I’m fairly certain that’s not a universal requirement - for example, here in Fairfax County, Virginia I would bet the school system pays for all such checks.

Not a problem.

(Though as a contractor) I worked at a Large Mortgage Securities firm in downtown DC where I had to pay for parking a couple blocks away from the office; I considered that “just fine” since my hourly rate could be considered to cover that (as well as the horrible commute!).

Though the company certainly would deserve quite a bit of side-eye, if the company said something like “We’ll pay you N as a salary until you’ve successfully passed the special training needed for the job, then increase it to N+X” even interested-only-in-bucks me might bite.

Well, as someone else noted, if a company didn’t want to pay for a company requirement then that company immediately leaves my set of potential companies to work for.

Asking for money!?

He wore a party hat at an outdoor party?

“...where the heck is Sasha? How could she be missing this?”

Not quite as dramatic as these we get wave-induced clouds off the last range of Appalachians here in Northern Virginia - maybe 4-6 distinct linear clouds one after the other.

The lead photo is a spitting image (er...spitting caricature?) of my next door neighbor.