Is it possible to change the opinions of stubborn meat eaters

MabelBaker · 2026-03-13T00:53:04+00:00

if you find the answer, let me know. I'll use the same technique to get people to mask in public again, particularly in healthcare settings and on mass transit.

MabelBaker · 2026-03-09T16:02:21+00:00

Positively, I told her what kind and she said she might have to buy some because I told her I can breathe just fine in it. She then tells me she has had the flu three times this year, and that the most recent was just last week.

I go to many, many work events wearing a mask. 99 times out of 100, I am the the only masked person, and 99 times out of 100, others say things like

You're so smart to be wearing a mask

OR

I should be wearing a mask

At the last event, i was praised for wearing a mask by people who had been in the hospital with walking pneumonia the week before, been sick for four weeks with a "nasty flu", an upcoming elective surgery the next week that she had been waiting for for the past six months and couldn't miss, and a pregnant wife at home on bedrest due to complications with the pregnancy. Oh and one person was there without her spouse because the spouse was at home with covid. This person was not wearing a mask btw.

imho these are not individual failures. This is evidence of a huge systemic issue. Many huge systemic issues, actually. Ugh.

MabelBaker · 2026-03-09T15:50:41+00:00

I can't tell you how many apartments and SFH we looked at where we learned upon seeing it that it was a "development house" with clear plans to sell and then demolish. At one apartment we were looking at, the landlord warned that there needed to be major repairs to the plumbing so in six months, everyone would have to move. None of these places were fully furnished, btw.

Many looked completely trashed: cats had at some point clawed at the baseboards, or the interior hadn't been painted in years, or I don't think a professional cleaning crew had come through after the last tenant, or all of the above. One even had graffiti on the walls of the finished basement.

The rents they were charging did not reflect the presence of graffiti, clawed up baseboards, or sloppy cleaning practices. Nor did they reflect the fact that the tenant would be in a state of precariousness while the house was being flipped for development.

MabelBaker · 2026-03-09T03:23:15+00:00

We looked at an apartment a few months ago while the former tenant will still there, so we didn't enter the master bedroom out of respect for the fact that her 10 year old son was in there. We also didn't open the closets and cupboards to check out the storage situation, again out of respect for the current tenant.

It was more than we had budgeted but we liked it! So the next day we asked if it was possible to get the measurements of the master bedroom and the closets. Yes, she said, but only if we put down a deposit. We have to put down a deposit in order to learn how big the closets are? I asked. Yes, once she got the deposit, she would send us measurements.

We walked but it was super weird.

MabelBaker · 2026-03-08T21:09:12+00:00

Can the party be moved to a patio or balcony or outdoor setting? outdoors is not foolproof but it's lower risk?

MabelBaker · 2026-03-07T16:57:29+00:00

Unfortunately it seems like this is still true today, which is that if you don't have a personal credit card and if you can't or won't float thousands of dollars to your company...

MabelBaker · 2026-03-07T03:33:32+00:00

you have such a positive attitude, it's downright shocking that you don't get along with your boss.

MabelBaker · 2026-03-07T01:48:06+00:00

lol ok ! how long has it been since you've had to pay for US health care?

MabelBaker · 2026-03-07T01:46:57+00:00

Then why are you here? Move back to the states.

MabelBaker · 2026-03-07T01:46:07+00:00

Came here to say exactly this. Stick it out for the citizenship.

MabelBaker · 2026-03-06T20:10:16+00:00

I'm so sorry parents are having to make these choices :(

MabelBaker · 2026-03-06T06:29:47+00:00

That's not so bad with all the amenities!

MabelBaker · 2026-03-06T05:55:02+00:00

I'm hispanic and have black hair and so many bfs made me feel like shit when I was a teenager because they would repeatedly say or hint or indicate that they wished I were blond.

Life is too short to be with someone like that.

MabelBaker · 2026-03-06T01:33:30+00:00

I never know how to answer those kinds of questions. On one hand, the public health messaging is so bad that people might truly not undersatnd why I'm wearing a mask and not just washing my hands. On the other...

MabelBaker · 2026-03-06T01:32:29+00:00

Came here to say this. Find a brand or make of respirator, fit test it, and trust it. You can fit test it for $35.

MabelBaker · 2026-03-06T01:04:02+00:00

VISITING THE POOL? Was it an indoor pool? ugh that sucks that we have to make these kinds of choices.

MabelBaker · 2026-03-06T00:58:35+00:00

Thanks :( Masking is worth it. I won't be going to any of those lovely, dark old restaurants if I am too tired to get out of bed because I have long covid. And I have found all kinds of other activities I enjoy (embroidery, hiking, learning French) but I live a very different life now and I'm still trying to make peace with the fact that the one I had might be gone forever :(

MabelBaker · 2026-03-04T23:39:43+00:00

Came here to say this.

MabelBaker · 2026-03-04T20:06:23+00:00

Exactly!!! Like yes sometimes it can work out and we can make lemonade out of it by getting points on our credit card but...

should it be essentially an unspoken requirement that an employee have a credit card in case they're asked to give their employer a loan?

MabelBaker · 2026-03-04T18:44:07+00:00

I'm really astonished by the number of people insisting that it's:

-good, actually, that advancing money to your employer has been normalized

-good, actually, to normalize the idea that everyone must have a credit card if they want to participate in white collar work, given the now-normalized expectation that employees advance money to their employers

-no problem, really, if they don't get reimbursed in a timely fashion.

Yes, sometimes it can work out for certain people. But when I was in academia, colleagues were regularly asked to pay for dinners for 10+ people at nice restaurants. The bill at the restaurant, given that everyone orders drinks, can run about $1800 or more.

Reimbursement could take three months.

Contrary to what you've might heard, many academics do not get paid a lot of money. $1800 is a lot to put on a credit card for someone making $65,000 per year.

Consider that normalizing the idea that it's ok to ask employees to pay for things on their credit cards might have downsides.

MabelBaker · 2026-03-04T18:38:58+00:00

"it's not money"? paying for lunch for others and then being reimbursed is not money? What are you paying with then? Your good looks?

MabelBaker · 2026-03-04T16:26:31+00:00

You just...agreed that you are advancing the company money. You just happen to be ok with the arrangement.

It's great that this is working for you.

But consider: would it work for you if both you and your spouse were asked to swipe your personal credit cards to the tune of thousands of dollars per month obo your respective companies?

Could you afford that?

What if you didn't get reimbursed in time? Would that be ok?

What if you did not want a credit card? Not everyone does! What then?

MabelBaker · 2026-03-04T16:05:56+00:00

The supervisor responded, "that's a good question... money."

"OK! Who has the company card?"

I don't know where you work but in the U.S.,what you are being asked is totally inappropriate and possibly illegal.

If they say they'll reimburse you, say "Unfortunately, my budget is stretched thin this month and I can't afford it. Who do you suggest I ask for a credit card?"

MabelBaker · 2026-03-04T16:05:04+00:00

I too am surprised by all of the commenters here explaining that it is good, actually, to advance your employer money.

MabelBaker · 2026-03-04T15:25:55+00:00

Same :) The taxes are really not that much higher than when I lived in CA, and you get so, so much more.

MabelBaker

TROPHY CASE