mamadrama

The diner looking and feeling rundown is part of its thing. It's meant to have that kitschy, been here since the beginning of time feel. There's been talk of updating it, but people keep throwing a fit. It would lose its charm. We love it, but I can see why it wouldn't hold the same appeal for everyone. I think they had business in LV but the show didn't want to film it because it would clash with the storyline they are creating. They like to pretend that they don't have anything going on outside of what we see.

Hey, what happened to Lacey's other baby? First she said she had triplets, then one died. But what happened to the other one?

Did she sign her name on anything when she entered the building? JE is notorious for wearing an earpiece and having information fed to him by producers during the reading. People don't have to buy advanced tickets for them to get names, they often make people sign in as they walk through the door. I've done a lot of horror and paranormal cons with JE and Chip Coffee. He has some super stealthy ways of getting information. It's almost more impressive than his "psychic" ability. That said, I DO believe he has some abilities. I think a lot of these famous ones do. However, the more famous they become the bigger and grander their readings have to become. What started out as what may have been an honest sensitivity towards people and the afterlife suddenly becomes a performance-based seance. Who knows, though? He may have really felt something. I'm super skeptical but I also like to leave room for some belief, too. 🙂

She had regrets right away but didn't call her bank until the next day. I'm sure the psychic deposited it before the ink dried, but this is a good lesson in listening to your gut.

The Kwanzaa cake will never not be funny.

My new theory is that the Natalie scenes are being aired out of order.

Amanda did see it on television while she was in captivity. She's talked about it in interviews. At first she was excited because she thought it would give her mother some peace and let her know that she was okay and alive...and then she watched in horror as Sylvia claimed she was dead. Sylvia Browne, John Edwards, Theresa Caputo...all scam artists to me. They're wrong 80% of the time, we just don't see it. The other 20% comes from them being good cold readers. I actually believe in some level of psychic abilities. What I don't believe is in a person "seeing" a specific future (way too many variables) and anyone charging money for such a thing. If what they say gives a person who's lost someone some comfort then I'm generally okay with it. But what these people are doing goes way beyond that. It's cruel.

Yep, I'm a Kentuckian. We do have our crazies, but we're mostly okay. 😊 Yeah, that's the sad thing. These folks weren't stupid, they were desperate. I know little old women who tithe half their social security checks to their churches. When you're feeling that strongly that actions like that will help or save you then I guess you'll do most anything.

*ahem* Not that we don't have our own fair share of "hicks", but he's not one of ours. The fake Saudi Prince is from Michigan... A $27,000 check. This woman who just lost both of her jobs wrote a $27,000 check to a complete stranger to "hold" and didn't even call her bank to cancel it the moment she closed the door behind her.

When someone talks about how hard their life is then turns around and drops a million on a psychic...🙄

I get that. As a white person I really have nothing comparable, and anything I could come up with wouldn't be a fair or an equivalent example. The closest I came up with was if I'd later learned that the man I chose had engaged in extremely misogynistic behavior a year or so before I met him. Not just a post or two, or a one off situation, but a pattern of behaviors that I'd normally consider damaging and hurtful and that i, personally, would stay far away from. And then, on top of everything else, to have to explain to him WHY his support of these things was hurtful. Yeah, not sure I could do it. If I loved him then a part of me would WANT to say it was herd mentality, or youthful ignorance, or insensitivity, banter, or even just SM trolling to get a rise. The other part of me, though, would have trouble looking at him the same because I HAVE dated misogynistic men in the past and it was hell. Definitely not something I'd want to go through again. IMO the ATFR did a disservice by only referencing the one photo-and you couldn't even see what she was wearing in that one. It made it sound like all of this was over just one IG picture and "party" when it wasn't. Rachel wasn't really "hiding" anything because her SM is public. Since Matt wouldn't have had the chance to cyberstalk her before getting serious, though, I can see how it blindsided him. Imo that's another disservice the show does to these contestants. If they really wanted them to find true live then they'd give them a better rounded version of their potential mates. Remember when the final 2 used to go to the person's house? If I am considering marrying someone then I need way more info: what's their online persona like, how do they interact with people outside of the show bubble, how clean is their bathroom, what are their friends like, what are some of their favorite places in their community...But then this stopped being about finding love a while ago. Hell, I'm not even convinced that Matt liked ANY of his women. If he did have an amazing connection with someone then I didn't see it. Most of the time was spent on drama.

Shew, I was angry by how he kept referring to Rachel as "this girl."

Lol, sorry Gobi! Let's try this again... You're totally right and they're probably just fucking with us all.

See, having grown up and attended school in the south, having children currently attending school there, and still owning a home and living part of the year in small town GA very close to Cummings, I think it's a lot more nuanced than that. It's not so much teaching that "the civil war isn't about slavery" as it is "the civil war was about slavery BUT..." It's that "but" that's the dangerous part. If it were just about NOT educating then that would be one thing. Instead, it's miseducating and that can be much harder to unwind. It's one thing to teach someone facts-it's a whole other ball of yarn to " unteach" what they thought they already knew.

