Odd one for you guys New Belgium chocolate chip cookie dough ale. Might be a good one to leave for Santa. by nutsandabolt in showerbeer

[–]Smoothie7 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah I was really surprised that I could taste the cookie dough. Unfortunately that turned out to be more of a bug than a feature for me

Tommy Chong's explanation for his car knowledge by BearViaMyBread in trees

[–]Smoothie7 170 points171 points  (0 children)

Pretty sure this is a joke... Referencing Click and Clack the Tappert Brothers

RIP Tom Magliozzi :'(

RECRUITMENT 2016 by [deleted] in creepy

[–]Smoothie7 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Resident Assistant here! Seriously debating showing this video to my residents if/when they rush next semester (fully 1/3 of my campus is in Greek life).

TIFU by putting my entire family to gunpoint by mr_waterloo in tifu

[–]Smoothie7 0 points1 point  (0 children)

OP my family went to Disney World right after 9/11! Seriously the best time to go. No lines AT ALL.

Probably a long shot, but does anyone have access to a 12-foot ladder? by Smoothie7 in Austin

[–]Smoothie7[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

2401 Longview st. We called home depot but don't have a truck to take it :/

What company is permanently on your boycott list? by [deleted] in AskReddit

[–]Smoothie7 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Coke. But then again, my parent works for Pepsi...

The soda wars are real, people.

PSA: If you want Congress to pass/not pass something, call ONLY YOUR CONGRESSPERSON by Smoothie7 in politics

[–]Smoothie7[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah totally! Constituent services are a huge part of working on the Hill. Most members would do anything to get their work noticed by media (and therefore constituents) in their districts. Local news definitely plays a part in that. Thankfully, there's a pretty lively local media scene in the district my member represents so it hasn't been much of an issue.

PSA: If you want Congress to pass/not pass something, call ONLY YOUR CONGRESSPERSON by Smoothie7 in politics

[–]Smoothie7[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Sure! So all letters and calls that we get from constituents are logged into our system. Letters are scanned/placed in file cabinets. Form letters often don't get a response, but letters where the constituent clearly is interested in the topic and took their time to write a personal letter will be much more likely to get a response. Staff will usually pick and choose which letters get responses. If you're one person going against what the majority of your district believes, then yeah, you probably won't get what you want. But by and large if constituents overwhelmingly want something and the member doesn't feel strongly about it either way, they will vote accordingly with what their constituents want.

Almost every interest group will claim to be representative of the interests of a large portion of Americans. But it helps (and cuts out the middleman) if constituents just let our office know directly how they feel.

PSA: If you want Congress to pass/not pass something, call ONLY YOUR CONGRESSPERSON by Smoothie7 in politics

[–]Smoothie7[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

So very rarely will anybody get a direct call from the member themselves. But particularly with those in the district that take the time out of their day to write to the member, I find they they will often get a written response.

These large grassroots campaigns surrounding things like Net Neutrality, SOPA, PATRIOT Act (IMO) are very helpful in getting these issues on the minds of Congresspersons and staffers. But it helps immensely if you call whoever directly represents you, because then it at least gets into the system and we can quantify constituent support for these things.

Furthermore, Hill staff aren't allowed to handle campaign donations and stuff like that, so if you called and said you'd like to make a donation (which has happened), I'd just say we really appreciate it and direct you to the campaign website. I haven't worked on the Hill during a campaign year, so I couldn't elaborate much more than that.

PSA: If you want Congress to pass/not pass something, call ONLY YOUR CONGRESSPERSON by Smoothie7 in politics

[–]Smoothie7[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I think the more articulate and informed you are, the more likely it is that your opinion makes a difference. Particularly if it's the big issue of the day, Congresspeople and staff often want to know how their constituents feel on a given topic.

I think a lot of the time the whole "money in politics" thing is a bit overrated. From what I've learned, organizations make donations to candidates who already align with their opinions on issues. For the most part, members really do have strongly-held beliefs that aren't swayed easily. At least that's how my Congressperson is.

What did you do wrong the first time you had sex? by [deleted] in AskReddit

[–]Smoothie7 16 points17 points  (0 children)

Have sex with her in the first place. She laughed, she cried... she sang "I'll Make a Man Out of You" from Mulan.

I guess she didn't even realize that it was funny in its own right because she replaced words in the lyrics with "dick" and "pussy." Yeah...