It's more that we'd enjoy it more if everyone put theirs away, but since we can't ensure coöperation there's no reason not to also defect.

So you're also struggling with the apathy part, huh? For me, waiting tables, I just don't think of the guests as fully human. They come in hungry and I make sure they leave happy. Giving them a sense of assurance is a part of that, but as soon as they're out the door they cease to exist.

As to resentment, you shouldn't be resentful of something you choose to do, or to put it another way, you shouldn't choose things to do that harm your own well-being.

I like twizzlers

Okay, so you take a blueberry bagel and slice it and gently toast it. A little Japanese kewpie mayo, a good amount of Polish beer mustard, mix 'em together and spread on both pieces. Layer thin sliced Black Forest ham, then slices of one-year aged white cheddar. Dill pickles next but pickled red onions work in a pinch. Then a heaping handful of greens, spring mix by preference. Slap the top half of the bagel on and enjoy.

I would hate to receive such a text and am too conscientious to send one.

You don't want a poker face! You want to be very expressive. But voice is even more important. Pitch voice soft and a little low, and always decreasing at the end of a sentence, the opposite of asking a question. Like a kind parent talking to a tired toddler or particularly stupid dog.

You're trying to slip information into the person at a subconscious level, and the information you want to slip in is that you, the speaker, are trustworthy and will take care of them. It's much easier to do this than to actually figure out and fix whatever bullshit problem they've created for themselves.

Note that this is not effective on people you see everyday, as they will eventually realize you didn't do anything to actually help them. But for one-offs, work associates-of-associates, clients you're not the sole contact for, and the more distant sort of relative, it works pretty well.

Which half are you having trouble with? The apathy, or the pretense?

It's literally how I make all my money.

You may think this means that only 5% of people, 1 in 20, will be able to have kids. But actually, it takes two, and if there's no way to predict who can and cannot, it becomes closer to 1 in 400. The 1/20 chance of the male partner being fertile is multiplied by the 1/20 chance of the female partner being fertile.

It's difficult to prove someone infertile, but if someone can conceive a child, that proves their fertility. This is of limited utility in the case of women, but I suppose a man of proven fertility could make a living as a stud, attempting to knock up eligible women. So once you've identified a population of fertile males, you knock that half of the equation back down to a 1/1 and the women can go back to the much better 1/20 odds. Of course, you'd need to re-identify potential studs over time from the newer generations as older ones die off. And unless each woman is having twenty daughters you're still suffering from rapid population decline and the attendant societal collapse.

So, in summary: It'd be real bad, and even if it didn't kill off humanity in a generation it probably would knock us back to the bronze age within a century. And even if we somehow manage to dodge that it will still change human society permanently in unpredictable ways.

I love Dennis Hopper as Bowser in the Super Mario Brothers

:::

Ghostbusters: Answer the Call

Block Club Chicago

"3 feet over or 6 feet under"

overseen? Yes.

With Jackson, it's not overseen, it's orchestrated

It's tempting to pick someone recent, but the real answer is probably Andrew Jackson. He successfully engineered a genocide, trampled the Constitution and human rights, and was actively hostile to limits on Presidential power.

Early always-online consoles and their multiplayer-as-main-mode bullshit.

Scrubbing the stove, and I don't avoid it at all. I do it promptly when asked and so thoroughly that it doesn't need to be done again for a long time.

I strongly suspect that I have ADHD, but a lifetime of masking makes it difficult to be professionally evaluated.

I sell things for a living. I only tell the truth, and I make sure to give all information that is relevant to health and safety, and I try to avoid any situation where someone could say after the fact that they didn't realize there would be an additional charge. After that, it's all fair game.

Body mirroring, nodding slightly when asking questions you want them to agree to, code-switching, listing my preferred choice last in a list of three things, these are the basic techniques.

Next level up is the perception-altering stuff: "we" have a problem but "I" have a solution; if I know they're happy, saying "I'm so glad you liked my recommendation"; instead of "how is it?" asking "how are you enjoying it?"; taking personal credit for all good feelings they have during our interaction (gotta be subtle about this, but it's very effective); acting like they're doing me a favor (people like those they've done favors for more than those who do favors for them... it's monkey-brain social status thing).

For me, this is just Tuesday.

The double-extra stuff comes out for job interviews. I will alter my speech patterns and hairstyle to give the impression that I'm a decade younger. I will tailor my anecdotes to sound like I'm either single or newly attached, with no kids, and vaguely imply that I'm homosexual if the vibe isn't too conservative.

Not what I said, but okay.