It kind of sucks to see how many comments about how this is all the woman's fault, and how if she had done XYZ, like the posters presumably would, it couldn't have happened. I mean, I'm not saying she was a responsible gun owner or that this wasn't preventable (she probably thought she'd done due diligence, because…

I think you're right. Depending on the context of how this happened, it could be really quite mean, or it could be reasonable. If it's happening for a small infraction and intended only to humiliate and demonstrate the power the parent has, then yeah, it's a crappy thing to do.

Gallery of Regrettable Food has long been a favorite of mine, particularly the After 10 PM cookery nonsense.

I love this site so much. It cracks me up, and this is probably my favorite entry. I love it because I can just see someone grinning like a maniac at the people at their table, thinking they're super funny and inwardly baffled at why no one's laughing.

For a lot of people, those are just the starting points for a conversation. I don't know much about my cousins, for example, and asking questions like these can open up a possibility for getting to know them a little better. If you're working from a fairly blank slate, it's hard to ask personalized or "interesting"…

I feel the same as Harbourseal. Most of the time, "romantic" stuff comes across as forced, cliche, and the kind of thing that someone does because that's the "romantic thing to do, not because they want to. Extravagant gifts, jewelry, chocolate, roses, candlelight, etc., can be great, but only if that's what someone…

I agree with almost everything! I would just say that before you touch someone's head, you should really ask first. A lot of people have had bad experiences, and don't like to be touched at all (I'm not the only one in this comment thread, but of course, I'm one of those people). It might seem non-threatening to…

Hand on the head is always out for me. Some people like it, but it's the kind of thing that I think you have to ask about beforehand.

I had a similar experience, except I stole rocks from a neighbor's yard! They were white and glittery and so, so pretty, and I stole some. I can't remember how my mom found out or what the lecture was, but I did have to return them and I had to apologize. Our neighbor wasn't that fond of children to begin with, but…

I have to disagree with part of what you say, which is that if a man wants something, you won't have to ask. I think that there is plenty of room for shy men, men who don't want to push too hard, or who want to take it at your own pace. I've had relationships like that, and I was quite happy with them. I'm pretty…

You can discuss it right away, if you like. I posted further down (still in the grays, I believe), but I bring this stuff up right away. If I'm interested in a casual or an open relationship, the apps/profiles can stay, but I wouldn't really be comfortable with it in a closed/monogamous relationship. I just like to…

For me, it depends on what the relationship is. I pretty much go into relationships laying out my expectations, so that I feel secure about what it is that I intend, and I feel like the other person knows what's expected. The "what are we" talk is defined until it changes, and that makes me feel secure and I don't…

I agree. I think that while pregnancy is clearly really difficult, exhausting, and often painful, it isn't really fair to be cruel or abusive in the name of hormones, especially to a little kid (though honestly, if the kid's 2, I bet he's a nightmare to deal with anyway, because in the best of circumstances, toddlers…

My mom has one, too! She's very energetic and cute, but she's... kinda weird-lookin'. We all enjoy her very much.

I have a friend like this, and I sometimes feel like she uses our willingness to accommodate her sensitivities as a way to control situations. There are a few topics that we just won't discuss, because she doesn't like how I see it. One of these things is street harassment. We both agree that it's awful, very…

Petty theft is something that a lot of people do and somehow think it's a strike against "the man" or big corporations or something, but it doesn't really work that way. If you steal from a Wal-Mart, the people who will feel it most acutely are the lowest-level employees and the community who shops there. Where is…

My mom would always buy me very girly things in a not-so-subtle effort to convince me that I was gross and lazy and also weird. We'd fight about my clothes constantly when I was in high school, because I basically lived in clothes that were men's stuff about 6 sizes too big and gothy jewelry. My argument was that I…

I really want to like her work, but I could never get over that awful fetishizing-of-trans-men comic. I know she's apologized repeatedly, and I really do think she meant it and she's changed her tune, but it sort of permanently turned me off of her work. It was one of the first times I had ever felt objectified, and…

I don't know how to tell the difference!

I used to volunteer for a rape and abuse crisis line, and I was raped a few years ago.