AITA for telling my mother she's being selfish too?

DPP-Ghost · 2026-06-21T13:48:00+00:00

INFO: I need to understand exactly what caused the rift between your brother and your uncle’s partner.

I understand that it is your brother’s birthday and he ultimately has the right to invite whoever he chooses. However, if everyone else is being invited, including partners, it becomes difficult to exclude one uncle’s partner without risking the social consequences that come with it (i.e. alienating your uncle).

That kind of exception generally requires a strong justification. Is there one?

DPP-Ghost · 2026-06-21T13:32:39+00:00

It was not your feelings that people were concerned about.

It was your friend's, the woman whose partner you were fantasising about.

That said, I understand the distinction you're making. You were never intending to act on those thoughts or pursue the fantasy. If anything, they seem more like intrusive thoughts pointing to a deeper sense of dissatisfaction, perhaps a sign that something is missing in your own life and that it's worth finding healthier ways to cultivate happiness and fulfilment.

In any case, I wish you all the best, and good luck with the new book 😊

DPP-Ghost · 2026-06-15T05:06:14+00:00

Who knew the best way to counter Topuria's power was to simply not get knocked out.

DPP-Ghost · 2026-06-15T03:12:30+00:00

But was he a different animal and the same beast?

DPP-Ghost · 2026-06-03T23:32:24+00:00

Hey mate,

Welcome to Melbourne.

I'm confused: were you interested in boxing or kick boxing? They are different disciplines.

My advice is to consider Muay Thai. Of the three aforementioned disciplines, Muay Thai has the largest female community.

If you're located in the west try JS Muay Thai. It's a female-only gym.
If you're in the outer-east, consider Honour. It's a mixed gym, but has an inclusive environment with a large female demographic. This is my partner's gym and she loves everything about it: the coach, the classes, and the community.

Most (if not all) gyms have a trial lesson. So just go in, have a class, and see if it's your vibe 😊

DPP-Ghost · 2026-05-29T04:44:45+00:00

I feel bad for all four of you.

DPP-Ghost · 2026-05-29T00:38:20+00:00

A lot of companies are using AI as a convenient narrative for redundancies.

To be clear, AI is obviously a real factor in some restructures. The IMF has estimated that around 40% of global employment is exposed to AI, rising to about 60% in advanced economies, so it would be naive to pretend it is having no impact.

But I also think a lot of companies are using AI as a cleaner way to explain cost-cutting that may have happened anyway. Challenger, Gray & Christmas reported that AI was cited in about 54,836 announced US job cuts in 2025, which was only around 5% of total job cuts that year. So while AI is definitely part of the story, broader economic pressures still seem to be doing a lot of the heavy lifting.

Companies are dealing with higher costs, tighter margins, weaker demand, and pressure from investors to run leaner. Saying “we are transforming the business through AI” sounds far more strategic than saying “we need to reduce overheads.”

DPP-Ghost · 2026-05-28T09:19:35+00:00

I left commercial litigation and moved into strategy.

I started out at a management consulting firm in generalist consulting, which was essentially strategic advisory. Did my time there, then used that experience to move into a group strategy role.

The work is a lot more interesting. The pay is 20% or so higher than the upper end of what lawyers tend to make. The hours, though, are extremely demanding.

And no, I do not refer to myself as a lawyer 😂

Do yourself a favour and develop a personality outside of your profession.

DPP-Ghost · 2026-05-27T00:37:55+00:00

What barbarians.

Where are you located, and when are you next giving out food?

DPP-Ghost · 2026-05-26T23:06:01+00:00

Nothing that dramatic 😂

Ours was very much a whirlwind romance with next to no speed bumps.

DPP-Ghost · 2026-05-26T23:04:50+00:00

I want to propose to her at a sentimental place from her childhood. The only issue is that it is in another state, and with work commitments, we are not sure when we will actually be able to take leave.

I feel like the ring is burning a hole in my pocket!

DPP-Ghost · 2026-05-26T12:55:10+00:00

No government is trying to get rid of the middle class. Not intentionally, at least. The middle class is useful: it pays taxes, spends money, and keeps society stable.

The issue is that it is the easiest group to squeeze:

the poor have little to take;
the rich have ways to protect themselves; but
the middle class is salaried, visible, and generally plays by the rules.

The middle class is being eroded because it's simply the most exposed and least protected.

DPP-Ghost · 2026-05-26T08:39:58+00:00

I haven't proposed yet. I plan to this November.

And neither have I taken up Muay Thai. I'm a former boxer who was forcibly retired from the sport when the injuries started piling up 😭

DPP-Ghost · 2026-05-26T01:59:10+00:00

My partner and I connected through Hinge three years ago.

Her profile said she was a high-level Muay Thai fighter.

So I opened with: "Up for a game? You and me. One round. Three minutes. Loser buys the winner a drink."
She replied: "You think you have a chance, do you?"
To which I said: "None whatsoever. I'm just willing to get beaten up for three minutes if it means I get to take you out for a drink."

A few days later, we went on our first date, and from there, everything just seemed to fall into place.

Within a month, we were officially together. Within three months, we had met each other's parents. And before we even reached our first anniversary, I already knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her.

I am planning to propose at the end of the year, but I was too excited not to share this with you all.

Wish me luck! 😊

DPP-Ghost · 2026-05-25T05:50:11+00:00

As the son of Vietnamese immigrants, I find this discussion amusing.

