My mother is very vocal about “not doing any of that social media crap,” but she LOVES to log on and check in on the day’s NextDoor drama...

Yeah, exactly.  This article is really describing a work friend.  There’s absolutely no need to call anyone a “work spouse.”  It’s the loaded term that causes the majority of the issue, anyway.

100%. My folks have been in the southeast since before the US was a country, as sharecroppers and whatnot. There was definitely some intermarriage with Native women along the way, but of course the only reason my family members were hoping to confirm it was to attempt to take advantage of education benefits and/or…

I’m going to go ahead and assume the group polled was a bunch of kindergarteners. That would get you feedback along the lines of 53% cops, 32% firefighters, with the rest distributed among astronauts, sports stars, and youtubers.

I heard an NPR interview with Pete and Judd the other day, where Pete straightforwardly acknowledges that this movie tracks very closely to his own life (duh).  What I thought was sweet was that he said that hanging out with the colleagues and peers of his father’s who served as consultants for the film, as well as…

Nah, definitely not alone. What I’ve found to help is concentrated mobility work—I get twingey, poppy, crackly knees when my quads are tight, and plantar fasciitis when my calves need attention.  Foam rolling for both, and a lacrosse ball under the foot, has helped for both.  Good luck!

EXACTLY.  And why not?  What better way to spend a layover?  :-)

Anything in particular about the IUD insertion process that scares you?  If you haven’t had anything other than menstrual blood pass through your cervix it’s definitely not something I would just do for funzies, but there are also several things to try to get ahead of the discomfort prior to insertion.

One Flew South in the E Concourse in Atlanta.  Some sushi or an appetizer and an (admittedly overpriced) fancy-schmancy cocktail is usually just right.

Yes! I was skeptical, assuming it would just turn into a sandy-powdery mush, but tried it out of desperation after my kids got sand in ungodly places and it prevented them from sitting comfortably even for the short car ride home.  Works like a charm.

I’d be willing to bet that most of the non-reproductive-age women who are in political positions where they might influence this come from backgrounds where they would have had the means to seek out an abortion from a private physician even if it were illegal. So the horror of not having access to abortion at all was…

I’m so glad you were able to use kegels to recover your anterior wall prolapse! I think normalizing the discussion about different experiences will contribute to increased solutions (and even just awareness among childbirthing people).

YEP. Did it when traveling solo with my first kid...like multiple times within an hour. I’m kind of a slow learner.

You can sit by me. :-) The friend I buy through tried only once to get me to be a rep. I was like, nope, I like the products, I like the reminders to log in and only get the shit I want, but I want no part of selling it, even “for the discount.”

Ha! Oh, yes, risking hypothermia every winter evening so I wouldn’t have to carry a jacket in a bar (and then set it down somewhere so I could dance, of course). Lord, what a numbskull.

(I only got those kinds of shirts out of my closet in the last, like, year or so...shameful....)

Oh, dear. Same era here, and yes, I literally tied a scarf around my upper body as a shirt one night. Thanks for resurfacing that memory...

Thank you for the ROI characterization of this. I don’t think I’m at the tipping point yet, but have started thinking about how much of my time is spent “working hard” on my marriage (and how little of my partner’s is), and feel similarly about “marriage is hard work” comments. Your phrasing is an incredibly useful…

Ugh. Have an ex-fling who is totally that way right now. Making a ton of money, but pushing 50 and struggling with his weight for the first time in his life (previously all not-fit people were “lazy,” now it’s not his fault; he’s busy...). So, this twice-divorced dad keeps complaining about “gold diggers” when,…

College, mainly related to a couple sets of experiences. One was when I was a guest in my roommates’ homes and realized that some people ate meat and vegetables at every dinner, not once a week for a “special meal.” Food experiences are very revealing to me—like, some of those friends had never eaten Campbell’s…