Even with my friends, I say “I’m going to hug you now, okay?” and wait for response before going in for a hug. If they seem like they aren’t in a place for a hug (being upset in some way), I ask “would you like a hug?” and respect if it’s a no. And those are my friends!

I grew up in WV and had a surprisingly progressive “human sexuality” education in junior high (middle school for all you young’uns). Our teachers basically said “look, we know you’re eventually going to have sex, if you aren’t already. Let’s have a frank discussion.” One teacher actually let us submit questions…

If you’re going to do this, I volunteer! When I was in college, I used PP for my annual exams (breast exam, pap smear, the works). If it weren’t for their kindness and competence, I likely wouldn’t be planning parenthood with my husband now, as we likely would have had an unintended pregnancy years ago.

Ovo-lacto vegetarians eat animal products, such as eggs and dairy. You could even eat scrambled eggs with cheese!

Yes, the privilege! My husband learned to hunt when he was a teenager because it’s how he and his father would keep food on the table. He still hunts, hoping to get one buck a year, to help keep our grocery costs down a little with the meat.

This is such a good idea and would probably catch on if bathrooms stocked more than one of those bags per receptacle.

Charlie is my favorite ginger! (I’m a Harry Potter fan.)

A secondary reason for keeping the lid down is an egalitarian one: both parties have to raise and lower something before and after using the toilet. I’ve heard men argue that it’s not fair that they always have to raise and lower the seat, so in my house we both have to raise and lower something. Works for us!

I will talk about this Very Real Issue! My husband routinely interrupts what I’m doing just because he wants attention. One time he flopped across my lap and on top of my computer with the argument that “it works for the cats” when they want my attention. The cats are 10 pounds. You are closer to 200. It’s not the…

Toner is a transparent liquid used between washing your face and applying moisturizer. This article on HowStuffWorks does a pretty good job of explaining its purpose. There are a few different types, but based on what you’ve said, you should go for the astringent, which would be alcohol or witch hazel based. Aside…

Do you ever use toner? I used to work for Origins, and they recommend cleanser, toner, and then moisturizer, especially for people with easily clogged pores, oily skin, or acne. It’s supposed to help wash away any dead skin or leftover cleanser/old makeup. Witch hazel can be a fine astringent toner by itself, or you…

Oh yes. “I would love to do something now because you know how much we value you, but we’re told the budget is fixed for next fiscal year, and we’d have to find a way to cut the money out of the operating budget. So it definitely wouldn’t be next fiscal year and probably not the one after, but maybe after that we can…

I did the same. I found out a coworker was making over $10,000 more than I did, even though I had more experience with other things being equal (title, degree level, length of time at organization). My supervisor told me to go out and get a job offer, and they’d counter to keep me. Apparently they didn’t think I’d…

Hobo bindle is PEOPLE!

I live in Charleston, WV, about half a mile from where this happened. Our local news has covered it, but not extensively (which I don’t understand). You can even listen to the 9-1-1 call if you can stomach it. The woman said that the man opened the door, immediately pressed a gun to her abdomen, and said “live or die”…

Let me hop up on my fact pony. (Thanks again for the term, bloodymilkshake!)

I work at a for-profit (and accredited) university, so our admittance standards are more lax than a regular university, but students still have to have a real high school diploma. There are a handful of reputable online schools, like the one you attended, and it is heartbreaking to watch potential students realize…

I have long argued that air conditioning favors men in offices. In 2008 the NYT published a Q&A about it, too.

Throw a handful of word magnets on a steel door. Use the results as your dissertation thesis statement.

His résumé says he’s been at Lincoln University for 25 years, so he probably got tenure in the early 1990s, long before social media was popular. If he did share his views publicly, it wasn’t on this scale, and the administration might not even have known.