Yup, the way this works for restaurant table servers is something like this:

A. Declare your tips and come in under the minimum wage. Employer pays the difference.

B. Don't declare your tips, and employer pays minimum wage. Employer (and potentially IRS) also calls bullshit on this.

C. Employer looks the other way on B.

D. Employer is a freaking unicorn and pays a livable wage.

Most of the time, the only viable answer is A, but never declare all your tips. That and you make sure that nobody spots you doing this.

Oh god. I didn't do this math. This means that the same people in that age bracket were kids glued to the TV during all the McCarthy-era bullshit. No wonder.

did they actually fuck it up from sheer incompetence?

Fucking things up with sheer incompetence has been a hallmark of this entire administration. At this point, I'd be astonished if it was just a run-of-the-mill accident.

Good god. Lemme guess, the propellant in that can are CFCs and they added lead to lubricate the spray since it kept clogging the nozzle. May as well add arsenic for flavor.

OP, thank you for posting this. I keep forgetting that not everyone has seen this in school, or been to a museum where this illustration is part of a bigger exhibit. It's one of those things that, unfortunately, we need to keep shouting for the folks in the back row, just in case their school history books were heavily edited.

Oh, how salacious! Next you're going to tell us you have some scintillating photographs of your ankles stored someplace, perhaps?

With curious interest,

• D.W.C.

Which is amazing since pigeons are usually kinda shit at making nests:

Absolutely true. Shit, I should have made that more clear in my post. Edit: fixed.

That sounds like it was a hard route to take through all this. That's exactly the kind of thing I'm talking about. It sounds like you're in a better place now.

In the end, I learned how to love people for who they are rather than how society sees them.

If there's one thing I've learned from my friends and this community is how important this is. Thanks for putting it so succinctly.

Thanks, I have a relentlessly curious personality and simply can't stop at "that's how it is." I need to understand.

Years back I went through some psych counseling and learned to put my brain in "debug mode". Sessions quickly evolved into full, raw, introspection with sound guidance. We stepped through each trauma, scratched at the roots of it, and talked through the impact those past events had on the present. Then we discussed how to handle those past echos as they color the every day. Eventually, it all became a skill.

Where that intersects with the story: I feel something new and chew on it until I understand it. And yeah, this really shook me up in a novel way.

Thanks. That's the kind of encouragement I need right now.

there are people who have nothing to lose, no family etc. - what about them?

All I'm going to say is that squeezing the middle class like they have been is going to create a lot terminally ill people with otherwise treatable disease. Those people may very well be incredibly pissed off, along with family, and also have the time and resources to do things that might be life-ending anyway.

This didn't go down well.

IT consulting pro-tip: Customers would rather pay for your time and expertise, than be made to feel stupid that they didn't think of something so simple themselves.

The level of world-building packed into this made-up response about Japanese food advertising, is god-tier. Whoever wrote this needs to drop everything and start writing books.

There was so much to campus life that just felt natural and just ridiculously, offensively, convenient.

• Practically everyone is roughly the same age as you, and that group is thousands strong (depends on where you go).
• Just drop in on dorm rooms and say 'hi' to friends, whenever.
• Dining is usually very close by.
• Lots of entertainment options, most days of the week.
• Included access to showers and fitness facilities (varies).
• Free bus travel with student ID (varies).
• Student ID discounts at some retail (varies).

The fact that we refuse to build communities outside of school with these features, just boggles the mind.

I'll add that this is practically impossible to replicate in adult life until you get into a "retirement community". And like college, those are ridiculously expensive too. If you're an undergrad and barely old enough to drink: I urge you to please live these days to the fullest. It's tragic but you really won't get another moment like this again.

As far as labors of love go, Stardew Valley is probably the most current example. People paid for this thing years ago, but Concerned Ape keeps adding new features anyway. The retro graphics give this thing a timeless quality out of the box, so it already looks "dated" - this hasn't stopped the robust player community around it. We'll probably see this game stay relevant for a long time.

That also sounds like the kind of prank that Cards Against Humanity would pull if they had access to as much cash. I love this so much.

Windows, can I run this 25 year old software I just installed?

Out-crazying all the crazy passengers. This probably stops so many stupid rants and conversations dead in their tracks.

5/5 pro move.