Small Talk: We'll Be Right Back

[funky-rat]

18 hours ago, bilgistic said:

I exhausted myself watching the TV coverage and weeping. I was so heartened, though, by seeing the best of humanity emerge from the absolute worst actions of humanity. The way people came together and cared for one another was incredible.

But now, on the tribute posts on Instagram, people make the vilest comments. I know those people don't represent the majority, but they sure are the loudest. It's hard to remember that prevailing caring spirit we once had for each other.

Sadly, I know two people (one who served in the military) that cannot be convinced that 9/11 was not an inside job.  I don't want to debate that and will not, but no matter how many times I tell them that they're being super disrespectful, they keep going.  Sad.

My mom took in way too much information over those few days and she burned herself out.  She stayed up all night for many nights watching Channel 11 (the channel who had the creepy static image up for hours when the tower with their transmitter collapsed) - took them a day-ish to get their broadcast to come from the Empire State Building, where it still is to this day), who provided time to family members to show photos and let people know they were looking for missing loved ones.  All night, it was "My brother John worked at (insert business name here) on floor 99 of Two World Trade Center.  He's not answering his phone.....".  I couldn't take more than a minute or two.  My mom watched for hours.  We live 3-ish hours from NYC, in another state.  But she'd watch.

4 hours ago, Prevailing Wind said:

I have visited the memorial for flight 93 in Shanksburg, PA. I've been there twice; they're doing a fine job. I don't think they're done yet - they keep adding stuff. When it's finally finished, I may go again, as I don't stay long when I'm there. I get too emotional reading all the stuff. They've got a memorial wall with all the names of passengers/crew carved in it. They don't separate crew from pax; they're all one. One woman also has "unborn child" underneath her name.

But the visitors! There are SO many of them and they, each and every one, are SO respectful. None of that loutish behavior we've come to expect from a few people. There's not even any littering! One more time, it makes me proud of Americans and what we can be when we set aside our differences.

That's about 2-3 hours from me, and I have yet to go, but would love to.  I'm glad to hear people are being respectful.  My cousin went to the 9/11 memorial, and said the same thing.  One of her college sorority sisters was in the Marriot hotel attached to the WTC complex.  She had left to go to a business meeting.  The building didn't fall but was condemned and she never got her belongings or luggage back.

[Annber03]

My sister's class visited New York in 2006 and they went to the Ground Zero site where they were working on the memorial. She did mention some people taking photos tourist-style, which bugged her both because it felt disrespectful and also because at the time, the Ground Zero area was mainly just a big hole with construction surrounding it, so it seemed odd to want a picture of that. 

She also visited a nearby church that somehow managed to avoid the worst of the debris falling and affecting it, and which had little trinkets and other various things honoring some of the victims inside. 

25 minutes ago, funky-rat said:

My mom took in way too much information over those few days and she burned herself out.  She stayed up all night for many nights watching Channel 11 (the channel who had the creepy static image up for hours when the tower with their transmitter collapsed) - took them a day-ish to get their broadcast to come from the Empire State Building, where it still is to this day), who provided time to family members to show photos and let people know they were looking for missing loved ones.  All night, it was "My brother John worked at (insert business name here) on floor 99 of Two World Trade Center.  He's not answering his phone.....".  I couldn't take more than a minute or two.  My mom watched for hours.  We live 3-ish hours from NYC, in another state.  But she'd watch.

Oh, geez. Yeah, that would be tough to listen to. I'm glad that that channel provided those people a chance to try and make their pleas, though. I hope they were able to find out what happened to their loved ones. 

[funky-rat]

5 minutes ago, Annber03 said:

Oh, geez. Yeah, that would be tough to listen to. I'm glad that that channel provided those people a chance to try and make their pleas, though. I hope they were able to find out what happened to their loved ones. 

I understand why they did it for sure.  In the chaos, some people were rushed to the hospital with no identifying info, so it helped get the word out.  I just couldn't listen.

Just a public service announcement: DO NOT EVER Google "World Trade Center Jumper".  I did in an effort to see if a meme going around about "The Jumping Man" was accurate.  You will see things right on the search page that you will never unsee.  It still haunts me.

About a year after the bombing, we went to the Oklahoma City site when visiting family.  All of my photos were ruined in a flood, but I snapped some.  At that time it was just a makeshift memorial - a fence around a hole in the ground.

