No Stupid Questions

some straight guy i was friends with was obsessed with me. he only cared if i liked men and had a bf for some reason, and would ignore that i liked women. he would act like i was straight and that if i dated women, that just meant i was single and obviously interested in him.

Born in 01. I’m excited to be 24 and have a celebration with my girlfriend and family, but I feel OLD.

What is the cutoff? When do you stop being a young woman?

(I was going to say I wish I was still around 10 years younger when I realized that people born in 2011 are going to be/are 14 and not 5.)

Other edit: It’s been almost 8 years since my Sweet 16. Holy crap. My sister was 6.

This is a 2-in-1 question, I suppose. I type the way I do. I’ve always typed this way, but I’ve noticed when interacting with people (not on here) that people always think I’m far older than 19. They think I’m in my forties or fifties.

Also, I tend to type using full stops, which people may think are rude. When I’m typing a full sentence, though, I end it with a period. If I say, “He’s being an asshole,” (with a period), I mean that as a fact, not out of anger. It just happens to be ended with a period since it’s a sentence.

Seriously. I’m asocial and depressed. Also, I like spending time with people and how they’re there for me when I need it, but I also have several mental illnesses and no empathy.

I’m not obligated to give you something back when you buy something for me. I want it, and you’re nice enough to get it for me. Why do I have to give you something back? I don’t know what you want. I can guess but I can’t really tune into other people that well.

And when people ask how I am, I just say “Fine”. Why do I have to ask how they are? They never told me to ask how they are, they asked how I was. Also, what’s so wrong with “Nothing/Nun” when they ask what I did? Genuinely, I didn’t do much, there’s nothing to talk about.

It also feels easier to talk to men because they don’t seem to compete with me or expect much from me, how can I fix that so I can talk to my own gender?

To start: no, there are no "trusted male figures" in our lives. My brothers & father are all conservative, and I DO NOT trust them to properly explain things without shame and/or religious context.

My son knows the basics of reproduction, but I've never really explained what's "normal" things for a teenage boy to go through.. mainly because I don't know!

I've definitely put it off, so he's almost 14 and is much more physically mature than most of his peers (he's got hair in places, shaves his face regularly, etc.).. but I'm embarrassed to admit that I know next to nothing about anything else..

Could y'all help me out? What did you go through that he should know about? What should I know about?

Many thanks to anyone who can help. Please don't be unkind. Much appreciated.

EDIT: Thank you so much for all the advice so far!! Please keep it up!!

My son & I have very open communication & a very good relationship.

What was John F. Kennedy referring to when he said “a monolithic and ruthless conspiracy”?

The President and the Press: Address before the American Newspaper Publishers Association, April 27, 1961

Excerpt

For we are opposed around the world by a monolithic and ruthless conspiracy that relies primarily on covert means for expanding its sphere of influence--on infiltration instead of invasion, on subversion instead of elections, on intimidation instead of free choice, on guerrillas by night instead of armies by day. It is a system which has conscripted vast human and material resources into the building of a tightly knit, highly efficient machine that combines military, diplomatic, intelligence, economic, scientific and political operations.

Its preparations are concealed, not published. Its mistakes are buried, not headlined. Its dissenters are silenced, not praised. No expenditure is questioned, no rumor is printed, no secret is revealed. It conducts the Cold War, in short, with a war-time discipline no democracy would ever hope or wish to match.

One thing Trump tried to do after getting inaugurated was considering Mexican cartels terrorist organizations, and for that he was attacked by Sheinbaum for violating Mexico's sovereignty. But, at least as far as I've read on the topic (whcih is not a lot to be fair), nobody actually explains why that's the case. I mean at a glance you'd think the Mexican government would benefit from such an action, or at least I did. It's pretty obvious to me I'm missing a piece of the puzzle, so does anyone here have it?

Edit: Thanks for the answers. Now it makes sense.

