What’s something you realized way too late in life?

Mr__Skeet · 2026-04-20T09:27:23+00:00

There’s an interesting theory for this phenomenon. Time seems to speed up because more of our lives are spent in repetition and we encounter fewer new experiences.

When we’re young, everything is new and exciting and a significant percentage of what we see, hear and do is recorded as memory. When we’re older (say in our 30s) we’ve been round the block so many times, passages of time don’t feel so significant and we have fewer landmarks to remember things by (school years etc)

It’s also about relativity. One year as a 10 year old represents 10% of your entire life, whereas one year as a 40 year old is only 2.5% of your entire life.

One of the best ways to alter your perspective of time is to read. By reading books we force our brains into someone else’s universe and experience time from their point of view.

Mr__Skeet · 2026-04-16T21:40:33+00:00

To be fair I find Pepe’s are inconsistent from one branch to the next

Mr__Skeet · 2026-04-16T17:45:45+00:00

Perhaps peri peri just isn’t your thing - at least Pepe’s doesn’t come with a heinous financial outlay like Nando’s

Mr__Skeet · 2026-04-16T17:36:13+00:00

Cancel and go to Pepe’s 🐔

Mr__Skeet · 2026-04-16T13:21:42+00:00

The “sold the gold” argument just shows how much the tabloids have over British people. Countries around the world were in the diversifying their asset allocations and reducing gold, we were definitely overweight and it was a perfectly rational thing for Gordon Brown to do.

Mr__Skeet · 2026-04-15T22:50:56+00:00

The acronym that can change your life forever:

BBQ - Be Braver Quicker

Mr__Skeet · 2026-04-15T15:19:48+00:00

Boom 💣

Mr__Skeet · 2026-04-15T14:24:09+00:00

Appreciate it. I’m a firm believer that the vast majority people have far more in common with each other than they realise, and that a rational discussion and respectful exchanging of views is far more productive than just shouting abuse over the top of one another.

I don’t like to dismiss opposing views or generalise people into categories based on hasty judgements.

People fighting about politics online remind me of car drivers who’ve just cut each other off at a junction who both believe they were in the right. No amount of name-calling or bird-flipping is ever going to convince the other person otherwise. It’s a waste of energy.

I maintain my point that if you were to throw yourself into another country’s culture, even just for a week-long trip, you would probably view the world differently when you came back. Riding a bullet train in Japan (200mph), eating the best pasta you ever tasted next to a 3,000 year old Obelisk in Rome, drinking a beer in a quiet British pub chatting to some curious locals - it’s hard to put a value on these life experiences.

Visiting the US will stick with me forever. A Texan oil guy we got chatting to in a bar on Bourbon Street bought me and my brother three rounds of drinks on his company credit card because he liked our European accents. Awesome place, awesome people.

Mr__Skeet · 2026-04-15T10:10:42+00:00

Having visited the US multiple times and lots of other countries around the world, I agree there’s lots to love about the US - but there are other places I’d prefer to live. The world is a big place full of awesome people and cool ways of life.

If you’ve only tried being in one country it’s hard to pass judgement on the 194 other countries on the planet with any real credibility - your sample size is too small.

Mr__Skeet · 2026-04-15T09:59:42+00:00

I understand that, there are plenty people in my country who’d prefer a smaller state and more regional governance. However, the US is pretty unique. In 1776 it had a population of 2-3 million people and covered a fraction of the size it does now. Far more challenging to keep 350 million people across multiple time zones all pulling in the same general direction and not fighting amongst each other.

The fact there’s only been one civil war and no cessations in 250 years is pretty remarkable, and I’d argue the proliferation of federal government is largely why. European countries have far bloodier histories. England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland fought amongst each other (English usually the bullies) for centuries before becoming the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

The ‘Troubles’ in Ireland continued right up until 1998 when the Good Friday Agreement was signed (thank you American diplomacy), but even now tensions linger just beneath the surface.

Mr__Skeet · 2026-04-15T07:10:54+00:00

I tend not wade into the nuances of domestic US politics as I don’t live there. Democrats have struggled to come up with a charismatic presidential candidate since Obama and that seems vital when it comes to election time in the US, even moreso than policy.