[Annber03]

Eek. Noted on the jumper thing. Thanks for the heads up. 

My sister's class got to go to the Oklahoma City memorial site, too, though she went when they had everything set up and finished and all that. She said that after the tour ended and everyone got back on the bus, they were all just completely drained and emotional, and one of the chaperones asked if anyone wanted to get something to eat. A classmate actually said, "Are you fucking kidding?" and the chaperone just said, "...yeah, you're right" and left it at that :p. 

Her school took some really depressing field trips in general, actually-Ground Zero in New York, the Oklahoma City bombing site, the part of Dallas where the JFK assassination happened... There were other things they had planned for those trips in general, of course (and the Oklahoma City trip was a stop on their way down to Dallas, not a separate thing all its own), but still. 

Edited September 13, 2018 by Annber03

[bilgistic]

7 hours ago, funky-rat said:

I understand why they did it for sure.  In the chaos, some people were rushed to the hospital with no identifying info, so it helped get the word out.  I just couldn't listen.

Just a public service announcement: DO NOT EVER Google "World Trade Center Jumper".  I did in an effort to see if a meme going around about "The Jumping Man" was accurate.  You will see things right on the search page that you will never unsee.  It still haunts me.

About a year after the bombing, we went to the Oklahoma City site when visiting family.  All of my photos were ruined in a flood, but I snapped some.  At that time it was just a makeshift memorial - a fence around a hole in the ground.

Amazon Prime carries a documentary about the "jumping man". I can't bring myself to watch it.

6 hours ago, Annber03 said:

Eek. Noted on the jumper thing. Thanks for the heads up. 

My sister's class got to go to the Oklahoma City memorial site, too, though she went when they had everything set up and finished and all that. She said that after the tour ended and everyone got back on the bus, they were all just completely drained and emotional, and one of the chaperones asked if anyone wanted to get something to eat. A classmate actually said, "Are you fucking kidding?" and the chaperone just said, "...yeah, you're right" and left it at that :p. 

Her school took some really depressing field trips in general, actually-Ground Zero in New York, the Oklahoma City bombing site, the part of Dallas where the JFK assassination happened... There were other things they had planned for those trips in general, of course (and the Oklahoma City trip was a stop on their way down to Dallas, not a separate thing all its own), but still. 

My high school dance team and I (and lots and lots of other high school dancers) went to Dallas my junior year of high school to dance in the 1992 Cotton Bowl. There were a few touristy things included in the whole deal, one of which was a (small chartered) bus trip down the road on which Kennedy was shot, though it's been somewhat redesigned since 1963. The "grassy knoll" was still there in 1991-92, I think, as was the book depository, again, I think. All I clearly remember is heading down the slightest incline and bend in the road and the guide telling us where we were, my seeing the road through the bus's front window. I remember feeling such complete unease and confusion as to why anyone would want to retrace the route and who thought it was a good idea to take us.

I completely understand and embrace seeing history for oneself, but something about seeing where the president was shot, which ultimately led to his death, was just so macabre, particularly for the already morose and suicidal 17-year-old I was.

In elementary school, I saw Civil War battlefields in Pennsylvania, and Arlington Cemetery and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in D.C. I think that then, I was just too young to comprehend the gravity of what I was seeing.

[Brattinella]

57 minutes ago, bilgistic said:

the already morose and suicidal 17-year-old I was.

You are over that, right?

[Bastet]

2 hours ago, bilgistic said:

Amazon Prime carries a documentary about the "jumping man".

If that turns up on Netflix or TV, I'll watch it; I have something of a thing for 9/11 documentaries (well, I love documentaries in general).  Not the conspiracy theory shitfests, or anything glorifying/excusing our government's actions afterward, but those that simply tell the stories of the day -- people who lived, people who died, people who witnessed any of the four incidents from close by, journalists who covered it, the fighter pilots scrambled and faced with the possibility of shooting down a civilian aircraft, etc. 

And one of my clearest memories of early news footage was a woman on the street interview, when in the middle of it something caught her eye, and after a beat her entire face transformed and she gasped, "Oh my god, they're jumping."  The camera was on her the whole time, so I "saw" the jumpers through her eyes before I saw actual footage of the falling bodies, and I can still remember the realization in her face and voice as she grasped what she was seeing, that in some of those offices, conditions were so horrific falling 95 floors was the better end.  My friend and I looked at each other as if for confirmation, and then were just very quiet for a while after that.

