marriages flop. That's 8 divorces in 9 relatives. My family set the curve. Lol. 

Ended up meeting the best person I've ever known, was married at 21 and have 3 kids. Been awesome but I DEFINITELY  can understand why many don't want either. If she didn't have a few medical issues that could have potentially prevented us from ever having kids we definitely wouldn't have done it so young. 

[JaguarCrazy2832]

14 hours ago, Ataal said:

As a childfree person who knew from a very early age that I did not want to have children, this is one of my biggest pet peeves.  Like, why do people care if I don't have kids?  But, generally they do, en masse.  Teachers, family, friends, coworkers, random strangers, etc..  I really don't get it.  I'm 3 months younger than Tom Brady and I STILL get the "well, it's not too late!  My neighbor's, friend's, uncle's pet gerbil's, aunt's, barber had kids at 68!"    

yea I just dont understand it.

Is there a shortage of people in this world?

Is life not already difficult enough? 

Now you want them to care for something I dont really want?

Just because you tell people kids are great doesnt mean you should get one. You can do that for a pet or a car....you cant exactly return a kid

When parents explain to a child about the responsibilities of a dog and if they want one, they have to take care of it, why is it not socially acceptable for a grown adult to be like, I understand the pros and cons...I dont want that

[PARROTHEAD]

[Kingram]

21 hours ago, MWil23 said:

I work in a very affluent school district and get those answers.

I also worked in a 100% free/reduced lunch district early on as well. 

Not to be dismissive, but I’ve been around the block and seen a lot, experiencing the best and worst of affluence or lack thereof.

I’m not saying you haven’t. I’m just saying the generalization of generations is kind of silly because what you prioritize as a child is so dependent on environment. 

[MWil23]

12 minutes ago, Kingram said:

I’m not saying you haven’t. I’m just saying the generalization of generations is kind of silly because what you prioritize as a child is so dependent on environment. 

I'm not generalizing a generation. My comment, in context, revolved around educaton =/= "grounded" and "common sense"...let alone making positive contributions to society.

...nor is the inverse necessarily true.

[adamq]

Vests, especially the poofy winter ones have never made a bit of sense to me. Back in my day we just wore a coat.

[Whicker]

On 1/19/2023 at 5:38 PM, Ataal said:

As a childfree person who knew from a very early age that I did not want to have children, this is one of my biggest pet peeves.  Like, why do people care if I don't have kids?  But, generally they do, en masse.  Teachers, family, friends, coworkers, random strangers, etc..  I really don't get it.  I'm 3 months younger than Tom Brady and I STILL get the "well, it's not too late!  My neighbor's, friend's, uncle's pet gerbil's, aunt's, barber had kids at 68!"    

“You have so much to offer a family!!” 

“But you’d make such a great Dad!”

[ramssuperbowl99]

At work, the message "Hi [name]" with no additional details.

You are neither special nor clever for trying to jump ahead of the line by making me respond back before introducing the thing you know you want to talk about.

 

 

 

[MWil23]

HOW DID WE GO SO LONG WITHOUT MENTIONING STAFF MEETINGS?!?!

…he typed, while sitting in a staff meeting 

[JohnChimpo]

1 hour ago, MWil23 said:

HOW DID WE GO SO LONG WITHOUT MENTIONING STAFF MEETINGS?!?!

…he typed, while sitting in a staff meeting 

Years ago, I was a habitual over explainer, but conference calls with rambling colleagues helped me get into the whole brevity thing.

[Tugboat]

On 1/8/2023 at 2:47 PM, Shady Slim said:

going out on a limb here with an unpopular one: places structured such that the car is a necessity and public transport is de minimis 

i've seen some pictures of american suburbs, and, frankly and with all due respect, they're ghastly to me lol

The problem is, it's a vicious cycle.  Places get designed around the automobile because that's the way it was done when nobody was even thinking about alternatives, just filling empty space with highways and parking lots.

So they become increasingly tailored toward a car-centric design.  This makes these places increasingly hostile to pedestrians, and extremely difficult to apply effective public transportation networks to.  This infrastructure soaks up masses of public funding so there's nothing left for public transportation.  The only people left on public transit are the people who have absolutely no other choice because they cannot afford a car.  So public transportation deteriorates in quality and ends up populated largely by people struggling with a variety of other issues, which makes people feel uncomfortable or unsafe.  So more people stop using public transportation and contribute to car dependency instead.  Public transit use goes down, gets even less funding, deteriorates even further.  And you end up with endless ghastly suburban sprawl.  And an enormous deficit of functional public transit infrastructure...with diminishing budgets and an ever expanding cost to maintaining a bunch of stroads and other nightmarish car-dependent sprawl.

