Your story reminded me of an incident I experienced a few years ago. I did grubhub in the evenings and would often hit a 7/11 on my way home for smokes. For context, this place was constantly busy with homeless people and bar-hoppers milling about outside, but they had never bothered me.

One night, a young man in mechanics coveralls approached as I was leaving and bummed a cigarette. As he was lighting it, he asked if I could give him a ride to the Walmart about a mile up the road because he was worn out from his long day. I declined, but he kept pushing. I finally told him I wouldn’t give rides to strangers without my husband along, and he backed off.

As I got into my car to leave, I noticed that this dude walked over to a car parked at the next business over, immediately hopped into the passenger seat and turned to talk to someone in the back. I couldn’t clearly see through their tinted windows to count heads, but I think there were at least 2 other people in the car. I high-tailed it out of there and took the long way home. I suspect it was a setup for a carjacking at best.

Always listen to your gut instincts. If something doesn’t feel right, it probably isn’t.

Edit: redundancy

I sing-spell their names to the tune of the “It’s raining, it’s pouring” song while spelling them in ASL, then finish with their name and my made-up name sign for each one. Lily (cat) is L rotated to a finger gun, Milo (cat) is the hang 10 sign, Cooper (dog) gets C rocked back and forth a few times, and Zoe (dog) gets her name air-written in cursive (with a few extra 'e’s to stretch it out).

Nobody in my house, including myself, speaks (signs?) ASL. I just watched way, way too much Switched at Birth way back when. 😂

Edited for clarity.

I ended a close friendship over bullshit like this. For a year, one friend was so deathly allergic that her doctor told her that under no circumstances was she to receive any Covid vaccine.

Then, then-governor of Oregon Kate Brown required anyone in a Healthcare career to receive said vax. Wouldn’t you know it, this friend’s easy caretaking paycheck was about to end when she spontaneously rid herself of a life-threatening allergy.

Get the fuck out of here. We’re done.

2 16-oz cups of coffee with non-dairy creamer to start my day, followed by a pre-lunch SF Rockstar, followed by a post-lunch SF Rockstar, an occasional (1-2x weely) afternoon triple shot latte, finished with an occasional dinnertime 20oz Diet Pepsi… all interspersed with 22 sticks of nicotine.

Might be ADHD, maybe narcolepsy. I still get 10 solid hours of sleep, so it clearly doesn’t interfere with that.

I know a Cambria (type of hybrid orchid).

I know multiple ladies named Heather, if you’re counting flowering shrubs.

US, American English

Milennial generation is typically defined as 1981-1996, according to a quick web search. As an '82 baby, I was working a full-time grunt job making $6.50/hr with zero benefits, trying to fake empathy as my bosses (the company owners) lamented the absolute devastation of their '84 baby boy’s loss of most of his retirement.

Cry me a fucking river, assholes. He’s an engineer with 40ish years of career ahead of him. He’ll be fine.

I’ve been refining this idea for about a year. I began it using a different medium, but the idea of P2025 and the reelection of dipshit spurred me to look at alternatives. I would like to get this idea out there, but I think fb has been blocking my posts, lolol.

Right now, everything is through Printful (I know, I know), but I’ll order some stuff from Sticky brand and move over to Etsy once I’ve made a few sales.

https://stickrshockr.printful.me/product/american-pride-single-kiss-cut-sticker-american-pride-flag

I have a lot more ideas to continue and expand the series. We’ll see if it gets anywhere.

My dad would be so proud. /s

As a former driver for both UE and GH, I disagree. The rich fucks who tip nothing could be a target. My best tips came from the blue collar and lower-middle-class houses. Solidarity. (Also why I won’t use the services myself; I can’t tip enough to justify wasting an hour of their time and missed opportunities.)

As a driver, I started losing money once pandemic pay became a thing. It seemed like nearly all the furloughed teachers and daycare workers got in on the gig. I was lucky if I got one run per hour, and my area had no guaranteed minimum pay, even on scheduled blocks.

I haven’t found a greener pasture yet, but at least I didn’t totally ruin my car with the excess miles. Silver linings, I guess.