Okay, this is not an iPhone vs Android Phone debate. I respect your right to choose whichever platform that you want.

I mean, iPhone seems so antithetical with the idea of freedom. You have to connect it to a server to even use it, all apps have to go through a centralized server, no option to install whatever apps you want, which means, you literally cannot have any third-party apps without an online account.

Most of my fellow americans seems to love the idea of freedom so much, yet just buy into a closed ecosystem with no freedom? 🤔

Like almost 60% of Americans use iPhone, kinda weird to preach freedom when you cant even have an app without a corporation's approval. If it were any other country, I wouldn't find it weird, but for a country that's obsessed with the idea of freedom (so much so that they disobeyed mask mandates), it's really weird to be using a device with zero freedom.

Alright, so I’ve been seeing these videos floating around where people are legitimately surprised by things Donald Trump has done—things he actually promised to do during his campaigns. The common thread in all of these reactions is something like, “Well, he said he’d do it, but I didn’t think he’d actually go through with it!”

And here’s the thing: if someone votes for a politician who doesn’t follow through on their promises, isn’t that kinda bad? Like, wouldn’t you want the person you voted for to keep their word? So why is this a thing now? Is this just people messing around and trolling, or did they genuinely think Trump wasn’t going to do what he said he’d do?

I mean, maybe it’s because of how unpredictable Trump was during his presidency. He had a habit of saying things one way but then doing the opposite, which could’ve made some people doubt whether he’d actually follow through on his big promises. But now that he is following through on some of those things, it seems like people are genuinely caught off guard.

So here’s what I’m wondering: is this something to celebrate? Like, is it a good thing that people didn’t think Trump would keep his word? Or is it just another example of how the political landscape has changed in ways no one expected?

I'm the quiet, introverted one and I may be on the spectrum. I like to do my job and go home. I hate drama and drama queens and ignore people when they start gossiping. Many extroverts find that offensive and talk behind my back like teenagers do. This stupid drama is the only reason why I quit my job after finding a new one.

I agreed to stay 4 weeks with the company because some coworkers are actually grown ups, it is a breeze to work with them and I can use their experience to be a better professional.

Back to the immature ones: Past me would ignore their sarcastic and passive aggressive comments, which took a toll on me but now I have nothing to lose and I couldn't care less what they think of me, meaning I started to answer back using their same tone and so sarcastically and passive aggressively as them: they yell at me accusing of doing something on purpose, I politely tell them to calm down and to seek help.

Most of my coworkers are women. Since I started answering back and being a jerk, they toned their b%tchiness way down, it is more pleasant to work here now.

I don't understand why my coworkers treat me with some respect now that I'm being a jerk and I hate I have to be a jerk to be treated with a modicum of respect. I don't know if I'm wrong but I think they have an idea of what a man is supposed to be and now that I fit their definition of a man, they leave me alone because they see in me something familiar to them.

I find it sad I have to be an ass to be treated with respect and I hope to find a workplace where I can be myself and work with no drama.

Is this something that's going to happen no matter where I work?

Just had this thought, am I stroking it in my sleep when I'm having a wet dream? Or is it automatic?

bullet for you?

I finally got the bottom bar to be the color that I want instead of stupid gray. But whenever I’m moused over something in the system, it’s impossible to see what I’m really actually moused over. Is there a way to change that highlight color?

In the photo I’ve attached. It’s somewhat easy to see it, but in real life unless you’re sitting way off the side of the computer screen, you literally can’t see what is highlighted. It’s basically gray on gray. On a side note, I wanna meet the people who actually designed this interface give them a piece of my mind. But big question how do I change the highlight color of what I’m moused over.?

I just rewatched The Good Place and I'm having an existential crisis... (again)

Like what if, everything I'm seeing is just a simulated reality of a habitable planet, but its all just part of the torture? And worst yet, what if everyone else is just a demon torturing me..