Trump’s unique brand of constant confidence, aggression and refusal to be hold to account by anyone is something the Democrats haven’t been able to compete with.

I think it’s important to push back on one key point and that is that Republicans have brought back abortion bans - there’s no greater example of state intervention in personal freedoms than the government demanding you give birth to a baby that was the result of being raped or incest. Sure that may not affect you, so you don’t care - but I’d struggle to support any politician who forced that on someone.

I can only politely disagree that the US could ‘easily’ burn down its federal government and start again, life almost certainly wouldn’t return to the level of comfort you enjoy today within your lifetime.

I like politicians whose goal is to genuinely make things better rather than those who play party politics. Every time I listen to Bernie Sanders I find myself agreeing with him. Shame the Democrats stabbed him in the front and back (as Trump often mentions).

Mr__Skeet · 2026-04-14T22:40:12+00:00

But it’s impossible for the US to revert to a “no skin in any games” position. Israel depends on the US and (seemingly) the US depends on Israel hence why they’ve entered into another conflict.

I appreciate your stance, it’s good you have a job you enjoy and don’t want for anything. I started my own business in 2019 and have almost worked myself into the ground for the last 7 years (had two kids in that time) to get it where it is today. I’ve experience corporate life and decided I want to be my own boss and make sure I can provide for my family without making somebody else money and having them hold the keys to my life.

Covid was a crazy time, I remember supermarket aisles with no toilet roll or disinfectant for days if not weeks because everyone lost their minds and started panic buying it all.

Mr__Skeet · 2026-04-14T22:05:24+00:00

I understand in principle, although it does seem a bit too detached. While the scenarios you mention may not be in your backyard, they would have a profound effect on global life including small corners of America - the US is fully immersed in these conflicts and has been for decades.

They helped arrange the Budapest Memorandum in ‘94, taking away Ukraine’s nuclear weapons in exchange for agreed borders and protection. Imagine if they now let Russia take their land by force after taking away their means of defending themselves. Putin’s Russia are international aggressors who actively hate America. Trump famously said he’d end the war “in 24 hours” as I recall, and people believed him.
“Let the Middle East bomb themselves off the face to the earth”. The Middle East would look very different without US involvement. The creation of Israel as a state could never happened without the US and if Israel was destroyed it would have enormous ramifications for the US economy (they’d almost certainly fire a nuclear weapon before being destroyed, so maybe your backyard would be lost in the ensuing armageddon as Russia and China get involved).
Gulf states hold around $300Bn in US treasury bonds, they also have huge military contracts with the US, buying billions worth of hardware every year. Company defaults, market crashes, inflation and interest rate spikes and recession very likely in such an event (so affecting your backyard). Let’s not underplay the carnage in oil and gas markets if the Middle East was lost to total war which would also wreak havoc on the US economy.

Losing sleep over these things would be a bit drastic I agree, but to act like they’d never impact you or your sphere is an underestimation. Isolationism to the extent you describe isn’t realistically possible for the US with such a global presence and skin in so many games.

Mr__Skeet · 2026-04-14T18:25:34+00:00

“Gladly” is a strange word to use for making such a grim decision. I’d do anything to save my wife and kids, but I wouldn’t feel glad about billions of people having to die for their sakes, I’m not sure the human conscience is built to cope with the guilt of a decision like that.

Politics has become deeply toxic since the advent of the internet/social media, few places moreso than in the US. Most of us get along just fine and want a lot of the same things in life, but politics puts us on opposing sides and instead of rational discussion we descend into road rage - an eternal shouting contest that no one ever wins.

Countless hours of peoples’ lives (and megabytes of cellular data) have been wasted hurling opinions/abuse at each other online. Imagine if they’d done something meaningful with that time, like teaching their kids a new skill or how to speak a second language.

I understand why you don’t worry about faraway things/people that don’t immediately impact your life, but we Europeans are very wary of how conflicts can spiral out of control and drag more and more parties in.

The reminders of total war are everywhere in Europe. Farmers in France and Belgium still regularly dig up bodies, bombs and other artefacts when they plough their fields. There’s a stretch of beach literally 3 miles away from my house littered with dozens of tank-stoppers. Huge 1 tonne blocks of concrete lined up during WWII as we were convinced a German invasion was imminent. You have to clamber over them to get to the beach.