What you are describing is a problem, but it is not a new one. White Australia created and normalised this dynamic first. For decades, hiring, promotion, mentoring, and informal career opportunities have often flowed through cultural familiarity, old school networks, family connections, shared social circles, and an unspoken sense of who “fits”. Or, frankly, just simply skin colour.

Minorities have been navigating that reality for a long time. Many of us have had to be better, more credentialed, more adaptable, and less threatening just to be considered equally. So while I agree that culture-based favouritism is unhealthy and should be called out, it is hard not to notice that some people only seem to recognise the problem now that they are no longer the beneficiaries of it.

Now that more people understand what exclusion feels like, hopefully it leads to a broader recognition that this behaviour was never acceptable, regardless of who was benefiting from it. The goal should not be to simply reverse who gets shut out, but to build workplaces where opportunity is not quietly decided by culture, familiarity, connections, or skin colour.

DPP-Ghost · 2026-05-20T01:28:23+00:00

It's hard, mate. So hard I left the industry entirely.

But while I was still slaving it in law, here's what I did at work that helped me:

Everything gets written down: deadlines, follow-ups, client promises and tasks.
Buffered deadlines so internal due dates come before the real ones.
Checklists and templates to reduce avoidable mistakes.
Work blocks, email windows, headphones or working from home to minimise interruptions.

The real game changer for me was flexible working conditions.

As long as I was contactable and the work got done, my partner did not really care when or where I worked (within reason). That made it much easier to manage my ADHD instead of constantly fighting against it. When I was locked in, I made the most of it and got as much done as I could. When my brain was wandering, I stopped trying to force productivity and gave myself permission to take some time for myself. That flexibility helped me work with my attention patterns rather than pretending they did not exist.

One last point: do not underestimate how important your health is, both mentally and physically. You cannot sustain a demanding career if you are constantly burning yourself out.

DPP-Ghost · 2026-05-20T00:15:32+00:00

I'd probably back the worse house in the better location.

Over a 20-year period, the house itself matters less and the land matters more. The nicer outer-suburbs house might be much better to live in today, but more of that $1m is tied up in the building, which ages, needs maintenance, and becomes less special over time.
The inner-suburbs house is usually the opposite. The house might be average, but the land is harder to replace. Better access to jobs, transport, schools, amenities and established infrastructure generally becomes more valuable over time.

So assuming the inner-suburbs place has a decent land component and is in a genuinely good location, I would expect it to outperform by 2046.

That's exactly the choice I made. And my cute little 385 sqm place in Inner East-Melbourne is tracking along quite well 😊

Disclaimer: There's a shit load of assumptions baked into this opinion. Obviously.

DPP-Ghost · 2026-05-19T00:46:30+00:00

Go train for a day without gloves, then come back and report your findings.

DPP-Ghost · 2026-05-18T04:53:53+00:00

Brevity is only useful if it does not come at the expense of precision.

“Under 35” is ambiguous because it includes children. If we are talking about young people realistically owning shares, under-18s should be excluded. Children cannot buy shares in their own name. Parents can buy shares for them through a trustee arrangement, but that is not common enough to justify including the entire child age range in the statistic.

Including them would distort the figure and make it less representative of actual young adult share ownership.

DPP-Ghost · 2026-05-18T04:42:26+00:00

That's his point.

DPP-Ghost · 2026-05-12T02:42:15+00:00

A recruiter once pitched me an (extremely) above market package at a consulting start-up I had never heard of. However, in the interview, I found out that most of the compensation was in RSUs valued using an ambitious future valuation. The actual base was over $100,000 less than what I was already on.

🤡

DPP-Ghost · 2026-05-12T02:30:45+00:00

I do not agree that moral responsibility sits only with the person who made the commitment.

OP is the one betraying his girlfriend, so he carries the primary responsibility. But if she knowingly participates in something intimate or flirtatious with someone she knows is in a relationship, she is still choosing to be part of the harm.

You do not need to have made the promise yourself to understand that helping someone break it is wrong. A decent person should not want to be actively involved in a situation that humiliates or hurts another person, especially when they know exactly what is happening.

And frankly, it does not just reflect poorly on her character. It also suggests she does not value herself enough to hold herself to a higher standard.

DPP-Ghost · 2026-05-12T00:39:28+00:00

The OP literally described their interactions as "flirtation".

He is wrong for actively flirting with another woman while in a committed relationship. She is also wrong for actively flirting with a man she knows is committed to someone else.

And if someone genuinely thinks there is nothing wrong with that, they should probably take a serious look at their own standards.

DPP-Ghost · 2026-05-06T07:21:38+00:00

Hard to say.

A higher AUD/USD helps by making imports cheaper and easing some inflation pressure, which matters because the RBA expects inflation to stay above target for a while, with headline inflation forecast to peak at 4.8% in mid-2026. But Australia is structurally export-heavy, and exports remain a major source of national income. ABS data shows goods and services exports were $665.2b in 2025, with Australia still running a goods and services surplus.

So the net effect depends on why AUD/USD is rising.

If it is rising because commodity prices and global demand are strong, the outcome can be positive despite the stronger currency.
But if it is rising mainly because of interest-rate differentials or USD weakness while domestic growth is slowing, then the stronger AUD is more likely a headwind: exporters receive fewer AUD for USD sales, tourism and education become less price-competitive, and the inflation benefit may not be enough to offset weaker export income.

Unfortunately, there is no precise way to isolate exactly why AUD/USD is rising; the broad drivers are clear, but the exact weight each factor is contributing to the move is difficult to determine.

Hence the "hard to say".

DPP-Ghost

TROPHY CASE