My father, who never misses an opportunity to parent other people's children, let me in on a bit of dad ninjitsu when I was well into my twenties. Some yowling animal was raising a shitfit at a store, and the mother descended to its eye level with the coo-coo-cooing and the aw-sweeeeeeeties. My dad was borderline…

Look at that Cosmo cover. So You Ate A Cupcake? Crazy For A Kennedy! Beauty Under $10. It screams "I don't want to be taken seriously".

Writing angsty songs about those behaviors is emo psych.

+1

Finding gendered behaviors is not evo psych. Attributing those gendered responses to innate behaviors evolved in the Serengeti, which the AP didn't actually do, is evo psych.

Right. And these refreshing and empowering statements about women's bodies:

What I would like to know is who was denied/delayed a lung transplant because her parents kicked and screamed the loudest.

A few of these steps are useful for dealing with people in general (not just small children). Obviously you don't talk to a 31 year old man the same way you talk to a 7 year old, but the core concepts are the same. In this case, take my significant other.

Yeah that's what I said.

In the England and Wales, all schools are ranked by a body called OFSTED. This includes primary and secondary schools. You have to be a goddamned mercenary or be prepared to pay big bucks to move into an area with schools that have Outstanding OFSTED. When we moved cities at near the end of the school year, I bypassed…

I have to disagree with this article. The Atlantic piece is really only criticizing one form of ranking - the Mathews ranking, and not any others. To say that all high school lists are nonsense is itself a bunch of nonsense. At least by one of the lists, I went to one of the top-25 schools in the U.S., and I can…

"Post Grape Nuts" sounds more like a medical condition than a cereal.

We have a lot of right out of school interns at my publishing company who, for reasons beyond me, act like they're too good to make spreadsheets or copy reports and who whine about how they deserve better because they "have a degree". And while I agree that it sucks to be an intern with no guarantee of a permanent…

I actually disagree with the happy hour advice, to some extent. I'm not saying go to happy hour and get wasted, but taking your time with a drink or two and staying until other people get drunk is both inclusive for you, and you get a lot of great gossip. My company doesn't generally love the interns who just come…

Don't be the intern who, because I am the Admin Assistant for the office, snapped his fingers at me and called, "the copier's out of paper" as he headed out for lunch one day.

You should also be really nice to the administrative staff (if there is one!). They see interns come and go and act like entitled assholes. But they are likely highly trusted by whoever does the hiring/writes letters of recommendation/whatever else.

My personal favorite: I had an intern who told me once that he wasn't the receptionist when I asked him to meet a delivery guy at the elevator. Of course it's only when you get home that you think of the perfect comeback ("If we had a receptionist, he would outrank you"), but he probably won't be getting a…

It's all fun and games until one person dumps the other person via office email. Not that I would have any reason to know this...

I met my spouse at work, but we were in separate departments. A pair of mutual friends (also at the same workplace) set us up on a date. I don't think I would date anyone working in my immediate area. . .

I think its less what the two think and more what everyone else thinks of it. Aside from the rumor mill, it's also the explosive potential if anything ever falls out the entire team/floor is going to be caught in it.