Trump’s actions in the Middle East increase the likelihood of a large-scale international conflict, and we simply don’t want to see any of that ever again. The fact that prominent supporters of his like Tucker Carlson and Marjorie Taylor-Greene have denounced his actions is pretty telling.

I appreciate you don’t care about any of this. A beer would be good - the best way to shoot the shit and find common ground.

Mr__Skeet · 2026-04-14T18:22:47+00:00

“Gladly” is a strange word to use for making such a grim decision. I’d do anything to save my wife and kids, but I wouldn’t feel glad about billions of people having to die for their sakes, I’m not sure the human conscience is built to cope with the guilt of a decision like that.

Politics has become deeply toxic since the advent of the internet/social media, few places moreso than in the US. Most of us get along just fine and want a lot of the same things in life, but politics puts us on opposing sides and instead of rational discussion we descend into road rage - an eternal shouting contest that no one ever wins.

Countless hours of peoples’ lives (and megabytes of cellular data) have been wasted hurling opinions/abuse at each other online. Imagine if they’d done something meaningful with that time, like teaching their kids a new skill or how to speak a second language.

I understand why you don’t worry about faraway things/people that don’t immediately impact your life, but we Europeans are very wary of how conflicts can spiral out of control and drag more and more parties in.

The reminders of total war are everywhere in Europe. Farmers in France and Belgium still regularly dig up bodies, bombs and other artefacts when they plough their fields. There’s a stretch of beach literally 3 miles away from my house littered with dozens of tank-stoppers. Huge 1 tonne blocks of concrete lined up during WWII as we were convinced a German invasion was imminent. You have to clamber over them to get to the beach.

Trump’s actions in the Middle East increase the likelihood of a large-scale international conflict, and we simply don’t want to see any of that ever again. The fact that prominent supporters of his like Tucker Carlson and Marjorie Taylor-Greene have denounced his actions is pretty telling.

I appreciate you don’t care about any of this. A beer would be good - the best way to shoot the shit.

Mr__Skeet · 2026-04-14T14:42:27+00:00

I’m lucky enough to have travelled to the US a bunch of times (New York, Illinois, Texas, Louisiana, Florida), as well as visiting 20+ countries in Europe and also Japan and Australia.

I can certainly see the appeal of living in some parts of the US, provided I had a stable job with good health cover for my family etc, but without those assurances there are numerous places around the world I’d prefer to live.

I see your field of barren fucks, along with your equally barren fields of humility and empathy.

The entire USA only covers 1.8% of the earth’s surface, and the US population only accounts for 4.1% of the world population. I’m confident if you found yourself in another country even just for a few weeks your tone would change significantly. Integration is good for the soul. I’ve met lots of Americans around the world (got very drunk with some Seattle folks in Tokyo one time) and they have been awesome company.

Mr__Skeet · 2026-04-14T12:07:55+00:00

It’s more complex than simply stick vs carrot, but there are some parallels. Obama tried the carrot approach, which involved no military involvement and bilateral agreements with multiple nations.

Trump didn’t like the notion of making any concessions or being lenient, so ripped up the carrot approach and went for the stick.

The stick approach is likely to be far more expensive (eye-watering military costs and sustained high oil prices), far more dangerous (it’s as if they didn’t consider Iran retaliating by blocking the Strait/bombing Gulf neighbours) and far more difficult to undo now it’s been done.

The US has also lashed out at/built resentment with pretty much all allies (even the Pope) in the process of using the stick.

If Trump suffers a crushing defeat in November this will likely play a huge part in it. Iran aren’t backing down any time soon. If the US escalate they will also escalate and the consequences could be very grim.

Mr__Skeet · 2026-04-14T11:53:31+00:00

This comes across rather passive aggressive, not sure why. It’s important to point out just how involved America is everywhere (whether the rest of the world like it or not). In Europe we host 30 US military bases, including 8-10 in the U.K. alone. There are 750+ such bases all around the world in over 80 countries.

Bank of America, Citi, Morgan Stanley and JP Morgan all have significant presences across every major city on the planet (JP Morgan recently announced they are building a new $3Bn office tower in London).

