Mrs Whiggins

Prior to graduation I worked retail and there were certainly customers that did or attempted to return items under questionable circumstances. The owner had a small regional chain and the policy was essentially left up to each manager and that's who we (the floor staff) went to with issues and that person made the decision. I got a little disgusted with the parents who would bring in their sons' cleats at the end of football season--broken down and filthy and smelly, claim they were defective and then want to trade them in for basketball shoes (and after that season track or baseball spikes) or cash. That was usually met with the response of 'no cash, only trade in like for like i.e. another identical pair of football cleats.' If the owner knew the family then there were *cough* exceptions made but usually not because otherwise he was essentially outfitting half the region's teams for four years and multiple sports off a one-time purchase. If they were buying other goods, it might have worked but he didn't stock other merchandise the way a big outfit would. I have little idea how common that was/is elsewhere. It is my own admittedly limited anecdote. Some people would view the exchange one way and other people another way but when you're seventeen, eighteen working and standing across from guys your own age and their moms/dads doing that, you wonder how they (teen and parent) view it comparatively. At least I did.

If the State's view is that women are property, then why would it be surprising that the fetus is considered equal or greater than? If property expires, then simply acquire a new parcel (womb). What hasn't yet happened is the discussion (legal or otherwise) as to why the male progenitor is not allowed to make the property holder's decision versus the doctor if the male progenitor is present.

I was rooting for the win. I don't post in the football section all that often; I love to watch football, especially good/improving teams but honestly I hate the talking heads on tv. Just blather on about this or that and it gets annoying. Just call the game as it happens, show the replay if there's a flag and then please just stop right there. Message boards may get into the weeds, but message boards aren't interrupting my enjoyment of the game with their hot takes either. So after the conclusion, I was disappointed for the team and all but they had a lot of which to be proud this year and I wish them great success next year.

The whole exchange was odd. I sure wouldn't be friendly to anyone (official or otherwise) who tried to obscure themselves while wanting to gain entry. I mean it's going to put me on the defensive and hostile from the get go as opposed to the 'what do you want to speak with me about?." Now, if my long con grift operation I'm running is in jeopardy of being exposed, and I think the Law is on to us I'm already going to be on edge, but that doesn't mean the police should approach that way, warrantless and lying as if they're just handing out literature for the next Neighborhood Night Out program. Why ramp up a situation?

I didn't really have much to add with respect to specific ideas or policies. I just was noting that the thread derailed because someone positing the concept(?) that 'we' the people of this thread stop and truly discuss, think about, consider what borders mean, what immigration means at its most basic level seemed to really get a charged reaction. It's a fucking thread on a message board so why not take the topic back and tear it down and attempt to rebuild it by considering various ideas, thoughts, preconceptions, biases? Next one of you lot that complains about women being emotional ought to remember that anger is an emotion and some posters get rather emotional for the oddest of reasons. Football excepting of course. Consider the economics, the humanity, the morality, the history, the geography, the inescapable facts (human instinct for survival seems pertinent here) and whatever, but what does it hurt to read (slowly and thoughtfully) what is being presented and then (slowly and thoughtfully) type a response? IMO, @Neonmoon wasn't wrong about it being tricky to explain oneself in text or to understand what another meant, but that is the method of this board and its limitations. So, give some grace and stop reading and posting while driving or toileting and maybe let a response sit for awhile before hitting submit. It's what professors at most schools would advise and I'd say that's advice worth every penny of tuition. gotta get back to work, y'all try not to hate on each other so much.

I hope it's okay if I weigh in here; granted this is a Dad's thread but for a different perspective and some food for thought. Seems like there's a couple of things to consider: first, you mention that he's apparently not along the path to puberty just yet. That's okay, as you noted. It was similar in our family. Every one was behind (physically and emotionally) and they came by it genetically as my spouse and I were 'late' bloomers. I suspect that when the penny drops, as it one day will, he will most likely become more private about his personal space and what he does within. Second, and this is somewhat anecdotal so YMMV, when I was undergoing treatment, I was quite ill for a number of days each week and this lasted for quite a while. It was a scary time for our family but something I noticed was that for one of my children the need to be near, to reassure(?) himself that I would be okay or that I wasn't lonely amid the hustle and bustle of family life (if I was resting) was apparent. He would 'nap' not too far away or come and give a hug or pat my hand. At night, no, because Dad was there but after school or on weekends when everyone was running around being teenagers. There was absolutely nothing sexual about it. I get a little choked up about it now because seeing him model the empathy and kindness of his father is something of which any mother can be proud. If he chooses to be a dad someday, he will be a wonderful one I know. (I should add that it's not that the rest of the family are cold-hearted grinches but he just 'sees' people very well). Finally, I don't know your dynamics specifically with mother and son. If he is sleeping in the same room of his own volition w/o encouragement then I suspect it will, as noted above, pass as he matures. If it would make you feel better to discuss it with her, good luck. I mean, that could go south real fast depending upon how it's broached you know? Regardless, talking honestly about your fears (and that seems to be a little of what this is, or am I reading it wrong?) about his potential discomfort or embarrassment seems like a starting point. Maybe she has a few of her own, ya know? Mixed feelings about watching your babies leave childhood and enter the world of young adulthood: pride and pain go hand in hand as you watch them go out and conquer the world. *Note: several replies while I was typing this, and one of them broached something I wasn't comfortable mentioning--that it may be comfort for her. Yeah, that's one thought I had and was outside the realm of my experience with my own children. You've had a different situation and some talking things over with a counselor may help him/her/you establish some healthy expectations/coping mechanisms/acceptable ways to provide comfort and consolation.

