Yep, Leo over here who can’t stand being the center of attention to the point that I don’t let anyone throw me a birthday party, ever.

It doesn’t have to be anti-Semitic to be problematic. I tend to support Palestine in general, but at the same time I know many people from the region from both groups and it isn’t false to say that there are people who want Israel to be wiped out completely rather than reasoned with (not the people I know!).

Yeah I had to turn it off... it makes me really nervous for them to portray him as out to get Trump. Even if it doesn’t set Trump off, it helps Mueller seem unreliable to the public.

And good day to you!

That was a great read, thank you!

It’s a confusing situation when you’re with someone you like but then they start going too far — it’s not the same as being attacked. A guy once grabbed me on the street and I elbowed him in the face, that was easy in terms of figuring out where I stood. But when it’s someone you’ve been having a nice time with and…

Sometimes things happen too fast and you’re confused. I think that’s an important thing to examine for all of us.

Thank you for saying that! It’s confusing because often if you’ve gotten that far in an interaction, you like the guy enough and you kind of feel like you brought this whole thing on yourself, so it would just be heartless to turn them away. It took me a while to learn how to respect my own needs/wants and not worry…

Yeah similar — I’ve been straight up assaulted and then there have just been the times where I went home and felt like shit afterwards. They’re different entirely but both deserving of conversation. Especially your point about not wanting to be rude. There’s a whole cultural thing about being a tease or whatever and I…

Well and each one is unique, so I don’t want to say that this woman’s experience didn’t cross more lines than mine did. But yes overall, I wish this had brought up more of that conversation — why do we acquiesce, why don’t they notice, do we need more language to help people navigate these things? — and it feels like…

I think you’re right that the gendered expectations on sexual relationships set up both parties in a heterosexual encounter for failure. I don’t agree that women don’t want to initiate, but I do think it’s true that we don’t really know how to because the expectation is still that we won’t/shouldn’t need to. I think I…

Yeah I don’t know what the solution is, but I know that my responses were often more like “Well, OK, I guess”... it wasn’t anyone else’s responsibility to figure that out for me, but I know I’m not alone in how often I made that mistake, and that’s the systemic problem that could’ve been the better outcome of this…

Yes! I don’t mean to undercut the fact that it’s confusing for men as well. Just that people who get into heterosexual relationships are often socialized in ways that make this kind of thing really rampant. In retrospect I’m sure a lot of the guys who I did the whole stare-at-the-ceiling-and-wait-for-it-to-be-over…

Thank you!

Many thanks!

I think that reinforces the point though — the conversation here should be a lot more nuanced and handled more deftly. I’m in my 30s now and I know how to say no, but pretty much throughout my 20s as I explored my sexuality I consistently ran into situations that I didn’t know how to handle. There’s a lot of pressure…

Kind of an aside to your point, but it always makes me shiver how little international awareness so many people in our government have. If you’re from a developing nation, yeah, there are big problems (many caused by exploitation throughout history, as you point out). But it’s still your home and there are wonderful…

I think it’s mostly that the educator in question didn’t understand the age group s/he was speaking to. I agree that it’s very important to get kids to think through why people are incentivized to do bad things, and it can lead to some really fruitful conversation. Kids are smart and they can handle adult topics when…

When I was there last I had just learned of the policy and kept asking the cashier if it was really OK to give just $5, and she was very sweet about it and assured me there was no judgment.

I’m from the North East and a friend of mine was/is researching the heroin epidemic up there... apparently it’s a known thing that there are very predatory “rehabs” throughout Florida. I don’t know the mechanics of it but I guess they have recruiters who are paid per head that they bring in, so a lot of people from…