Post-Election Fears & Anxieties

[ChiCricket]

Ever since I read the Disney book " Odyssey  of an Otter "  when I was a young kid, I've LOVED otters.  I need to remember to look at otter pictures when the election starts to make me feel (VERY) stressed out.

It's not helping me calm down watching the Cubs in the world series with my husband. I'm a die hard Sox fan, but I want them to win SO badly for him!

Edited October 30, 2016 by ChiCricket
Added a thought

[DeLurker]

4 hours ago, bosawks said:

Sigh, I'm battered and bruised but still optimistic that this too shall pass and any magnifying glass held to the fissures in this country will, ultimately, be benificial.

I was listening to NPR earlier and one of the women on the panel said something to the effect that America is still a young country and this election is part of our growing pains. 

And now this:

 

@ChiCricket - Otters are on my list of things that makes me inexplicably happy.

Edited October 30, 2016 by DeLurker

[Grommet]

Sweet baby owl

This is one of my go-to stress relievers.

Scritching many capybaras

Also wonderful.

[Darian]

I can't make the image show up, but this link goes to a sleeping otter sucking its paw.

[DeLurker]

That hurts it is so cute!

[Bastet]

Oh, speaking of cute penguins, watch this to the end (with your sound on):

[Menrva]

Those videos are great! Seriously, I feel so much better, even with this chest cold.

As a distraction, my husband convinced me to watch Gods of Egypt, so we could Mystery Science Theater it and holy cow, was that a horrible movie. I mean, not Sucker Punch bad, but close (Sucker Punch is so awful, so very very awful). Leaving aside the egregious whitewashing of characters (that's a whole other huge problem), it was horribly written, atrociously acted and made no sense whatsoever. It was like someone found a pile of poop by the road, whipped out a Bedazzler, and went to town. We laughed so hard, and even though it's 2 hours of my life I'll never get back, I did manage to not obsess about the election for a little while.

[Shannon L.]

2 hours ago, car54 said:

I am the least violent person I know but for the past few days, I just want to punch someone to get out all the anger I feel--and now I particularly want to punch Weiner, Trump  and Comey in that order.

I've resorted to yelling, many times including obscenities, at the tv, at FB or at the car radio when I'm alone.  It helps a little. 

More pandas.  This one is making it difficult for the keeper to clean his enclosure  :)

[Moose135]

I'm a long time Bloom County fan, even have my old "Penguin Lust" t-shirt kicking around somewhere.  Its creator, Berkeley Breathed, returned last year with a Facebook page, poking at the 2016 presidential campaign.  I have this autographed poster hanging up, and it makes me laugh every time I look at it.

[Pixel]

I just came back from Target, and at a gas station on the way home there was a makeshift Trump t-shirt stand. It took all my restraint to not throw my can of Coke out the window at the guy manning it. It was like, instant fury.  

[DeLurker]

I had (and proudly wore) this t-shirt in 1984

It needs to be re-issued.

[Pixel]

I just wanted to elaborate. I shop in Indiana because I live right on the border of Indiana and Illinois. So my Trump -shirt stand sighting isn't much of an indicator of popularity overall, because it was in a state that's always firmly red. 

[Padma]

17 minutes ago, Pixel said:

I just wanted to elaborate. I shop in Indiana because I live right on the border of Indiana and Illinois. So my Trump -shirt stand sighting isn't much of an indicator of popularity overall, because it was in a state that's always firmly red. 

True, but that's why I liked this Monmouth poll two weeks ago: http://www.cnn.com/2016/10/14/politics/donald-trump-mike-pence-hillary-clinton-indiana-poll/   Haven't checked since--letting myself imagine a landslide. :)

[WhitneyWhit]

This has been the first election that has actually given me anxiety. The presidential election I could vote in was 2004, and while I didn't like the outcome, I didn't have an overwhelming feeling of doom. I'm legitimately scared of what could happen as a result of a certain outcome, I never thought I would feel that way over an American election. I think what scares me the most is the amount of people who bowed to the crazy and are more than willing to go along with someone who wants to completely destroy some of the basic principals of our democracy, so please continue with the baby animal photos :)

[33kaitykaity]

I watch kittens.  

http://livestream.com/tinykittens/starling

https://www.facebook.com/tinykittens

http://www.tinykittens.com/cases/starling

The Moscato helps, too.  

[Advance35]

Dear god are we into the single digits.  Is it only 9 more days?

[Kitty Redstone]

I'm loving all these adorable videos and photos!

This thread is definitely providing much needed comfort.

[ChiCricket]

This is one of my favorite videos. Wait until the end (and have the sound on)

[Fable]

I have some anxiety about the election, but I have more anger over the general idiocy going on.  I’m tired of emails and sex tapes.   What I would really like to know is what, if anything, are these people going to do for us…what about taxes, health care, social security, climate change…something, anything useful! 