[bilgistic]

I was mistaken; it's called The Falling Man (or 9/11[:] The Falling Man--I've seen it titled differently in a few places). This documentary on YouTube appears to be the same thing, even though it was oddly just posted Tuesday. The documentary is dated 2006.

Spoiler

 

ETA: Ugh, the freeze frame image is upsetting. I'm sorry. I can't wrap the video in spoiler tags now. My phone won't allow me to delete images or videos on this site (the little plus sign in the box doesn't work on my phone). Tags added-- frenchtoast 

 

[bilgistic]

3 hours ago, Brattinella said:

You are over that, right?

I haven't had an active attempt since then. That's not at all to say I'm over it. I've struggled very hard with depression my entire life

Spoiler

 

and have been highly suicidal at times, up to and including very recently. I know how I would do it. I think about the plans I would need to make beforehand, all the things I'd need to take care of so my family wouldn't have to. I'm looking for work, but in the meantime, I think about that I would need to end my life when I still have enough money for my family to take care of my last bills, burial, etc.

BUT...I have my cats to take care of and I wouldn't ever, ever leave them. I had my previous cats who kept me going day to day. I don't want my 10-year-old niece to have her "favorite aunt" kill herself. As seemingly impossible as it is for my mother to accept and discuss my illness (because she won't face her own), my suicide would destroy her. I won't do that to her. I'm mad that I'm "not allowed" to end my life if I want, but I wouldn't. I know that sounds extremely bizarre and illogical, and if you are someone who thinks suicide is "selfish", I'm positive you can't understand. It's about wanting the pain to stop.

 

I have good and bad days, weeks, months. I wade through the mire. I keep trying meds and therapy and different treatments because I do want to feel more than just existing and just functioning. I see other people having generally happy lives that they enjoy, and I wonder what that's like. My relationship with my cats gives me the closest thing to happiness I know. Being with them in our quiet home is peaceful.

I didn't mean for this to be a novella. Y'all don't need to respond. Consider yourselves deputized therapists today.

[funky-rat]

11 hours ago, Bastet said:

If that turns up on Netflix or TV, I'll watch it; I have something of a thing for 9/11 documentaries (well, I love documentaries in general).  Not the conspiracy theory shitfests, or anything glorifying/excusing our government's actions afterward, but those that simply tell the stories of the day -- people who lived, people who died, people who witnessed any of the four incidents from close by, journalists who covered it, the fighter pilots scrambled and faced with the possibility of shooting down a civilian aircraft, etc. 

And one of my clearest memories of early news footage was a woman on the street interview, when in the middle of it something caught her eye, and after a beat her entire face transformed and she gasped, "Oh my god, they're jumping."  The camera was on her the whole time, so I "saw" the jumpers through her eyes before I saw actual footage of the falling bodies, and I can still remember the realization in her face and voice as she grasped what she was seeing, that in some of those offices, conditions were so horrific falling 95 floors was the better end.  My friend and I looked at each other as if for confirmation, and then were just very quiet for a while after that.

I really liked the documentary with the French brothers who were there when the first plane hit - the ones who were working with the fire department who was assigned to the WTC (who didn't lose a single person that day).  It was well done, sensitive, and actually set my mind at ease a bit (as did my husband's, but he couldn't watch until 15 years later).  You could hear the jumpers, but they didn't show them, or the person who came out of the elevator on fire.  I feel it's the best of the documentaries out there, and worth a watch if you can handle it.  It's sad seeing people and then hearing they didn't make it out, but it was still very well done.  I actually chuckled a bit when, at the end, someone from the firehouse says "We're still looking for our truck.  It was last seen parked outside the front entrance of One World Trade Center."

A bunch of us want to go to the memorial, but we don't want to drive into or around NYC, so we're talking about getting a small party bus type thing to take us there - getting a group together and all chipping in.

***DEPRESSING STUFF ALERT***

ETA: I don't fault jumpers.  I likely would have done the same, rather than burn, or get crushed.  One of my sales reps at work knew a number of people who died.  One was the sister of a good friend of hers.  They believe she jumped (I don't believe they ever found any identifiable remains - I hope that doesn't sound crass).  The sister was on the phone with the good friend of my sales rep, and had realized there was no way out.  She said "If I jump, will I go to heaven?  Because suicide is a sin."  They told her to jump if she felt that was her best option, and they were sure she'd be forgiven in the afterlife, because she had no choice.  I can't imagine having to tell someone that.  I won't watch the documentary that has the 911 calls on it.  I can't listen to that.

