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Joined 2 years ago
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Cake day: July 2nd, 2023

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  • It’s rose-tinted glasses in play as well. I have many fond memories of my university days and deeply miss all the time I had with my friends that I now rarely see. I would encourage any student to cherish that aspect. There were many, many, difficult aspects of that time as well though, and a decade or so on I deeply appreciate the autonomy I have now.







  • Thanks for sharing. You’re definitely right about the divide. I just found that I had so much time I could do everything I needed and wanted to do (granted, within the confines of social distancing at the time). Housework was joyful because I could do a good job of it, and have time for hobbies, and have time to relax from both. Aside from all the suffering and madness in the world at the time, it was a genuinely satisfying experience at home.






  • The flag patriotism and intense praise of military action was a lot for me. I remember going to a mall, and seeing what would typically be reserved as disabled parking was instead veteran parking?? And then the cinema in the mall loudly advertising its discount for veterans as well. We do have a general discount in my country too, but it’s not so… intense. Like no one else has to know it’s happening because it’s more of a state benefit than it is a form of patriotism.

    Neighbourhoods in general are what I found the strangest when I stayed in the States. Flags everywhere as you say, but also just the intense size, and the lack of walkability (the kurb drops felt massive compared to my country). Beyond that I remember walking for around 20 minutes through a suburb and counting upwards of 10 different company logos on rubbish bins. This neighbourhood seemingly had 10 different bin days rather than one centralised service.







  • I can understand why you’d take this view. I suffered through a conservative religious upbringing so I can definitely relate. However, I think this viewpoint is dangerous overall, and to be honest shows some naivety about how difficult it is to raise kids.

    If we start policing what is right and wrong to teach kids, beyond certain limits we start to get into the territory of huge government oversight. There should be things that are off limits (eg obvious example anything pertaining to sexual abuse) but at some point this just becomes government ordained opinion.

    As a bad example, say you live in the USA and give your child sandwiches for lunch with two slices of bread. Then you see that in France everyone gives their children baguettes for lunch (bad example). Which of these two is better? If baguettes are better, is giving sandwiches when you could give baguettes more abusive? Who should decide that? What if someone now claims that sandwiches are a part of their religion?

    You’re obviously talking about something far more impactful that lunch choices, but I hope I’ve crudely made my point. We should question the way we discuss these topics with children, but we should also remember that we could be at the start (or perhaps the middle) of a very, very slippery slope. In the end I think it’s just down to you to raise your own children the way you feel is right.