 

It really sucks.  It's weird that so many people can't seem to wrap their heads around a better way of doing things.  There is some momentum building in certain urban centers, toward a more sustainable model.  Pedestrianizing areas, trying to push through light rail expansions, adding networks of bike lanes, etc.  But it's a bigtime uphill battle, that the automobile got almost a century head start on.

 

On 1/8/2023 at 3:18 PM, Shady Slim said:

coming further and above this, ownership of those insanely huge dodge rams which to me are a monument to human excesses

iono what it's like in the states, maybe everyone who owns one needs it to like, haul steel across state lines, but here, owners of those utes are just middle aged suburban blokes with small member syndrome who want to take it out on the world lol

This is deeply creepy and weird.  That it's somehow accepted that full size pickup trucks are a "normal" and "typical" grocery getter, school run vehicle in suburbia.  The staggering number of truck owners who rarely or never use their vehicle to tow anything, or even actually haul anything other than people and groceries.

 

But it's another aspect of the above.  That idiotic arms race.  Suddenly most car companies aren't even selling "cars" anymore.  Everyone's rolling around in their increasingly large and insanely heavy pickup trucks for no ******* reason.  Now nobody feels safe in a normal, appropriately sized car.  Especially with the rise of 9000lbs Electric Trucks that will absolutely pulverize whatever, or whoever they collide with.

It's insanity.

 

On 1/19/2023 at 8:59 AM, MWil23 said:

Fair, but look at the paradox in that they DO reduce it to how many likes they have on social media.

15 years of evaluating it as an educator and coach

Fair

I get what you're saying

That's not the ONLY reason. There is an undeniable increase and cause/effect between smart phones and social media becoming available on them and youth anxiety, depression, and suicide rates.

Perhaps some of it is knowledgeable future that they'll inherit, but considering "I want to be an influencer" was the #1 answer from my senior students the past 2 years on future career, I'll respectfully disagree with the universal take.

I feel like the whole "influencer" aspiration thing is in some part at least, a consequence of an ever more consumerized and digital economy.  More and more, we're living in a time where traditional jobs are being automated away, and the actual jobs that remain are either "service industry" things that literally nobody ever dreams of as their "future career", or completely nebulous tech/marketing type positions anyway.

There's still the old standbys, "Doctor, Lawyer, Teacher, etc".  But even a lot of those types of career are moving in non-traditional directions, with increased reliance on technology, automation, unconventional/remote delivery methods.  A lot of careers these days are completely detached from any tangible "product".  So seeing that, it's either aspire to some niche technical job that you can't even really explain to most people, a made up role in the digital realm, or just cut to the chase and aim for the top of that sort of profession...as a influencer, where you are the product and the brand you're promoting.  In the sort of version of that "career" that is most prominent in the lens this generation views the world through.

 

 

Like...contrast the "most common career aspiration" of this generation, with previous generations.  And think critically about whether those previous generations aspirations were any more realistic, or whether they're still at all realistic, or even really exist anymore.

[Ty21]

In regards to future kid having, it is funny when couples are open about actively trying to have a kid. It’s like an appropriate way to tell everyone you’re getting loaded up every night 

[gopherwrestler]

On 1/21/2023 at 8:14 AM, adamq said:

Vests, especially the poofy winter ones have never made a bit of sense to me. Back in my day we just wore a coat.

OOOOOOOO, I can answer this one. Vest are awesome for "work" when its late fall in the morning and you actually need to use your arms to fit into places, but its still to cold. Honestly I use them all the time around the yard with the cattle and I don't want my Carhardt sleeves in my way. They work pretty good. They aren't perfect, but at least most of your body stays warm.

I sort of look at them like wearing heavy gloves vs lighter gloves. Sometimes you have to just deal with your hands being cold just so you can have the mobility of using your fingers.

But just for the "looks" does confuse me.... just wear a coat.

[MWil23]

20 minutes ago, gopherwrestler said:

OOOOOOOO, I can answer this one. Vest are awesome for "work" when its late fall in the morning and you actually need to use your arms to fit into places, but its still to cold. Honestly I use them all the time around the yard with the cattle and I don't want my Carhardt sleeves in my way. They work pretty good. They aren't perfect, but at least most of your body stays warm.

I sort of look at them like wearing heavy gloves vs lighter gloves. Sometimes you have to just deal with your hands being cold just so you can have the mobility of using your fingers.

But just for the "looks" does confuse me.... just wear a coat.

Us Midwesterners who have legitimate falls and springs understand the concept and value of vests. We have a few acres, so having the free arms is a necessity. Great point Gopher.