Edited September 14, 2018 by funky-rat

[Brattinella]

@bilgistic I do understand you, very well.  I am happy you have the solace of your cats and have taken such care to plan ahead, with regards to relatives and pets.  My future plans include much of the same things, but they are well into the future.  On a contingency basis.  I hope that your life becomes more and more filled with happy stuff and people and cats. :).

[Annber03]

14 hours ago, bilgistic said:

My high school dance team and I (and lots and lots of other high school dancers) went to Dallas my junior year of high school to dance in the 1992 Cotton Bowl. There were a few touristy things included in the whole deal, one of which was a (small chartered) bus trip down the road on which Kennedy was shot, though it's been somewhat redesigned since 1963. The "grassy knoll" was still there in 1991-92, I think, as was the book depository, again, I think. All I clearly remember is heading down the slightest incline and bend in the road and the guide telling us where we were, my seeing the road through the bus's front window. I remember feeling such complete unease and confusion as to why anyone would want to retrace the route and who thought it was a good idea to take us.

I completely understand and embrace seeing history for oneself, but something about seeing where the president was shot, which ultimately led to his death, was just so macabre, particularly for the already morose and suicidal 17-year-old I was.

In elementary school, I saw Civil War battlefields in Pennsylvania, and Arlington Cemetery and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in D.C. I think that then, I was just too young to comprehend the gravity of what I was seeing.

Exactly. Course, I suppose sometimes putting oneself in that particular situation is the best way to really make a kid understand the significance, and horror, of what happened. Still, it is an odd, and depressing, thing to make kids see during a field trip, especially when their main focus is likely, "Yay, we get to be out of school for a few days!" 

The Civil War battlegrounds would be haunting, I bet. I think those would be a little easier for me to handle, because there's enough of a distance there, you know? Whereas something like Oklahoma City or 9/11, I'm old enough to remember and have witnessed those events myself, so if I were to take a field trip related to those, it'd be harder. Even JFK-that happened 21 before I was born, yes, but still, like you said, being able to take the actual route he went the very day he died...that's eerie. And that's a tragedy my parents can remember, so it still feels too recent in that sense as well. 

(Also, on a personal note, I just want to send good thoughts and support your way, @bilgistic.)

1 hour ago, funky-rat said:

***DEPRESSING STUFF ALERT***

ETA: I don't fault jumpers.  I likely would have done the same, rather than burn, or get crushed.  One of my sales reps at work knew a number of people who died.  One was the sister of a good friend of hers.  They believe she jumped (I don't believe they ever found any identifiable remains - I hope that doesn't sound crass).  The sister was on the phone with the good friend of my sales rep, and had realized there was no way out.  She said "If I jump, will I go to heaven?  Because suicide is a sin."  They told her to jump if she felt that was her best option, and they were sure she'd be forgiven in the afterlife, because she had no choice.  I can't imagine having to tell someone that.  I won't watch the documentary that has the 911 calls on it.  I can't listen to that.

Oh, god, that story about the friend. How heartbreaking. 

I don't fault those people, either. I don't know how anyone could. Desperate times and all that, you do what you have to do. Like you note, certainly a hell of a lot quicker way to go, compared to the alternatives. 

[Bastet]

3 hours ago, funky-rat said:

I really liked the documentary with the French brothers who were there when the first plane hit - the ones who were working with the fire department who was assigned to the WTC (who didn't lose a single person that day).  It was well done, sensitive, and actually set my mind at ease a bit (as did my husband's, but he couldn't watch until 15 years later).  You could hear the jumpers, but they didn't show them, or the person who came out of the elevator on fire.  I feel it's the best of the documentaries out there, and worth a watch if you can handle it. 

Yes, I like that one a lot. 

3 hours ago, funky-rat said:

ETA: I don't fault jumpers. 

Why would anyone fault them??

[funky-rat]

6 minutes ago, Bastet said:

Why would anyone fault them??

Not saying anyone would, more thinking out loud, I guess.

