I feel like it's on your BF and your BF's parents to teach you their ways. Kosher rules are involved and complicated.

Right?! The dudes who say "bro" a lot in SB are really into catching sweet waves and chillin' out.

Your descriptions says "redneck" to me and not "bro". Not disagreeing with the 909, just saying I wouldn't equate a gun rack with a bro.

For sure there are bros in these places, but to be the top listed ones? That's sort of weird. I feel like most of these "bros" are really from surfer culture which resembles bro culture but is still different.

Right? SB is full of aging hippies, surfers and insanely rich WASPs. Sure there are some bros due to UCSB but I never felt like it was a bro-y city. And L.A.?! I mean come on! It's full of asshole hollywood types (I am one, too, but I'm nice) but bro culture doesn't really come up much.

You have a very nice and thoughtful sister!

Hmmmm. Maybe it's just me but I don't equate being a SoCal Dude who says "Bro" a lot with actually being a bro. So L.A. and Santa Barbara seem wrong to me. To me a bro is a guy who's really into being a guys' guy. Who dresses preppy and is into college sports and likely was in a frat. They often go into finance or…

Oh man. That is rough! My BF and I have a strict policy that we have to ask each other before saying "yes" to any potential guests. Even if they are friends who have stayed before and are mutually liked. It's mostly to avoid over booking (we live in NYC and have had mutliple friends want to stay at the same time on a…

See this is the thing. "Clean" means different things to different people and if your host is getting agitated and asking you not to do that "nice" thing for them there is a reason and your host is trying not to insult you.

Maybe she though you acted too familiar? I think I would say, "I'm sorry that what I did was unusual or uncomfortable for you. Was I behaving in an inappropriate way for you? I'm having a little trouble navigating being hosted by coworkers. When I stay with family or friends, it's customary for me to make dinner and…

He's full of shit. 90% of the Made in Europe stuff is from China - some of it is smuggled in but a lot of it has to do with laws that state if the item is assembled in the European country you can claim it was MADE in that European country. A lot of countries like Germany, France and Italy have a lot of "protective"…

Yeah, when I first moved there I went to Standa (which is like JCPenneys) and there were only a couple of sheet sets to choose from and they were all around $200! I tried a bunch of places and everything was more than I could afford. There's no bed-in-a-bag/Target concept there. Luckily, the IKEA had just opened and I…

If a restaurant doesn't use hot water to wash dishes, flatware and pots it's considered a health hazard. Things really do not get as clean with cold water. Especially, certain types of bacteria. Also, soap doesn't sud or wash as well with cold water. Sometimes you have no choice and if it's just you and you don't…

Dude. Sheets in Italy are like $200 and those are the cheap ones! There's an Ikea outside of Rome and I bought sheets there for about $40 and that was an amazing deal for Italy! When I've gone to visit relatives in Italy, we always ask them what they want from the US and they always want sheets. We get the…

You're welcome to visit anytime!

And just because someone has hosted kids in the past doesn't not mean that your kid will be no big deal to host. I have some friends that are totally welcome with their kids and others who are not. And a lot of this has to do with parenting styles. Some of my friends are laid back but don't allow any BS from their kid…

I totally agree! I'm talking more in general terms as a potential houseguest how people should approach things. I mean, I have gone to JFK to "pick up" a close friend because I was so fucking excited to see her! And I would definitely make exceptions for family/friends coming in for trying things like funerals. I…

Yes, but I still don't think anyone should expect to be picked up. The host offering is nice but not an entitlement. If there is an airport there is a way to leave it, it just might take some research ahead of time and money. If you fly into an airfield in the middle of nowhere, that's another thing but any major…

I no longer provide maps. I've had several guests not return them (nice ones, too, that were laminated and I paid for). Most of my friends have GPS on their cellphones anyway. I don't feel like I need to buy them transit tickets either. If they want me to go get them one ahead of time and reimburse me, that's cool.

WHO ARE THESE PSYCHOPATHS?! That was fucking ridiculous. I think you were perfectly reasonable throughout and your hosts were just insane!