It still matters. My husband went through the citizenship process during the pandemic. They may not be tracking people down, but getting married isn't the end of the process. There's still applying for adjustment of status, having the restrictions lifted, going from permanent resident to citizen if you choose...They still have at least 2, possibly 3, interviews alone to go through stateside within the next 2 years. He could still be deported if they find something they don't like. The only way they'd be able to claim that COVID set them back is if their regional center stopped processing applications. Even then, that wouldn't excuse them for not getting married within 90 days, it would only push back the processing time on the interview and application. Now Amira, on the other hand, could have a case. Brandon and Julia would if they could prove that no nearby county courthouse was open to process marriage licenses. Since Natalie is already here, though, she isn't affected by the travel restrictions. That wouldn't help her unless they could also prove that they couldn't get the license.

The style of dress was common for the time period across numerous geographical areas. It's the "antebellum ball" part that really gives it that extra push.

It's a good conversation to have. I worked for a historical mansion when I was younger. I was a tour guide and had to wear the big dress with the hoop skirt. The property never had slaves. Indeed, the owner was a well-known abolitionist. Because of that, and because at least half of the tour was spent on his political stuff and the work he did to abolish slavery, it never occurred to me that the outfit might hold hurtful connotations. That was 20 years ago, but it's given me a lot of thought over the years. With Rachel, though, that one picture wasn't an isolated incident.

He didn't give her the ring or the final date before it happened. He seemed a little checked out to me since the beginning. I do think a lot of things happened offscreen, though. I wish we knew ALL of the story.

Lol, it happens. I just wondered since you and I were basically saying the same thing. 🙂

My chiropractor organized a cleanup.

I'm not sure why this post is quoting me. That's not my comment.

I think that's ultimately why she didn't respond immediately on social media, too. As long as she's under contract to them they'll have a say in what she says and posts. I don't like how she's been treated either, especially since I think they'll eventually have Chris back on-and I have a lot of beef with him.

It's not a matter of "not teaching their own history". In the past 30 years, particularly, we've used the same history books as everyone else. In the matter of the tourist driven houses & properties (and maybe even the themed parties) it's more of a matter of compartmentalizing and focusing on other aspects of the property and/or time period (the clothing/ghost stories/historical architecture/ family anecdotes, etc) rather than the big picture. it's not just a Georgia or southern problem, either. Hollywood and literature have done it for decades. How often do we see movies or read books that gloss over the slavery in favor of a romance? Yes, it's a problem. It's not one that is going to get better on its own, though. In my experience, berating someone for their education, or implying that they are stupid, isn't the answer either. In fact, it often makes people dig in. She is just one person, but she did something that was racially ignorant or insensitive (as the host said) and now understands why it was wrong and hurtful. Hopefully she'll go forward as a better person and, maybe, others following this will as well. One person basically started this conversation, but it could have a snowball effect. Every bit helps. I didn't know the host either, but he was kinda hot. And big! (As in muscular.) His suit was straining. I dug him. Actually, I preferred him to Matt.I'dits have been fine eliminating Matt and just watching him and the women talk.

Believe it or not but it happens...I live in neither the Midwest, Vermont, or Wyoming and I didn't have a single person of color in my school until I was in high school. My county had 3 elementary schools, one middle, and one high. Not only did my county, or the surrounding ones, not have many (or any) POC, but I wasn't around any kind of diversity until college. The area is majority white Christians. "Rachael might not understand what it means to be Black in America," Matt said on the ATFR. Well, Matt, she probably doesn't. I've had to educate myself on the matter myself. My education taught Black history, the awfulness of slavery, and the perils and unfairness of racism. My upbringing taught inclusivity and fairness. But as a white woman from southern Appalachia? I think it would be WAY wrong of me to assume that I "know" what it's like to be Black (or a Black man) in America. I can try to understand on a theoretical level, but I've never been in those shoes. All I can do is continue educating myself by listening, learning, and keeping the lines of communication open. When Rachel was asked why it took her "so long" to respond to the talk I respected her reply. It would've been easy to have a PR person write out the "right" words for her. Instead, she seemed to choose honesty, and I believe that she IS committed to not only apologizing but working on herself to understand WHY her actions were upsetting. Her words would've been empty and meaningless with continued ignorance.

Some people actually think Mike is doing this to "surprise" her with a good wedding. If that were true then I'd still "GO UKRAINE." Stephanie and Harris are consenting adults. If she wants to go somewhere and have her some exotic vacation sex then more power to her. What turns me off is that she seems to enjoy feeling financially superior to these men and dangling the US over their heads.