My family was super meat-centric for all holidays except Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Any meal where it’s physically possible to barbecue, we would. And a family barbecue meant hamburgers, hot dogs, chicken, pork steaks, and beef steaks – one of each per person, plus a couple of extras. Sides were German-style slaw and potato salad. Buns were not included, but my grandma would always put a stack of white bread on the table (she was the only person who ever ate it).

When I started dating my husband and took him to a family holiday, he was shocked by the fact that my whole family was eating hamburgers and hot dogs with flatware instead of on buns. And he was actually sad at the lack of side dishes.

When I went to one of his family barbecues, I was sad that there was just one hamburger per person (already on a soggy bun) and a ton of weird casseroles.

Trump definitely won’t attack Russia. Vladimir Putin is his bestie.

I think Putin is uncomfortable with a NATO country in that strategic position, so he has manipulated Trump into thinking that it would be a good “real estate deal” for the US to take it over.

Where’s an entmoot when you need one?

Thanks. I’ve been on my own for a long time now. I’m glad that I’m still far enough from retirement that my accounts should have plenty of time to bounce back before I need to rely on them.

I really feel for the retirees who voted against this who are finding that their finances are not as stable as they should have been.

Also that Vicodin addiction is mostly fine. Mostly.

This is a mistake that many people will make, and it will be decades before they realize what they’ve done.

I teach elementary school. While most of the things I’m accountable for on paper are academic, most of my actual time is spent helping my students understand how to be functional humans. Problem-solving skills. Interpersonal skills. Self-control. Empathy. Self-esteem. In early grades, motor skills like how to hold a pencil or use scissors.

When we put a whole generation of kids in computerized AI schools (because it’s not really an “if” any more), we will see a huge effect in the real world, but probably not until after they graduate and have to start dealing with people in different work environments. And by then, we’ll be totally screwed.

Of course, the 1% will still have their kids in real schools with real teachers, because they already know that the very products they tout to the masses are actually detrimental to child development.

I saw a similar issue on a product where the Spanish wording obviously came from a computer translation.

“Made in Turkey” was written as “Hecho en pavo.”

Pavo is Spanish for turkey, the animal. Turquía is Spanish for Turkey, the country. A human, even a non-fluent speaker such as myself, would never make that mistake.

My mom retired last year. She also voted for Trump. She made her bed …

I remember a time when the United States actually took a break from reporting on elections instead of manufacturing hype for four solid years between major elections.

The current political media landscape is exhausting, and I’m so sorry to everyone who is young enough to think that constant election projections are “normal.”

I found this part surprising:

He has also established himself as a wellness guru.

Do you also think that saying “Happy Holidays” somehow excludes Christians?

Increasing the size of your umbrella doesn’t discriminate against the people who are already under it. It simply invites more people to join them.

I agree with you one hundred percent.

But I also know a decent amount about the failure of literacy education in the US in the past 20+ years, so I’m not surprised that many people in the younger generations prefer video. For too many of them, reading is a chore.

Hell, I know plenty of people in my own generation who will tell you they haven’t read a novel since high school like it’s a point of pride.

I have heard that. I’m backing up everything that’s important.

That sub is the thing I miss most about Reddit. The Discord server is way too chaotic for me.

We always knew there weren’t enough of us to matter. (At least, those of us on the younger end have always known. Maybe the older members of our generation didn’t realize it for a while.)

I didn’t expect that to play out with Boomers holding on to political power until GenXers were all old enough to retire, but it seems to be playing out that way.

I finally took the plunge and installed Mint about a week ago. It’s definitely better.

I partitioned my hard drive so I have both systems available. If everything goes well with Mint for the next few months, I’ll just wipe Windows entirely.

If there’s nothing specific holding you to Microsoft’s ecosystem, you should go for it.

They know how to use the light switch, but they have no idea what to do when the bulb burns out.

Have you tried video tutorials? I have noticed that a lot of younger people are more likely to look up tutorials on YouTube than written ones.

As a GenXer, I’m kind of horrified by how much of the “how-to” universe is shifting from written instructions to video.

(No, I don’t want a video tutorial for how to knit a scarf. I want a normal pattern. Am I so out of touch? No, it’s the children who are wrong.)

Seriously, though, the next time you go through something with this employee, use a screen recorder to capture the process and then share the recording with him. Maybe it will help.

I agree with you. And to extend your metaphor, we can and should help them build up their savings. One thing parents can do to help is to give their children hints without giving the answer.

In your example, instead of pointing directly to the object, I would say, “Where have you looked? Try three places where you think it could be.” After that, if he still couldn’t find it, I would say, “It’s right here in this room. I can see it. Can you find it?” Then I’d let him spend some time looking for it.

I’m an elementary school teacher, and it blows my mind how often children expect the adults around them to drop everything to help them find a pencil (which is in their pencil case, right where it should be) or a paper (almost always in their desk, folder, or cubby) without expending any effort to find it themselves. This obviously works for them at home, but it removes their personal responsibility for keeping up with their own supplies.

If we want to raise a generation of independent, critical thinkers, then we have to give them opportunities to be those things. We have to give them space to try for themselves. We celebrate with them when they’re successful, and we provide them with the support they need to try again when they fail. Both experiences are necessary for their growth and development.