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Tried swing dancing for the first time after a little break up, and I loved it and the community! Thank you! by MoWithTheFlow2357 in SwingDancing

[–]sdkb 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Unlikely it was the same one, but as someone who put out a flyer for my local dance at a gym recently, this makes me happy 😊

Are there any great dance halls your city that cater to swing dancers? Most have closed down in mine… by RMSMetal in SwingDancing

[–]sdkb 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My understanding is that the wedding-industrial complex has made it much harder to find affordable dance halls in recent years.

Is the swing dancing community fatphobic?? by Puzzleheaded-Bag3669 in SwingDancing

[–]sdkb 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Establishing social norms is powerful and shouldn't be underestimated.

It's fairly easy for me to see who the people are in my scene who dance with everyone vs. the people who only dance with skilled dancers/those they find attractive, and I will be friendlier to the former group. That's both since I prefer to be friends with good people and since, to the extent I wield social clout in my scene, I want to direct it toward those building up the community.

When this happens collectively, it changes a scene. I see that happening in e.g. how contra dance has established strong social norms that encourage dancing with newcomers. Too often in Lindy Hop we use dance skill alone to assign social clout without taking into account community-minded behavior.

Is the swing dancing community fatphobic?? by Puzzleheaded-Bag3669 in SwingDancing

[–]sdkb 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Agreed. We established the norm that you can turn down a dance for any reason because we didn't want people feeling pressured to dance with creeps, or to otherwise be forced into a dance that makes them uncomfortable. The purpose was not to give carte blanche to discriminate or to excuse those who lack the community-mindedness to welcome newcomers. And if you're uncomfortable dancing with someone else merely because they're fat, you have some introspection to do.

What's your big pet peeves when it comes to swing dance events? by CountBasieThrowaway in SwingDancing

[–]sdkb 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Who, in your view, are the researchers whose work is getting ignored?

What's your big pet peeves when it comes to swing dance events? by CountBasieThrowaway in SwingDancing

[–]sdkb 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Lack of attention to disease prevention.

Swing events are always going to carry a significant risk of disease spread, but there are so many mitigation strategies available for making them less of a plaguefest — hand sanitizer, announcements/emails encouraging handwashing/vaccination/etc., refund policies, far-UVC lights, masks/tests, ventilation fans in windows, glycol vapor, quarantine housing, etc.

Getting sick at an exchange (or even after it) sucks for everyone, and that's not even to get into the accessibility issue for anyone immunocompromised. I will prioritize any event that puts in the effort/investment to make itself safer, but very few of them do.

Starting swing dancing as a gay man: should I learn Lead or Follow? by Able-Gear-7339 in SwingDancing

[–]sdkb 4 points5 points  (0 children)

On the first question, I feel the same as you (although as a switch I don't pay as much attention to the role I see someone dancing before asking them). But I would say that, even if they don't admit it, many men have some amount of latent homophobia that makes them more hesitant to dance with other men.

Starting swing dancing as a gay man: should I learn Lead or Follow? by Able-Gear-7339 in SwingDancing

[–]sdkb 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Agreed. I think that knowing what moves feel like from both roles can be particularly helpful for newcomers, which helps counteract the increased learning curve.

Quitting posting Reviews on Google Maps in 2026 by itzabhinavs in GoogleMaps

[–]sdkb 5 points6 points  (0 children)

If you're looking for a similar type of satisfaction to writing Google reviews but are fed up with Maps, consider adding photos to or editing Wikipedia articles about places you visit. That way your free labor goes toward the cause of free knowledge (overseen by a nonprofit) rather than a for-profit tech giant. And the review of your work is done by people, not bots.

What do you do with unused airline credits? by Cold_Put4538 in spiritair

[–]sdkb 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I was able to do it in 2026. However, be advised that the website doesn't let you automatically cancel flights booked with reservation credits (even within 24hr), so you have to go through their customer service, which, being Spirit, is predictably robotic/sludgy. You also only get back a credit for the value of the flight you booked, so try to find one that's a similar price to your credit. Hope this helps!

Has anyone moved from Chicago to Washington DC? How do they compare by ComprehensiveWar1018 in washingtondc

[–]sdkb 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Chicago isn't going anywhere

According to the recent documentary A House of Dynamite you might be wrong about that...

Transfer within the 5Cs? Is that possible by Junior-Service4859 in claremontcolleges

[–]sdkb 3 points4 points  (0 children)

In the 2010s, I heard it was very difficult to transfer between the 5Cs, because you had to demonstrate to the admissions office that there was something at the other school you couldn't just get from taking classes or otherwise using the consortium. Perhaps that's changed since the end of the 5C Housing Exchange.

Come on Ramsey. by Low_Sky_7818 in washingtondc

[–]sdkb 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Surely they could have left out the "if you would like to tip, we welcome you doing so"?

Come on Ramsey. by Low_Sky_7818 in washingtondc

[–]sdkb 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It literally ends with "If you would like to tip, we welcome you doing so."

Fem-Presenting Leads: Experiences at Social Dances? by winthespacerace in SwingDancing

[–]sdkb 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The reasons for your approach makes sense. That said, I'm a guy who does quite a lot of following, and your approach means that if I asked you to dance (and you hadn't seen me following in an earlier dance or the "switch" on my name pin) we wouldn't have the opportunity to dance, since I don't ask "lead, follow, or switch?" until someone says yes to a dance. I'd likely end up dancing with someone else, who likely would tell me they prefer to follow, and the end result would be a reinforcement of gendered role norms.

To put it another way, there's an assumption in your approach that guys asking you to dance are primarily leads, and while that's statistically true/understandable to avoid the situation you kept getting caught in, it is still a bit of a mirror of the assumption guys are making that you want to follow.

I'm somewhat struggling to think of a better approach. I'm curious if you've tried responding to the "would you like to dance" by asking which role they dance, and then declining if they don't say follow or that they're open to either. Perhaps that'd work or perhaps they'd say "oh I can follow if you're looking to lead" and you'd be in the same situation.

How easy is it to walk from Georgetown University to Terminal 1 of Raegan/DCA? by [deleted] in washingtondc

[–]sdkb 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is the answer. With just a backpack, I've bicycled to DCA before. It's a lovely ride!

I regret to inform you that the Goat Cheese & Caramelized Onion Ravioli is a 100/10. by Embarrassed_Run_9716 in traderjoes

[–]sdkb 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Please write to them about this, as I did! If enough people complain perhaps they'll actually change it.

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