[Moose135]

7 hours ago, funky-rat said:

I really liked the documentary with the French brothers who were there when the first plane hit - the ones who were working with the fire department who was assigned to the WTC (who didn't lose a single person that day).  It was well done, sensitive, and actually set my mind at ease a bit (as did my husband's, but he couldn't watch until 15 years later).  You could hear the jumpers, but they didn't show them, or the person who came out of the elevator on fire.  I feel it's the best of the documentaries out there, and worth a watch if you can handle it.  It's sad seeing people and then hearing they didn't make it out, but it was still very well done.  I actually chuckled a bit when, at the end, someone from the firehouse says "We're still looking for our truck.  It was last seen parked outside the front entrance of One World Trade Center."

I think that was about the best of the programs on 9/11, I've watched it a couple of times over the years.

[Bastet]

3 hours ago, funky-rat said:

Not saying anyone would, more thinking out loud, I guess.

Okay, phew - I thought you'd seen/heard people talking shit about them.

[AuntieL]

@bilgistic I wish I could help you. All I can do is send as many good thoughts as I can your way and offer you the knowledge that there are people who care. You deserve all good things to come your way. 

[Brattinella]

One of my family had an accident during sex (woman-on-top) and his penis actually broke.  His only fix was surgery, and he told me he wouldn't do that.  So I never brought it up again.

Edited September 16, 2018 by Brattinella

[bilgistic]

I want to Google that surgery, but I'm not going to because I respect my browser. For everything I know to be true of men, I simply cannot begin to fathom why a man would not fix his broken dick.

[Jaded]

2 hours ago, bilgistic said:

I want to Google that surgery, but I'm not going to because I respect my browser. For everything I know to be true of men, I simply cannot begin to fathom why a man would not fix his broken dick.

I'm admitting that your post made me laugh out loud after reading it especially that last part. 

[bilgistic]

I'm laughing that you're laughing!

[AuntieL]

A friend of mine texted me last week to google "twinkle, twinkle little dick".  I told her no way in h*** was I putting those words through google on my phone. I want to be able to use my phone again.  Turns out there's a smoking is bad for you ad that parodies the song "twinkle twinkle little star" to explain what smoking can do to a man's um performance.  (It uses stick figures and is actually pretty clever.) I know this because she showed me on her phone.  Now she's complaining about the ads she's getting.  

[Prevailing Wind]

On 9/16/2018 at 12:08 AM, bilgistic said:

For everything I know to be true of men, I simply cannot begin to fathom why a man would not fix his broken dick.

I don't understand the desire to remove one's dick completely - as my trans-g nephew did when he became my niece*. WHY would anyone give up the ability to pee standing up? I'd give a year's pay to be able to do that without it running down into my socks.

*What's even more unfathomable, she's now a lesbian. And she's still unhappy. Always was a troubled child, now a troubled adult. Sometimes my heart hurts for her.

[Brattinella]

35 minutes ago, Prevailing Wind said:

WHY would anyone give up the ability to pee standing up? I'd give a year's pay to be able to do that without it running down into my socks.

Very well put!

[Bastet]

1 hour ago, Prevailing Wind said:

What's even more unfathomable, she's now a lesbian.

Why is that unfathomable?  Gender identity and sexual orientation are two different things.  Transgender people who are not heterosexual to begin with don't magically become so upon having gender confirmation surgery; just like cisgender people, they are intrinsically straight, gay, bisexual, pansexual, etc. -- whatever they are, in terms of orientation, they are, with or without hormone therapy and/or confirmation surgery -- and they figure out how they identify at whatever stage in life that becomes clear.

[LoneHaranguer]

12 hours ago, Bastet said:

Transgender people who are not heterosexual to begin with don't magically become so upon having gender confirmation surgery; just like cisgender people, they are intrinsically straight, gay, bisexual, pansexual, etc. -- whatever they are, in terms of orientation, they are, with or without hormone therapy and/or confirmation surgery -- and they figure out how they identify at whatever stage in life that becomes clear.

I think what stays constant is who you're attracted to, so a heterosexual male will be considered a lesbian after becoming a female. A bisexual person would retain that classification since it's independent of gender.

[Bastet]

2 hours ago, LoneHaranguer said:

I think what stays constant is who you're attracted to, so a heterosexual male will be considered a lesbian after becoming a female.

