crocsarecool

Please bring back the gentleman! I feel like men and women’s roles have taken a left turn from becoming equals in society to striving for sameness.

I agree with you. I think it will all work out for the better. I just think the path between exploitation and greener pastures may be a rough one if there is no support structure to keep people from getting desperate once they are jobless. It’s hard to look to the future when you’re worried about putting food on the table tonight. It’s a good thing that this is happening, but I sympathize with the people affected because it might get worse before it gets better. I hope they can keep their chins up and see that there is a huge light at the end of the tunnel.

I’m worried that it takes a certain amount of poverty/desperation in the local workforce to be exploited heinously. For them, an exploitative job is probably the difference between eating a little or not eating at all. Yes, it’s good that they won’t be exploited once the mined diamond industry goes away, but I think they’re still getting the rug pulled out from under them. Their income is replaced with nothing, and in a country with a weak economy, there’s probably very little there to help these people in the interim. It’s a desperate situation, even if it’s for their benefit.

I guess it’s hard to see when you go to work every day. It’s there. It’s physical. You’re working.

This is really cool! I am terrible at crosswords also, but I still do them. I have a rule that if I get stuck, I can look at the answer, but I have to read the Wikipedia page about it.

Same! I bought a chrome cast without realizing I couldn’t watch Prime on it, then I learned about the Amazon/Google dispute. I felt so disappointed in these companies.

I am hoping people get serious about staying home if they’re sick. “I’m not contagious.” If you’re not contagious, then how did the whole office get wiped out?

The description of the hotel with the fireplaces and Japanese baths sounded so beautiful. I forgot for a moment that this was a story of the hotel getting stolen and thought whoever buys it would be well set up to have a lovely business. I feel so bad for the owners on the cusp of retirement then dragged through hell when they should be enjoying themselves.

I am the planner in my friend group. I used to be like, “This thing looks cool, we should all go do it sometime.” Even if we all agree that it’s awesome, it usually gets forgotten except for the occasional, “oh yeah! We still need to do that sometime!” I have found that if I really want to get something together, adding a date and time to the mention of it makes it a million times more likely that it’ll happen. “Would anyone like to go the the fair on Saturday at x time?” We may have some back and forth about times or days, but just having something to start off of really helps get everyone into gear and thinking about their schedules.

Also, I used to be really scared to invite people to do stuff. I didn’t think people would want to go out. Maybe they were saying no cos they secretly hate me. Maybe I’m bothering them by inviting them places. Just silly anxiety fears. Now, I just throw stuff out there and see what sticks.

This is so nostalgic. As a child, my Tamagotchi felt like a real pet to me, and it really was heart wrenching when they passed away.

I am someone who cycles through passions. I used to feel terrible that I wasn’t able to stick with anything. Now, I’ve come to terms with that being who I am. I’ll love something, drop it two weeks later, pick it back up 3 months from now. The way I look at it is it’s my leisure time, and I get really stuck/dissatisfied with life when I feel like my side hobbies are jobs that I should be doing. I am jealous of my friends who find something they enjoy then obsess over it. I just can’t do it. I’ll read 3/4 books at the same time.

I guess what I’m trying to say is, passion doesn’t have to be one note. Passion has ebbs and flows, but there is always something out there waiting for you.

Shoot, in the late 90’s I feel like everyone was ripping and burning CDs not just the savvy ones.

I have a friend like your brother. He literally makes eye contact with everyone down the hall and nods a greeting. At the coffee shop, he will look up and catch the eye of everyone walking in. I think that’s his trick of projecting he’s open to communication.

Heck yes. When I first started in tech, I was all about the working into the wee hours. I wanted to be hardcore. I was listening to a podcast and someone mentioned what you just said, “A major culture problem in the tech industry is glamorizing lack of sleep.” Hearing that gave me the slap of reality I needed. Just because I’m present at the computer doesn’t mean I’m doing my best work. There would be times I was so tired, I’d open an application to do something then sit staring at it for a few moments because I couldn’t remember what I was going to do. Now, I evangelize sleep to all my friends and coworkers. Especially the younger ones. I want to break that cycle.

Same! One week it’s terrible for you. The next week it’s curing cancer. I just try not to have any past a certain hour so as to not interrupt my sleep.