I teach high school, and some students have made passes at me in various ways (everything from light flirting to confessing their love). I always shut it down quickly and firmly. I can’t even imagine flirting back, and I certainly can’t imagine actually dating one of them. That’s unfathomable to me. They are kids. I…

That’s wild. I’ve been taking transit here in PDX for years and I’ve never seen or experienced anything like that. I’m mostly traveling on the west side, though. Seems like most of the crime happens on the other side of the river.

It’s much harder to maintain boundaries like the ones you’re describing when working with special education students, particularly those with significant needs. No one has the staffing to allow for two paraeducators to go into the bathroom with a student who needs help wiping. That’s a one-person job. And if your…

Exactly.

Yep, exactly. The amount of catcalling is largely regional. I lived in 7 different states during my twenties and the amount of catcalling varied widely depending on where I was. Virtually none in the rural Midwest (because, like you noted, there are very few people around), lots in Honolulu, moderate amounts in small…

Gambling addiction is in the DSM-5 as a recognized condition.

My husband works at New Seasons and if he’s done this to you, I promise it was genuine, though possibly still annoying. He’s that friendly and talkative all the time, not just at work.

Sex addiction isn’t an official psychiatric diagnosis, actually. It’s not in the DSM-5. There’s no established criteria that would qualify someone as having a sex addiction, and there’s no established treatment for it. It’s not considered “real” by most psychiatrists and psychologists.

Definitely. It’s likely that many of these students have behavioral and emotional difficulties that are explanatory, though not excusatory. Many of them also probably have what we’d call “complex social histories” (meaning they are in foster care or a group home and/or have a history of abuse/neglect). The perception…

Public charter school for at-risk youth.

Boulder Prep is a charter school for at-risk youth. So it’s actually quite likely that many of these students had a lot of disciplinary difficulty and/or were expelled from their home schools. Many of them are likely from Longmont and other conservative areas nearby. Rural districts rarely have an option for…

I’m not sure I’d consider it a derailment of brain development. People with autism also lack theory of mind (though some high-functioning individuals can learn it if it’s taught to them explicitly). While it’s certainly a difference from how most of us see the world, it’s not necessarily nefarious.

Most hospital IDs have the person’s job title underneath their name.

I’m in recovery from anorexia. I spent years of my life hospitalized and on the sidelines of life because of that illness. So I actually find the message that someone needs to diet in order to be thin more upsetting, because it encourages people to try that approach, and you don’t know that you’re going to get…

Watching an episode of fixer upper was the first and only time I’ve thought “maybe I should move to Waco.” It’s like they’re just giving those huge homes away. I can barely believe that housing market is real.

Yep. I feel weird reading this thread as a small person who just ate a box of mac n cheese and a ritter sport for dinner. This is real life to some of us, you guys! Not all small people are salad nibblers.

You go first, Joe. Tell us about all of your visits to a health care provider. Don’t hold back, go ahead and describe all the details of the symptoms you had and what happened during the appointment. The public deserves to know, right?

She never said that she “had” to. She said that she did, and based on the context it sounds like she did so because it was a cheaper option. I used PP as my primary medical provider in my early 20s for the exact same reason.

No, he’s not her employer, so from a legal standpoint, he’s allowed to ask. If he somehow accessed her medical records from PP without her permission, he (and probably PP) would be in violation of HIPAA.

I’m from NY and my definition of crawlspace is the same as yours. I think the author’s use of the word “crawlspace” is probably just a misguided attempt to dramatize this guy’s living situation.