What point are you trying to make about it being higher than the general population? That they are doing ever so slightly better than arresting people at random?

Not what I’m referring to. When pouring water into a cup, it makes a sound. And that sound is different if the water is hot vs cold. And you probably intuitively can tell the difference, even if you’ve never thought about it before.

Not directly related but your comment reminded me of it: did you know you can hear a difference in hot vs cold water?

And I don’t mean that as a general, “one can learn to hear it,” I mean it as, “this is a skill you there reading this probably have that you likely never realized you have.” (Unless you have also seen this video or something like it.)

According to OP’s comment in the original post, yes, that’s exactly what it’s supposed to look like. The gauze just has some food coloring to make that joke.

Hank Green recently did a good video on this!

Yes, this summarizes the latest guidance:

On September 19, 2025, the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) voted to change what had been a universal COVID-19 vaccine recommendation (except for HHS’ recent change for those under age 18) to “shared clinical decision-making”, including for those 65 and older. For those under 65, ACIP added that the assessment should include “an emphasis that the risk-benefit of vaccination is most favorable for individuals who are at an increased risk for severe COVID-19 disease and lowest for individuals who are not at an increased risk, according to the CDC list of COVID-19 risk factors.” These recommendations, should they be adopted by the CDC Director, mean that all individuals are recommended to have an individual assessment and interaction with a health care provider to determine whether getting a COVID-19 vaccination is recommended for them. If that determination is made, insurers should cover the vaccine at no-cost, although it is possible that some consumers may face challenges. (source)

So the change is that it’s no longer routinely recommended for everyone, but it’s supported if the patient and healthcare professional agree. Simplicity of access varies and some states have mandated that a pharmacist qualifies to make this decision, while others haven’t, but as long as you don’t have a doctor who is anti-vax, you should be able to get one.

More info from the CDC here about what “shared clinical decision-making” means.

Small note: in the end, access to COVID vaccines has not been limited. There was swirl around this that made it seem like they would be, but then the CDC landed on guidance that basically boils down to, “it’s an individual’s choice with the guidance of their healthcare provider.”

I was livid about the swirl because I am an immunocompromised person while my partner is not, and the initial guidance implied he would not have access to the vaccine, despite living with me.

I want everyone who can get vaccinated to do so, and so it’s important to me to stop the perception that anyone is restricted from accessing it.

This list reminds me of the “reasons my wife cried” list, lol.

But seriously I love this list and think it’s great to find joy in the small things like this. And if you don’t/can’t, it’s ok to seek out help for your mental health.

I was firmly against them but an opportunity showed itself early in my career and figured I could stick it out for 2 years to get a big name on my resume… and somehow it’s been ten years now. But it’s a company with a genuinely good culture and my career has grown constantly over those 10 years, so I’ve been happy. TBF, my employer before this was extremely toxic so in comparison it’s been amazing.

Just curious, do you mean specifically the job as in role, or do you think this about going back to a company as a whole?

I can name easily a dozen, maybe two dozen people at my company I personally know who left then came back, although generally to a different role. And I’ve seen most of them get promoted after coming back, even to high roles like Director or VP. I don’t know if that’s just because of a good company culture or if it’s because it’s a larger business (2-2.5k corporate employees).

That’s how I read it. Sure seems like NYT wouldn’t want to put reporters at risk of criminal charges just for documenting what they see but here we apparently are.

Also hate crime? Against whom, exactly?! Oh right, corporations are people and basically the most protected class (behind, maybe, billionaires).

Maybe keep a small pillow over your collarbone area? Especially if you have a buckwheat or microbead one that molds to the shape of whatever you put it on.

I had abdominal/pelvic surgery with a cat who loved walking across my stomach, so while I was recovering I never lay down without a pillow covering my incisions. When she did step on it, the pillow at least helped disperse her weight so it didn’t hurt much.

My dad has always been on the right and he’s a Trump voter, but he’s mostly avoided going full MAGA-proud. We have always had a tense relationship when it comes to politics and at times had very little personal relationship. Now we just avoid political discussions or keep them very high level, and it’s manageable. I talk to him a lot less than I would if he didn’t have those views. His health is declining significantly at this point so I have decided it’s not worth trying to change his mind.

My mom is still with him and she’s leftist and we talk all the time.

My dad’s two sisters are deep into MAGA (they were proud attendees of Trump’s first inauguration). They’ve been far-right fundamentalist Christians most, if not all, of my life, so I already had a strained relationship with them before 2016. I haven’t even tried in over a decade now. I was recently diagnosed with a chronic disease that one of them also has and I kept thinking about reaching out but ultimately decided I don’t even want her in my life for that so I haven’t bothered.

I did a bit of reading to confirm my understanding, which is that employers can pay below minimum wage when tips are regularly earned by that employee. So technically, baristas, fast food workers, counter-service workers, and the like could fall into that category, but since it’s not a cultural expectation that those employees are tipped on every transaction, I think it would be harder for an employer to justify the regularity of their tip earnings and therefore pay them less than minimum wage.

That’s why, in my personal practice, those tips are optional and based exclusively on above-average service.

When it comes to takeout from a restaurant, there are usually two types of places I go: 1) smaller, individually owned restaurants, or 2) large chain restaurants like the one my coworker had previously worked for.

In the first case, I leave some tip because it’s a small business and I’ve known people who own restaurants and realize how hard a business it is. In the latter, I tip because that coworker told me that her role was paid under the assumption of her receiving tips and I realized there is a service being provided.

Anyway, lots of people seem to be disappointed about my personal choice to tip some types of food service. I appreciate you engaging in a way that doesn’t seem judgmental or defensive.

I’m not clear what you’re saying the problem is. The fact that I tip because it’s expected?

Me choosing to follow the system that was in place well before I was born isn’t the problem. The law allows for food service workers to be paid less than minimum wage. If you don’t agree with that, petition the government or boycott restaurants until they change policy; don’t stiff low-wage employees.

They did their job, yet our government legally allows their employers to not pay them full wages for their work and instead depend on their customers to supplement their wages. If you had a job that was legally allowed to pay you under minimum wage because it expected you to earn money in addition to that, then I would expect you’d get tips too.

Until the laws change in a way that support food service workers better, I’m going to continue to do my part in contributing to their wages.

I meant a takeout counter like Chipotle or somewhere else that you order and get the food at the same time, not sitting and waiting for an order somewhere.

When I’m sitting down to a dinner, the bare minimum I expect is food served to my table in a reasonable time, drink refills, etc., but I tip for that service. When I’m at a bar the bare minimum I expect is to receive the drink I ordered, but I tip for that service.

Again, as I said, I would much prefer if tipping were not a part of our culture at all. But I alone will not change that just by shortchanging low-wage employees.

I worked with someone who changed my mind on this. She’d worked the take-out counter at a restaurant and she talked through the kinds of steps she took to ensure the meal was correct, containers were properly sealed, and they had utensils, napkins, sauces, and all the things the customer would need or expect.

Learning about the amount of time and care put in at that restaurant made it clear that it was a service.

I usually give 10% at restaurants with a similar service because of her. With takeaway restaurants where you just order at a counter, though? I generally only tip if the people working were super friendly.

I’d prefer to not have a tipping culture at all. But as long as this is the society we live in, I can afford to pay a couple extra bucks here and there to help people who generally make shit wages.

Many years ago I saw a TIFU on reddit about a person who mispronounced “banal” while on a call with many people. I will always be grateful to that person’s fuck up for correcting my mental pronunciation of that word, lol.