I think this is one area where huge, established companies might be better. At my company, when some goes on leave and it is more than a couple months, a backfill comes in to cover the workload. When the person on leave returns they either move someone else out, or he/she goes to a new assignment. It is the one nice…

I agree—especially if the delay means you are arriving way late at night or exposes you to a risk of a cancelled flight (e.g. Get our of O’Hare as fast as you possibly can). I would much rather take the flight than get 200 or even 400, at 800? I would be tempted.

I’ve only been in one situation where many people were involuntarily bumped: United had an entire plane worth of extra people on a spring break weekend flight from LA to Costa Rica. People in that line were NOT getting to Costa Rica for at least a couple of days. I got on because my brother had checked in on an…

My employer bars us from volunteering, I’m not sure why exactly. I’m also not sure how they would catch you though, especially if you are returning home in non-business hours.

Yes, and I think it is an important point to make. The desire for everything to be ok or doing great is really strong. We don’t want to talk about mental health or acknowledge when someone is in real trouble because that makes it real and something that must be treated. So much easier to ignore that a broken arm and…

Wheaton college tuition is $47000 per year. How many of these girls are really on their own for health insurance? Yet again, the Christians make their stand by making things hard for the poor kids there on scholarships and grants.

I can't wait for this moment of super skinny jeans and leggings to be over. I bike and put on muscle mass like the Norwegian dairymaid I assume is one of my ancestors. There is never enough room for my get away sticks in these without having baggy clothe at the knees.

So fucking sad. This seems like a class of crime that is desperately in need of some research. We have these safe haven laws, and that is great, but there is something messed up with these girls that they are not using them. What is it? Is there a way people could intervene? Did no one know she was pregnant? Are there…

It does, especially during the, I'll got part time for five month, you take leave the four months after that stage of early childhood. But that is temporary, and you can always go back to the original system once kids get a little older, it just means more of your income goes towards household expenses to cover kid…

Ps. I know the nice work/life benefits are a huge privilege mot enjoyed by most American workers, I don't take it for granted.

I agree. I used to have lunch with an older woman at my company who said that in the nineties the struggle for women was to get the right policies in place—flexible hours, daycare assistance, etc. and they thought it would improve work for women. It has improved, but women are still not thriving. The stuff that is…

Yep. This is the conclusion people always come to and they are totally right to do so. Who wants to be the person who files a messy, hard to prove discrimination case like Ellen Pao and then have it follow you to your next job? This is also why culture changes so slowly within a corporation. There is no motivation (or…

How do you wash a salt slab? Doesn't it just dissolve?

Also, who can vomit and just pop back from it? I’ve truly volcanoed, like unable to get to a toilet or waste bin only twice in my life and those were both where I was completely incapacitated for at least a day after.

I think I may have been the worst thing that anyone saw on a flight: I was flying back from Africa to the U.S. after a ten day trip visiting landfills with my Dad (it is surprisingly fun and interesting). Unfortunately, in addition to smelling vaguely like garbage, I had contracted salmonella and the symptoms appeared…

‘I went to Juliard for this?’

I think it was def. a thing. As long as we take the Wolf of Wall Street as a historical source. Qualludes were pretty common.

I moved to Houston in the middle of the annual rodeo and livestock show. I’ve never seen so many cowboy hats and boots (and about 75% were legit Cowboys!).

My favorite Married with children ever was when Kelly competed on a sports trivia a show. Al taught her sports facts and as she learned them they showed a graphic of other knowledge being displaced from her brain. That was a funny show. Also progressive in its own way, next door neighbor Marcie was played by one of…

Why did this end in an arrest? I don’t get cops sometime. I think it is reasonable to get some sort of social services involved—this mother needs support as a newcomer to Houston to help her get access to solid short or long term daycare way more than she needs an arrest on her record.