You're talking about a transgender woman, not a male.  This goes back to the fact gender identity and sexual orientation are two different things; orientation is not determined by body parts.  So a transgender woman is not automatically attracted to women because she has a biologically male body.  She is transgender because (in the most rudimentary terms) the sex of her body and the sex of her brain don't match, and she is whatever orientation she is for the same intrinsic reason anyone is whatever orientation they are.  And, yes, that orientation remains after transition.  Which is why it's not "unfathomable" that a transgender woman is a lesbian.

[Silver Raven]

YouTube celebrity Gigi Gorgeous has just come out as lesbian after having identified as a gay male before transitioning.

[LoneHaranguer]

1 hour ago, Bastet said:

You're talking about a transgender woman, not a male.

AFAIK, both are correct since "male" referred to the pre-op physical attributes, and transgender was in the context. But, I certainly can't object to anyone going into more detail. 

[janie jones]

This is old information (10+ years old), so I don't know if numbers have changed as perhaps more attention has been brought to the topic, but I learned once that most trans people are gay.

[funky-rat]

19 hours ago, janie jones said:

This is old information (10+ years old), so I don't know if numbers have changed as perhaps more attention has been brought to the topic, but I learned once that most trans people are gay.

Not sure how that works.  I know one Trans person.  We've been friends since elementary school.  She was always a tomboy.  Preferred to wear boys clothes despite her mother forcing stuff on her that she didn't want.  Wore a dress exactly once that I can recall and she looked extremely uncomfortable. She always had a deeper voice, and was built more like a man than a woman.  I was not shocked when she came out as Lesbian about 20 years ago.  I can't say I was shocked when she came out as Trans about 5 years ago either.  I don't understand it too much, but I don't have to understand it to be sympathetic and supportive, which I am.  I still refer to her as "her/she" because she has not begun to transition yet (she needs to improve her health first) and still goes by her female name.  Once that changes, then I will start using male terminology.  She plans on staying married to her partner (another woman) and her partner appears to be supportive.  I hope it goes smoothly for her.

[bilgistic]

Here's GLAAD's "Transgender FAQ" page, which is a short read, but very helpful in explaining the difference between sexual orientation and gender identity, among other issues.

[LoneHaranguer]

21 hours ago, janie jones said:

This is old information (10+ years old), so I don't know if numbers have changed as perhaps more attention has been brought to the topic, but I learned once that most trans people are gay.

That makes sense if "gay" has its traditional meaning of homosexual in general, rather than as a separate group from lesbians.

[janie jones]

@LoneHaranguer, "gay" is my word (I couldn't tell you what the source's word was), and it was meant as "homosexual."

[smittykins]

Bless The Beasts and Children(the song and the movie)are from 1971, so it's both Karen and Richard.   On my way to church yesterday morning,  an "American Top 40--The 70s" episode from 1975 was on the radio, and it played their version of "Solitaire," and it hasn't left my head yet.  *sigh*

[friendperidot]

I loved listening to the Carpenters, Karen had such a beautiful voice. And she was so beautiful. I wish she had felt that way. There is a documentary that's been on a couple of pledge drive weeks in the last couple of years, here, that is wonderful. On our local PBS, the pledge drives are full of music programs. I do watch a lot of them.

[Prevailing Wind]

Y'know what annoys me about those Beg-A-Thons on PBS?  They're always saying it's our donations that enable them to "bring you wonderful programs, like this one..."  But the only time they show those "wonderful programs" is when they can interrupt them for a pledge break. I'd like to see one of those "wonderful programs" without the ads, please.  And, yes, I donate to PBS; I'm not looking for a free ride.

[Silver Raven]

4 minutes ago, Prevailing Wind said:

Y'know what annoys me about those Beg-A-Thons on PBS?  They're always saying it's our donations that enable them to "bring you wonderful programs, like this one..."  But the only time they show those "wonderful programs" is when they can interrupt them for a pledge break. I'd like to see one of those "wonderful programs" without the ads, please.  And, yes, I donate to PBS; I'm not looking for a free ride.

I hate that they interrupt programming for weeks at a time. Take a week, maybe, or every other day for a month or so, but not like three weeks at a stretch.

[Prevailing Wind]

The NPR station in Atlanta tried one year to shorten it - the faster they reached their goal, the faster they'd get back to regular programming. They weren't gonna take the whole 3 weeks to keep trying to bring in money. They had a set goal and that was that... And it worked. Within about 10 days, they were done.  I no longer listen to the station because I can't at work and I get lousy reception at home.  (And I'm not in the car long enough to do any good.)

