And honestly, if you are spending so much money on prepping for a date that you think you deserve to have that date paid for by the person you’re going out with, it’s time to rethink your life.

Exactly. It just seems really weird to me. I get where the custom comes from, but it’s really beyond time where we can try and do this in an equitable way, IMHO.

I’ve never had anything like that- if the guy was really adamant about it, I would usually back off but say on the spot, “Okay, but I’m picking up the tickets/bill for the next date/whatever.” Of course, I’m still single, so maybe I’m just freaking out the entire male population of New England with this.

I mean, yes, I am a total weirdo, but I feel like this particular quirk isn’t even scratching that surface.

So that’s what that weird thing growing out of my forehead is. Good to know!

I’ve never had a guy totally freak out on me about it, but usually what I’ll do if they really, truly won’t let me pay is firmly say that I’ll pay for the movie/other activity/next date (if it seems like there will be one). And then I follow through- if he tries to pay for that, then I’ll just cheerfully say something…

Okay, I’ll bite. Am I really the only one who at least tries to get the guy to let me chip in for half? Sometimes the guy on the date stubbornly won’t let me, in which case I’ll usually concede (because I don’t want to get into a huge argument about it) and pay for the second date (if there is one) or, if we’re going…

There were things to like about Branagh’s version for sure, and it has grown on me a bit since then, but his Hamlet, specifically, irritated the hell out of me. I also like that the Zeffirelli film is short enough that I can sit down and enjoy it in the space of a couple of hours. Watching Branagh’s is a major time…

I’m a bit ashamed to admit this, but I loved the Zeffirelli version of Hamlet, the one with Mel Gibson and Helena Bonham Carter. Yes, I know, it’s abridged, and yes, Mel Gibson is a gross human being, but... damn. We watched it for an English class when I was in high school, and it started my love affair with…

Honestly, once she up and married Ron, of all people, it was like I didn’t even know her anymore. Nothing surprises me now.

Wait, but- but- what about you and Bruce Banner and your bromance for the ages? Way to let me down, Stark.

And yet you never hear them going “UGH, AMERICAN CULTURE, SO BACKWARDS AND EVIL” about any of the horrendous sex crimes this site reports on from the U.S.

I know this probably makes me a terrible person, but when are these assholes just going to drop dead, already? Why do people like this live forever? Ugh. Fuck everything.

Maybe he means that if you can suck the life force out of people through skin to skin contact, you’re okay wearing “the natural look” and/or flats. So long as you pair it with a kicky leather jacket.

Bingo. That was my very first assumption. It’s pretty common knowledge that carrying on an affair or other risky behavior that can leave you open to blackmail is a good way to get your security clearance yanked.

Maybe it’s actually the Whine Train, and there was a typo in the advertisement?

I’m basically imagining a variation on this scene from A Hard Day’s Night:

When I applied at Dartmouth, the stats provided by the school indicated that fifty percent of the students on campus were in a frat or a sorority. If I had realized that before sending in my paperwork, I wouldn’t even have wasted the application fee.