I'm just one person, but as an American living in Canada, I've found that state-funded healthcare practitioners in my province are insistent about many MORE tests, because I guess a) they get to charge OHIP for it, and b) it's free so why would you possibly object? I love having everything be free, don't get me wrong,…

That's exactly our plan! Mr. Chortcake became a citizen not too long ago, and Baby Chortcake was born one, so we're just waiting for me.

I hear ya. I wanted to stay in Finland when I lived there, but realized that it wouldn't happen. I'm an almost-citizen in Canada now, but we may have to move back to the US because of lack of jobs here.

Ugh, Mr. Chortcake and I have a bunch of friends from his ethnic community who are all house-poor and car-owning in the not-so-good outskirts of our city. They keep inviting us over for dinner, which is kind, but they can't seem to understand why we don't want to go with a toddler on public transportation for an hour…

That's exactly how I felt about my abandoned Ph.D., even though continuing with it would have been financial suicide. I'm so glad I didn't slog through it. I might go back to school someday, but only if they actually pay me to learn unusual languages or if I find an applied arts program where they don't mind if I use…

Mr. Chortcake was coming out of a religious phase when we started dating, and he sniffed, "maybe YOUR ancestors are descended from monkeys, but MINE aren't," when we were debating evolution. I suggested that perhaps G-d (Allah in his case) might have ordered evolution, and he was like, "...oh." He now has no problem…

I can't with beards as well. Even though I don't get acne from them, I get super-red, sore skin from kissing, even when the beard is substantial. It makes me not want to kiss, which is unfortunate. Fortunately for me, Mr. Chortcake is of an ethnicity/area of the world where most men don't have much facial hair, and he…

I have synesthesia and am a very un-picky eater in general, but I absolutely CANNOT stand the texture of diced or crushed tomatoes, hot dogs, or dried apricots (I learned from a Turkish recipe to soak apricots in water or juice first, because I like the taste). Just that rubbery tomato or leathery apricot…

Ohh! That fiction thing! Nobody I've ever had a serious relationship with (including Mr. Chortcake) has ever liked fiction. Mr. Chortcake especially will complain a little if I buy a novel at a book sale ("but do you REALLY NEED it?" YES. Yes, I really need it.), but I can buy the most ridiculous nonfiction book in…

A thousand times this! I'm living in Canada and even though my husband and I aren't happy here professionally or financially, I'm kind of terrified to move back to the U.S. where all the jobs in our fields are. This thing is one thing that Canada gets absolutely right. It's just outrageous that victims of crime have…

Yep, he was my fantasy dad...and now it turns out that he's creepy in the same general way as my actual dad.

As somebody who had all of those exact thoughts and who is now on the other side of the trenches, so to speak, try as hard as you can to take care of you without compromising your kid's needs for food, clothing, washing, and love. It IS possible. Your needs, whether for adult conversation, sleep, a nice beverage of…

Congratulations! And hell yeah, you do NOT have to be mom to the world. I have a 16-month-old and people—usually middle-aged and older women and older men—often randomly come up to me when I'm out with him and announce that being a mother is the best thing in the world. For sure, his being born changed my life for the…

Ugh, that's terrible! That's like my pregnant friend who works for WHO (the people who are all BREASTFEED FOR A LONG TIME OR ELSE) and will still only get six weeks of postpartum leave, making it much harder to establish the breastfeeding relationship. Or Victorians who are all about a protected childhood for their…

I still have a maroon uncut cord double-breasted pea coat from them! It was pretty much the only thing I ever bought that I didn't need to send back because of fitting issues.

I was tall and skinny with hips and giant boobs as a teenager in the 90's, so I had a body that had just gone out of vogue as I got it. That plus teenage fashions plus my parents' attitude about my body convinced me that I was a freakish ogress. I would order dELIA*s clothes and have to send them all back. I believed…

Oh!! This is on my list of Top Seventeen Things Not To Say To Pregnant Women! Mr. Chortcake kept saying, "oh, pregnancy hormones," whenever I expressed negative emotions about anything. I was like OR MAYBE SOMEBODY'S JUST BEING AN ASSHOLE.

My dad (a Narcissist) is in the radio business and is one of those smug old men who won't shut up about how annoying vocal fry is and how unattractive the young women who use it are. He would also mock valley girls constantly when I was growing up. Basically, women can't win with him (and of course unless *he* finds…

I love this story! My husband is the opposite with his laughs. He has a naturally low, booming voice but a goofy, high-pitched Amadeus chortle. His conscious fake laugh is a deep booming laugh to match his voice, and his real one, that he has no idea about, makes the rest of the audience burst out laughing after he…

Yes! I was visiting in Finland years ago, and what really made me fall head-over-heels in love with it and end up living there eventually for two years was visiting my Finnish friend at her workplace and listening to her speak to someone over the phone in a deep chest voice and no-nonsense downward inflections. It…