I was on a terrible date at the bar at the Carlyle Hotel in Manhattan, on the Upper East Side. Some of you may remember this from a previous Pissing Contest—this was the gentleman who was a "writer" that didn't read books because he didn't want to pollute the purity of his own thoughts. I was completely, totally DONE…

Really little babies, at the age most parents pierce them, don't have the fine motor skills to do anything like pull out an earring—their fingers aren't that coordinated. Not to mention they have no idea they even HAVE ears; most of them are still discovering their feet. And if they get dirty, you can make sure…

My mom made me go to the dermatologist, instead of letting me go to Claire's in a big group with my friends when I turned 13. I was sooooooo annoyed and it almost killed my interest in getting it done entirely, but I have to say, I was the only one of my friends who ended up with holes that were placed properly.

Because I don't think you always best serve the goals of diversity by talking about extreme outliers. If the reason to push for diversity in media is because people benefit from seeing themselves represented onscreen, why would you create a character who represents very, very few people when you could create a…

I mean, I don't know how you can argue for an accurate portrayal of contemporary HIV infection and then be upset that the character is gay, when gay men still account for the vast majority of all new HIV infections in this country. Women account for about 20%, and white and Hispanic women are least likely among women…

As I say, I've worked retail. I've been in both positions. I was describing those people not as examples of angry customers but as examples of how presumably normal people can fail to deduce even the basics about how industries they're unfamiliar with work. Which is why I don't believe in the idea that working…

Oh, my boss actually thinks its funny that I respond to reader mail at all. Mainly I just send the subscription service number (which is intentionally made impossible to find) to people who want to cancel, and EVERY so often if it's late I will completely lose my mind at someone who sends a five-line cover letter…

Haha well, the Canada part, yes. But the Fair Labor Standards Act was passed in the United States in 1938, and while there have obviously been changes to the law since then, I do think it's important for people working now to know that it's not legal, and the thing that makes it illegal is not like, some…

Totally illegal, by the way, in case you didn't know. Even if they had been tipping out the BOH staff, they're still not allowed to do it out of your tips. See the explanation here for who is allowed to be part of a tip pool:

I hear this argument a lot (ex-retail employee, personally) and I don't know—I just don't buy it. I work in social media at a national fashion magazine and have to interact directly with the public, and I think basically people just don't know much about how MOST industries other than their own work, nor do many…

I mean, not to be a wretched elitist, but I don't imagine it's the lawyers and college professors of the world who have never heard of "basil." I worked retail, not food service, but idiots come from all walks of life, including other parts of the service industry. I have vivid childhood memories of my nanny…

You know Ryan Reynolds???

This is a look by Ammerman Schlosberg.

I think the best thing you can teach her is about the power of layering and tailoring. It's not just for suits; they can do things like take her jeans in at the waist, since the hard part will be finding jean that fit her hips. It's a nice thing you can do for her. And there are a ton of really stretch jeans on the…

I was talking about the variety of luxury goods available in various luxury stores, as a reply to my earlier point, as the responder said she hadn't noticed that. I didn't say anything about what you're talking about. I think it's ridiculous you can't go grocery shopping in France on a Sunday; I was just clarifying…

Tbh, the first night I ever spent in Paris I ate sour cream and onion Pringles from the corner shop because my plane was delayed taking off and I arrived too late to be seated at any restaurant. +1 for your gloriously salaried waiters and endless cafe nights, -1 for just being able to do totally normal things when you…

I too have worked the past three weekends in a row. Would you like me to tell you what percentage of it went to out-of-pocket medical costs? STFU, Canada.

Totally. Put it this way—the only the kind of people who would care or even need that amount of variety...are the people who would hop on the Eurostar so they didn't have to miss a single day of shopping.

You can be a misogynist even if you're female. See also: Ann Coulter, Phyllis Schlafly, every blonde bitch on Fox News. And I am always happy to converse productively, but as you're operating off of a false premise ("professional revolutionary feminists disagree with and wish to eliminate a foundational concept in…

That's actually not true at a lot of super high-end stores. Hermes especially is well-known for it. They hold internal market days where the buyers from each region come and stock their particular stores, and if there are only 50 of something made, and there are 200 Hermes stores, then by golly you are going to have…