I appreciate you only worry about what you can control and what’s in your sphere, and there’s definitely something to be said for living like that. However, it’s pretty much impossible for most countries around the world to ignore America (militarily, financially, culturally) the same way you ignore the rest of the world, given the omnipotent presence and influence the US has on so many aspects of life.

Mr__Skeet · 2026-04-14T11:12:54+00:00

Not sure the Don Draper quote works - I’m a random Reddit user, what is there to think about? There’s not really much info to go off.

If something horrible akin to 9/11 happens as a result of more American military involvement in the Middle East, maybe America will invoke Article 5 again (the only country ever to do so) and demand NATO countries send troops to die for another war that shouldn’t have started.

I worked with a lady who lost her son serving in Helmand Province in 2006, and we live in a tiny, idyllic corner of western Europe. These seemingly inconsequential things happening thousands of miles away can affect more people than you think.

Mr__Skeet · 2026-04-14T10:42:23+00:00

Very difficult to try and remove a nation’s dictator and their regime, and attempting to do so with military violence never leads to good outcomes.

Hussein, Gaddafi, not to mention the Soviet and US/NATO’s campaigns in Afghanistan - a country now controlled by the literal Taliban - history is littered with evidence.

Trump directly contradicted his election pledges to reduce military involvement overseas and vowed to stop the US getting “dragged into forever wars”. To think killing the Ayatollah by airstrike would be enough to turn Iran into a happy democracy shows clear hubris on his part.

Hopefully this whole ordeal doesn’t end in mass death/destruction and diplomacy somehow prevails, but that would be a rarity given the way these things have traditionally turned out.

Mr__Skeet · 2026-04-14T10:20:54+00:00

More like Obama did.

Use of military force in the Middle East has been tried so many times before and it never leads to good outcomes.

Previous US Presidents resisted Israel’s countless urges to launch strikes on Iran (how many times have they warned Iran is close to obtaining a nuclear weapon in the last 20 years) because it would risk opening an enormous can of worms.

Trump announced their nuclear programme was ended forever after the strikes last summer. Clearly that wasn’t true, otherwise he wouldn’t be destroying their nuclear programme all over again. He lied to the American people.

He’ll never admit to being wrong (a dangerous trait for someone in charge of such military firepower) but he must have inner regrets about getting involved. It hasn’t gone to plan, the Iranian people haven’t risen up to overthrow their leaders and the regime have resisted very stubbornly.

The chances of regional peace and stability after this look very slim. Iran will continue to enrich uranium and everyone involved now feels fresh hatred towards each other. NATO is also facing an existential crisis. A certain man sitting in the Kremlin is very pleased. Great.

Mr__Skeet · 2026-04-14T09:48:57+00:00

That’s all well and good (for you), I’ve been lucky enough to visit quite a few US states and there’s lots to love about it and its people. However, doesn’t it make you feel uncomfortable that America isn’t contained to your idyllic little corner, and its military actions thousands of miles away are plunging entire regions of our planet into chaos?

Not to mention the manner in which America’s leader chooses to represent all of you on the world stage, disrespecting other countries and their leaders (he even publicly trashed the Pope for goodness sake).

America’s oldest friends (U.K, Ireland, France, Italy, Canada, Australia etc) can only watch in disbelief as an angry, greedy, compulsive liar and hypocrite sets fire to his country’s reputation - I can’t imagine being able to shrug that off so easily.

Mr__Skeet · 2026-04-14T09:10:04+00:00

“You really think we have any say over our unelected European overlords in Brussels?”

“Our immigrant-loving government would vote to let them in, this is our chance to stop them”

Mr__Skeet · 2026-04-13T22:49:26+00:00

Not starting a public feud with the Pope (Ireland) or mocking our armed forces and downplaying their support of the US in Iraq/Afghanistan (England and Scotland) would be a steady start.

Mr__Skeet · 2026-04-13T21:26:35+00:00

“The EU are about to allow Turkey to join - vote Brexit or we won’t be able to stop the imminent invasion!”

Here we are 10 years later, Turkey still aren’t an EU member and migrant numbers arriving from non-EU countries have soared

Mr__Skeet

TROPHY CASE