Thank you for saying this. I am forever grateful that my parents sent me to public schools that were meaningfully integrated, both racially and economically. It left me with a far more realistic worldview than many of my peers raised by ostensibly liberal parents.

Wow, people are cranky today... I keep a set of full size toiletries at my mom’s house. Yes, I have a set of travel bottles and a heavy duty clear vinyl bag to contain them in my carry on when I’m traveling, but keeping stuff at my moms house means I can travel a little bit lighter. I also plan to do laundry when I…

“But why did Santa leave the doll house assembly instructions in the basement?”

20% of Christmas trees sold in the US come from North Carolina. Plenty more come from Virginia and Tennessee.

The Goodwill in my neighborhood doesn’t pick up anymore. They partnered with a local junk removal company who pick up for a flat fee.

You just reminded me of my worst underwire/metal detector story. I had jury duty in Baltimore a few years ago. The metal detectors at the courthouse are super sensitive. My underwire bra was the only metal on my person. The detector kept going off and the male guards were perplexed. I was trying to subtly explain…

It usually does. I looked into my plan a few years ago - to get approval for a reduction, you had to have at least 2 symptoms/problems from a set list (pain, shoulder grooves, and skin irritation all counted). Women with BMI over a certain threshhold had to lose some weight first and show that weight loss didn’t…

Articles like this always make me thankful for my coworkers, past and present. I actually enjoy their company, and don’t mind hanging out with them on occasion.

I had scarlet fever as a kid (Late 1980s). It may not be a big deal in the sense that kids with access to antibiotics rarely die from it, but it was definitely a much bigger deal than strep throat in terms of duration of illness and severity of symptoms. When I had strep throat, it always cleared up in a day or two.…

I lived in a small college town for 10+ years, and always got a kick out of the police blotter. My favorite story by far: “Police responded to a call about a cat stuck under a car. The police determined the cat was not stuck, just scared. Officers left can of food for cat and advised caller to wait for the cat”

He also looks very much like both Elizabeth and Phillip when they were young adults. The only grounds for the rumors is his red hair and Diana’s later affair with a redhead, but redhair is a Spencer family trait.

Harry is the Queen’s favorite, plus he’ll drop a spot in the lineup once William and Kate’s third kid is born in April, at which point Harry won’t need official permission. Better to just save the drama and give her blessing now. (I think Liz is out of fucks for trivial shit at this point - Harry’s choice of partner…

They adopted the kids from foster care and had the kids for 2-3 years before adopting them.

My mom works (volunteers) as a child advocate for kids in the foster system. I have several friends who foster kids and/or have adopted from foster care. The answer to questions about fostering kids of a specific race is that foster families of all races take in kids of all races based on the foster family’s resources…

Plus, this study controlled for a lot of important confounding variables that would otherwise be used to obsfucate the conclusions.

Unless you’re the designated macaroni cook, then you just make an extra pan and “forget” it at home.

A Baltimore homicide detective was killed recently. Shot with his own service weapon after an altercation with an unknown suspect while the detective was working an investigation. Despite unprecedented efforts to find the perpetrator, including a multiday lockdown of an entire neighborhood, the police have no leads.…

There are some interesting cultural/historical food variations across the south. One is the transition from mostly wheat to mostly corn as the primary grain for bread making, as you move further south. The other is a transition from rice to corn (in any form other than bread) as you move further from the SC/GA and…

Similar rules apply for white southerners. My mom’s cousins are all my aunts and uncles, and their kids are my cousins. The next generation down are either cousins or nieces/nephews depending on age. Some very close family friends get the aunt/uncle honorific, others get the Ms/Mr first name treatment, which is a…

Nope, just grew up in an area with a lot of hog farms. And I’ve seen Fried Green Tomatoes.