I definitely misread "ulcerative colitis" and, while intrigued, I still thought it odd to bring up in an article about food.

God I can't stand how much this has been complained about. Commercial news has had a field day spinning this. Banning card surcharges at point of sale I was glad to hear about; I was tired of getting stung for that extra little bit just because I hadn't noticed the little sign or handwritten note on the eftpos machine under a bit of tape that said "1.2% debit card fee" in minuscule writing.

But Christ, do some small businesses love a whinge or what?!

"Oh, there's a new law that says we can't do extra fees at checkout? OH NO, MY CAFE!!!" If not passing on a fee of less than 2% is so crippling, or the choice to simply up your prices by one and a half percent and offer a cash discount is some sort of existential threat, your business's days were probably numbered already.

"Cashless Society" is becoming a bit like the refrain of a Doomsday Cult who have to keep moving the prophesied date of the Apocalypse every time the promised day comes and goes without incident.

You mean to tell me cash isn't being manufactured, transported to banks, sent to businesses and then back again, counted at every stage and checked for counterfeits, along with ATMs and cash registers built, powered and maintained, all for free by a bunch of volunteer worker elves?

I remember them saying it would ruin attention spans. They were correct, too. Mine is fucking shot.

My partner scrolls TikTok while watching TV.

It's a bit of a mixed blessing that the Internet is slowly dying; there's less to look at anywhere so I pick up a book every once in a while now instead.

I was so confused at first, but after “The Colour of Magic” I read “The Light Fantastic” in only three or four sittings…

Exercising regularly and eating healthy and then experiencing the benefits of easier sleep and feeling happier is so frustrating.

The worst feeling came with the realisation that all those annoying gym junkie “you are what you eat”, “eat less, move more” douchebags are correct about everything. Now I’m responsible for my actions, goddammit.

The other week I didn’t get the fries with my normal chicken burger from the fast food place and didn’t get that awful heavy feeling in my stomach afterwards. Made me so angry.

Sounds good on paper, until you notice this means... only the wealthy would ever bother running for office.

https://en.wikipedia.org/...

Yes, but in that case adopting Sortition and abolishing career politicians makes way more sense.

Very true. For that matter, the "wellness" industry in general and a lot of popular wisdom about what ails us is mostly trivial, too.

The amount of weight given to the topic of whether artificial sweeteners are better or worse for your overall health than sugar compared to the time spent on talking about the dismally low percentage of the population who actually eat enough fruit and veg is the complete wrong way around!

Diet Coke is the least of your worries if you're not getting any fibre, people! And if you are getting enough fibre, protein, and healthy fats, the right level of calories and all your recommended vegetables, then by all means drink all the Diet Coke you want! Which won't be much because healthy diets leave you much more satiated and naturally energetic anyway.

The reason of course is that avoiding artificial sweeteners or some purported "toxin" is a quick and easy way to feel healthier and feel like you're doing something without actually having to think about true overall health... Allegorically, everyone's trying to build a pyramid from the top down.

I think it was Gina Yashere (British comedian) who did the math and worked out while she was touring the US, if her leg was cut off, it would be cheaper to take a taxi to the airport, book two last minute first-class seats on British Airways (one seat for her, and one for the leg) and fly home to be treated in the UK than it would be to just go to a US hospital.

I work retail and I've just come to the conclusion that... the system is just never gonna work for how people do.

They're about as simple as you can make it; scan from one side to the other, scanning one item at a time, into your bag; when bag is full remove it and begin a new bag; continue until all your items are scanned and press "Pay" and follow the prompts.

About 1 in 3 people struggle with this. They scanned from right to left instead of left to right, they pressed "pay" too early and can't figure out how to go back, they picked up a bag and waved something in front of the scanner so it scanned twice accidentally, there is an "ERROR: Unknown Barcode" popup but they were re-arranging their bag and can't remember the last item put through, their kid or spouse decided to "help" and now the machine's confused...

We've had them for years and it's not getting any better. There's no fixing it. Sometimes customers are dumb, sure (a few I question whether they can even read), but also you can't blame people for just acting like humans.

Absolutely. In an emergency you would not do this.

You would simply ring multiple ambulances, ask for a quote from each, and compare prices and services offered like a reasonable consumer in a free market should.

Management in charge of these decisions wildly underestimated how mindless customers are almost all the time.

I work retail and can feel my IQ drop when I am shopping vs working.

Gonna keep my way well out of that part of the fandom for the next few years because there's nothing we can do about it either way. Whoever gets it gets it.

You're describing the exact machines I work with.

And no, people still manage to scan the wrong direction. Kind of a lot. You would think the bag racks would be a dead giveaway. They are not.

Right. So it wouldn't change anything.

Neat…

I like Bluey, so might watch one or two episodes to see what it’s like.