[JamieLynn832002]

I don't get the PBS pledge drives, if I donate for the "wonderful programs," I will eventually catch on that you only show them when you want my money and stop handing it over. If I like the regular programming then taking them off is going to tick me off and make me less likely to donate. I've just never understood how they successfully bring in money, they seem designed to piss off just about everybody

[friendperidot]

I used to volunteer at a PBS station in another state. Early 90s, they had an annual auction that lasted 9 days, and the auction ran from about 6PM until about Midnight, they went off the air then. That was the second most fun volunteer job I've ever had, did it for several years until I had to move to this stinking state with it's statewide PBS system. And then the internet came to be and then EBay and live tv auctions were no longer feasible, I do occasionally look in on the other city's very successful PBS station. But they still had pledge drives, I was supervisor to a bunch of high school students one Saturday morning. I was glad when my shift was over and I never volunteered for a pledge drive again. They're just as boring from the inside as they are from the outside. But they do make the money for them. And I wish they would at least now and then show some of the special programs during non pledge times, but those are a special draw. Would anyone donate during Antique Roadshow or Nova or Downton Abby? Probably not, people would just get pissed. And I use pledge talk to go to the bathroom, get food, play my game, read on FB, kind of like I do commercials. 

[Brookside]

On 9/15/2018 at 8:56 PM, Brattinella said:

One of my family had an accident during sex (woman-on-top) and his penis actually broke.  His only fix was surgery, and he told me he wouldn't do that.  So I never brought it up again.

 

Which begs the question, could he "bring it up" again?

Edited September 25, 2018 by Brookside
Added quotation marks to clarify my intended irony.

[Brattinella]

54 minutes ago, Brookside said:

Which begs the question, could he bring it up again?

Dunno, I never brought it up again.

[LoneHaranguer]

14 hours ago, Prevailing Wind said:

Y'know what annoys me about those Beg-A-Thons on PBS?  They're always saying it's our donations that enable them to "bring you wonderful programs, like this one..."  But the only time they show those "wonderful programs" is when they can interrupt them for a pledge break

I completely got out of the habit of watching PBS some years ago when they weren't running those "wonderful programs" for a time, but I do remember how obnoxious they were by breaking in mid-sentence, and holding the show hostage by promising to go back as soon as they raised a certain amount (always an ambitious number for the better shows; not sure if they really reached it since they had a schedule to keep).

[Prevailing Wind]

Bringing the icky food/picky eater discussion here: Occasionally, my mom would make what she called "Economy Meals" - I think she got the name from some women's magazine in the 50s. Her favorite was scrambled eggs with chunks of SPAM all in the same frying pan. I, like most sentient beings, hated it. One time, I absolutely refused to eat it. She made me sit at the table until I ate it. Meanwhile, Dad & my brother were watching TV in the living room & laughing theirs heads off. I was missing the fun.  I made a deal with Mom. "I'll eat this now, if you promise to NEVER, EVER make it again." She agreed!  I ate & got to go watch TV; she never made it again. I think that up to a point, she remembered her promise, but after a while, forgot it was ever in her repertoire.  Lucky me!!!!

[bilgistic]

26 minutes ago, Prevailing Wind said:

Bringing the icky food/picky eater discussion here: Occasionally, my mom would make what she called "Economy Meals" - I think she got the name from some women's magazine in the 50s. Her favorite was scrambled eggs with chunks of SPAM all in the same frying pan. I, like most sentient beings, hated it. One time, I absolutely refused to eat it. She made me sit at the table until I ate it. Meanwhile, Dad & my brother were watching TV in the living room & laughing theirs heads off. I was missing the fun.  I made a deal with Mom. "I'll eat this now, if you promise to NEVER, EVER make it again." She agreed!  I ate & got to go watch TV; she never made it again. I think that up to a point, she remembered her promise, but after a while, forgot it was ever in her repertoire.  Lucky me!!!!

Vile.

[QuinnInND]

With regards to birthday dinners and meals. I was never given a full plate of food except at Thanksgiving and when we'd go to my grandma's house for dinner. I was given one spoonful of each thing and a glass of milk. That was all. My birthday was ignored. I never had a birthday cake til I was 16. To this day, I'm not a big eater. It's like I can only eat so much at a time. I have food issues to this day. My husband is wonderfully understanding and always has been. 