This thread has taken a fascinating turn of late. I'm reading along and then it is remarkable how it began to resemble (allegorically but I'm stretching) the Ryan Reynold's movie, Free Guy. You've got a scene where a couple of posters propose a thought experiment, "Hey, what if we let ALL the NPCs into this country who want to come? What would that be like? What problems would that solve or create? Is it actually even a problem or is it manufactured to elicit certain reactions? What policies should or could we have in place? What have other places done? Let's talk about this" That was what I was interpreting but the thread didn't go that way. It turned into a shooter game just like all the others because well, that's the way things must go I guess.

I am loving the photos as well. Getting closer to game time so y'all fill up so you've got energy to cheer!

I quoted all of these for reference; really though even if Casey DeSantis envisioned herself as the belle of DC, I don't think I'd pin the motivation on her entirely. Regardless of how much power of persuasion you think she might have or even her professional career skills (and she was by all accounts good at her job--regional Emmy winner etc), I suspect/speculate that this is Ron and the people with whom he's been since he was plugging away at Yale, Harvard Law, and later through the military and US Attny Office. He was moving up through the ranks somewhat steadily and I think that was by his design not hers (they married after his return from Iraq). She is an asset, no doubt, due to her abilities and her own competitiveness, but I also believe this is just who Ron DeSantis is. While other people in the political arena may be "more enthusiastic, driven, and confident than DeSantis," it doesn't mean he doesn't want the role, the attention, or the power. And ultimately, I believe it is the last word, power, that is his motivation. It wouldn't be the first time that someone who doesn't really fit the image or what popular media says must fit the image made a run for the role. He was and is in a bit of a pickle. Waiting another four years was a risk, but so is laying the cards out now. It's what he chose and he's having to deal with it. He seems rather thin-skinned w/respect to criticism, so perhaps he isn't good with trying to sincerely work on his delivery etc. It bores him because (similar to Trump) they should like me as I am: wonderful and smart, right? Casey DeSantis: Yes, dear. We don't have to agree on this, I certainly don't know either one of them. It just seems a little too simple to say that it's her pushing him into this.

You of all people better not fucking predict anything today if you possess any kind of a survival instinct.

Rep and that looks amazing!

J/K --hope it went well and tastes delicious!

Long range planning, even for the off-the-grid types, still takes them by surprise because of the little details to which we've become accustomed. If, for example, secession was not a peaceful transfer of all the various entities, and even if they and their neighbors formed a little militia under some sort of agreement, one little siege would likely lead to capitulation. The reliance on so many things that we take for granted suddenly become evident. Safe water and food seem simple and yet...cell service and being able to travel to buy whatever seem simple and yet...to what lengths is one willing to go to survive? History and the past show us, when we aren't too blind to see it or illiterate to read it...

Maybe on the premium where they don't want to ban customers, but I suspect a lot of threads will continue to get removed from the rest by their moderators.

I'm very happy for him and his people. I know the college football world is full of big money, big moxie, big hot air, and Lord knows a lot of hate, delusion, misogyny, and obsessive personalities. If a fellow can face his flaws and emerge from that a better man, a human who tries to make the young people under his purview see how to cope, how to understand another's perspective, how to keep trying then I'm going to nod my head and root for the lot of it.

@Biff Tannen please please crosspost your food pics here--you've got some winners from NOLA.

....Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!" Nothing beside remains. Round the decay Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare The lone and level sands stretch far away. Perhaps the slimmest difference between Shelley's poem and the future is that no human will be left to record the hubris of our species.

I love how in Louisiana the french fries are a step-cousin in the fried food hierarchy whereas in many other places they'd have pride of place alongside the main entree.

THIS!! Love the food pics, everything looks amazing.

Labor isn't what I'm worried about so much, although if the powers can screw them over w/o penalty they will. I don't think the officials/donors/investors care for the "have skills can transfer" part of the current system, so I wonder how long that will last? Money laundering, not with the top teams but with the lower tier programs, seems like a stronger and dangerous risk--especially if outside entities get involved (private investors/foreign agencies/et. al).

Is some of this coming from the "trad fam" types who want the young males to be paired off before the female has a chance to develop her own ideas, thoughts, and plans for her future? Between the Andrew Tate types and the evangelical dating = courtship to marriage, it seems to be some of the same backlash against educated females being able to leave unsatisfactory and/or abusive marriages w/o becoming destitute or when males decide to trade in first model for updated younger model, again, not plunging the first wife into disarray because she can advocate for herself. In our culture, there is still a fair amount of 'boys pursue sex' with no family/societal shame but girls are not "permitted" to admit to have desires period. (Eve in the garden syndrome). It's toxic for whatever gender to which it's applied.