See: Climate Change, Politics, I mean wtf, I leave PRC, an authoritarian country, just to end up in another autocracizing country? (talking about USA btw) Like this seems like part of the script, this is a torture chamber. All the racism I faced, bullying, evil teachers, people olaying loud music in the middle of the night, shitty parents, random kids screeching throught the neighborhood, Everything. Like if this world is really a random chaotic universe, there should be both good and bad if things are random. But the overwhenming thing is just bad. This just has to be a torture chamber. My "parents" and my "brother" could just be demons in disguise trying to torture me.

Like IDK why I'm even asking this, all of Lemmy could be part of the torture, what if everyone on Lemmy is also a demon that are gonna dismiss my theory anyways. (Hello Lemming Demons 👀)

And you might say "Well if its hell, why did they let you know about such a concept", well that's the thing, it makes it more realistic. If a subject in this Fake Universe Torture Chamber wants to question it, the other "people" who could be demons that would dismiss the claim and just say "that's a work of fiction".

Oh yea btw, if this is actually The Bad Place, I have something to say to the demons: go fuck yourselves with your demon tentacles, ya basic

Okay I'm not literally saying I believe all this, but its a scary concept to think about. And now I can't sleep. Thanks, The Good Place

for example, if one of the characters wants to say “bye mom”, they might instead say “PEACE OUT BROTHER! MM MM OH YEAH!” and starts dancing/doing a “cool” gesture.

some of them also use “tiktok speak”/brainrot but i don’t get why, since wouldn’t this be “cooler” with children? i don’t know any actual adults who like things like that nor do they speak like that.

are they perhaps making fun of the younger generation? because it seems genuine, not making fun.

The title's a bit disingenuous, I know: this didn't come out of nowhere. White supremacism is as American as Manifest Destiny and has been heavily intertwined with Nazism from its inception. That overlap with the Republican party, and their gradual slip into the extreme far-right, is evident.

But Seig Heils? Even the most dense among them must know that blatant Nazism hurts their legitimacy in the eyes of the public, even among MAGATs (as is evident right now if you peek at their echo chamber on Reddit). Surely they would have a much easier time pushing their rhetoric and establishing their agenda by keeping a purposeful distance from that sort of indefensible imagery and symbolism. How do they expect to keep cohesion in the military when you imply to the soldiers that they are Nazis now, seig heils and all.

Why Nazis?

Any theories as to where this is coming from? Follow the ketamine-fueled leader? A directive for operative Krasnov, from Putin himself, to implode the country? True Nazi beliefs among the Heritage Foundation, Proud Boys, etc? I just don't understand how they thought this would fly. I don't understand anything anymore lol.

I watched the last severance episode.

A manager (an 80's looking, strong and tall black man so you identify him) is told during a performance review he "uses too many big words".

To me, while this character can appear pretentious, he is simply an articulate man, like somebody who was taught at Oxford or Princeton. It's simply how he was raised, it's not his "fault".

I would feel attacked is somebody told me that for trying to use an appropriate vocabulary to describe or explain something, like being posh was something to be ridiculed.

If a coworker told me that I'd use a more detailed description so he understands what I mean but otherwise keep using my regular vocabulary. If a manager told me that I'd start looking for a new job, as it'd signal he feels entitled to micromanage me and a job doesn't have to be stressful.

Am I too thin skinned?

It's like it hits "normal people are sleeping" time and I suddenly have a million things to say to them.

To be clear, this is not "I'm going to wake you up with inane ramblings" it's "why do I feel like rambling inanely when I shouldn't" for people who like to skim.

well, at least, from my experience, there was only like 3 people who acted like them and they treated everyone else like inferiors, acted weird or mocking, etc.

most of them were only nice to the guys or didn’t talk to them, were rude to the girls.

Just hypothetically, if a state decided to stop receiving money from the federal government as well as intercepting and/or stopping federal income tax payments, could they do it? What might the consequences be?

Please be respectful so that rule 5 doesn't get broken.