@ShutUpLutz

Edited September 27, 2018 by QuinnInND

[ShutUpLutz]

When my parents got married the ONE thing my mom put her foot down about was that she WOULD NOT serve ANY kind of liver for dinner. It wasn't my dad's favorite food or anything, but he did have it on a regular basis growing up. Consequently I've never had it, which judging by it's portrayal on TV shows like Happy Days where it NEARLY DESTROYED THE FONZ!! and descriptions online  and in The Cricket In Times Square I'm pretty sure I haven't missed anything.

My mom's favorite meal besides raw oysters (NOT A FAN. If I 'm gonna eat boogers, you can be damn sure they're only gonna be my own boogers) was Spanish rice, which was rice mixed with bits of tomato and some beef and other stuff. I'd eat about three bites and then move the rest around the plate.

But I have my own weird stuff when it comes to food. I don't like tomatos, but tomato sauce I'm fine with as long as it isn't full of chunks of tomato. same kind of thing with onions, can't stand onions on burgers or onion rings, but onion dip? OH HELL YEAH. The night before the Super Bowl I'll mix up a gargantuan batch, I'm talking 6 or 7 16 ounce tubs of sour cream and Lipton dehydrated onion soup/dip mix and let it cure in the fridge then go to town the next day.

NOT a fan of salt&Vinegar flavored potato chips.

10 minutes ago, QuinnInND said:

With regards to birthday dinners and meals. I was never given a full plate of food except at Thanksgiving and when we'd go to my grandma's house for dinner. I was given one spoonful of each thing and a glass of milk. That was all. My birthday was ignored. I never had a birthday cake til I was 16. To this day, I'm not a big eater. It's like I can only eat so much at a time. I have food issues to this day. My husband is wonderfully understanding and always has been. 

@ShutUpLutz

That...fuck...that sucks. Was it because you had some medical/digestive issue or is it a family thing you'd rather not drag out into the light here?

[Annber03]

I've never had liver, either. I think my mom had to have it when she was a kid and she wasn't big on it, either. Anytime I hear about people eating liver I just think of an old episode of that cartoon "Doug"-Patti was planning on having some of her classmates, Doug included, over for a get-together, and she told Doug they'd be serving liver and onions. She was just joking, but he didn't know that, so he worked up the nerve to try liver and onions for her sake. 

6 minutes ago, ShutUpLutz said:

I don't like tomatos, but tomato sauce I'm fine with as long as it isn't full of chunks of tomato

I'm the same way! It's so weird. Another example similar to that is chocolate candy that has marshmallow in it, too. I love chocolate on its own, I love marshmallows on their own, but I don't really like mixing them together. The only exception is if I'm having s'mores. 

Yeah. Food preferences are weird sometimes :p. 

[ShutUpLutz]

2 minutes ago, Annber03 said:

I've never had liver, either. I think my mom had to have it when she was a kid and she wasn't big on it, either. Anytime I hear about people eating liver I just think of an old episode of that cartoon "Doug"-Patti was planning on having some of her classmates, Doug included, over for a get-together, and she told Doug they'd be serving liver and onions. She was just joking, but he didn't know that, so he worked up the nerve to try liver and onions for her sake. 

I'm the same way! It's so weird. Another example similar to that is chocolate candy that has marshmallow in it, too. I love chocolate on its own, I love marshmallows on their own, but I don't really like mixing them together. The only exception is if I'm having s'mores. 

Yeah. Food preferences are weird sometimes :p. 

S'mores are THE WORST. I will brook no truck with that statement.

First of all you're out in the woods around a campfire, which means you are surrounded by mosquitos and ticks and poison oak/ivy and bears and mountain lions and NO AIR CONDITIONING and NO RUNNING/HOT WATER. 

Are you kidding me?

Then inevitably your s'mores fall into the fire or the marshmallow starts burning or ends up partially burned and then tastes horrible*, it's always a cluster fuck.

And even though you didn't ask, no I didn't enjoy my time in Boy Scouts all that much. What's that, we're gonna march up and down the C&O canal all weekend carrying 40 lb backpacks and camp out on extremely rocky terrain and I don't even get a merit badge out of it? SIGN ME UP!!!

*I would say it tastes like ass, but I've never nor do I plan to ever eat anyone's ass so I shan't use that descriptor.