[BookWoman56]

This election has also made me into a nervous wreck. I'm afraid to check the news. I'm afraid NOT to check the news. While working, I now take "news breaks" with my phone the way people used to take smoking breaks. I have not been this afraid of political events in this country since a few brief moments during Nixon's final days when I wasn't sure if he would actually resign rather than be impeached or would instead call out the military so he could stay in power. In retrospect, that scenario with Nixon seems silly and I sincerely hope in a couple of weeks, the current scenario in which the U.S. possibly elects an openly racist, sexist, self-absorbed orange buffoon seems equally silly. However, even if the election turns out the way I want it to, I am terrified of an assassination occurring during the inauguration.

I am grateful for these political/current events threads as well, as they help reassure me that the entire freaking world has not gone crazy. Like many others, though, I struggle with how to respond to family, friends, and colleagues who are pro-Trump. I have unfriended a couple of people and am on the verge of unfriending more because I can't read their drivel any more. But even for those that I ultimately do not unfriend, I keep returning to the fact that I have lost respect for them that I don't think can ever be regained, and this election is going to affect the way I view them from here on out. There's that old joke about someone having invented a test to determine which of your family and childhood friends grew up to become racist, sexist homophobes, and the name of that test is FaceBook. With this election, that statement is no longer a joke. And the fucking idiocy. Have people always been this stupid and I somehow failed to notice? I honestly feel like Ripley in Aliens during the debriefing session when she asks if people's IQs had just sharply dropped while she was in hyper-sleep. What the hell happened to common sense and the idea that elected officials were supposed to work together to get things done that would make our lives better?

[fastiller]

1 hour ago, Advance35 said:

Dear god are we into the single digits.  Is it only 9 more days?

I was going to post just this. It has been a long slog.  I really wish our election cycle was only 180 days (better would be 90).

[StatisticalOutlier]

8 hours ago, BW Manilowe said:

 I just love pandas, in general.

Did you see the videos of Tian Tian in the snow at the National Zoo last year?

https://twitter.com/NationalZoo/status/690915532539838464/

https://twitter.com/NationalZoo/status/691703896008462336

But I thought this sloth was the cutest thing ever, maybe because he was scared but still smiling:

https://www.facebook.com/ctecuador/posts/1256469624366880

I posted elsewhere that I avoided finding out the "results" of the 2000 election until a few days later.  I think I'll do the same this year.  It makes me feel powerful to remain ignorant of something everybody else knows.

[That damn Facebook. I don't have an account and it's bad enough that there are only certain pages I can even see, and those are half-covered by a "log in" screen, and this one of the sloth just went completely away, whited out with a "log in" box superimposed.  I hate Facebook.]

[candall]

14 hours ago, ebk57 said:

I'm so glad that David re-thought the "no politics" mandate here.

Not knowing about this thread--Excellent idea, Spartan Girl--I just posted the same thing (somewhat inappropriately) over in the Hillary thread. 

I'm a lone little Dem in my RL area and this forum has kept me going, and sane. And maybe free of assault charges.

 

11 hours ago, bosawks said:

All this election did is make the Trump voters in my life think I'm a traitor and me think they're bigots.

Sigh, I'm battered and bruised but still optimistic that this too shall pass and any magnifying glass held to the fissures in this country will, ultimately, be benificial.

I know what you're saying, Bosawks, but I don't think any of this is ever going to really "pass."  People will be dissecting and examining and writing about this mess for the rest of our lifetimes, at the very least.  I've had this thought in my head that we should all look around and get square on the details because, in the future, no one is going to BELIEVE how this all went down.

There is some truly epic shit going on here--I mean besides the advent of the first woman US President (which I feel blessed and lucky to be a part of.)  But vis-à-vis the rest of it, I think it might be very rare to be in the middle of history being made and recognize that the events are going to be historically significant.  It will be a really, really fucked up chapter of history, but nonetheless.  In a few years, the next generation is going to be rolling their eyes at how much we're exaggerating when we try to tell them about it.  We'll say:  I know!  It sounds crazy!  But I was there.

 

11 hours ago, atomationage said:

I'm having to look up the things people are writing about.  I guess we don't have mallomars here.  The closest thing seems to be pinwheels, also by nabisco, but there's an off brand from Trader Joes, I think, that has a chocolate cookie on the bottom, which I like better.  I'm watching, well actually listening to Dark Shadows on DECADES, channel 2.2 in Chicago.  It's relaxing when no one is crying or screaming. 

Think Reesie cup, but marshmallow cream instead of peanut butter.

 

*******************************

You know, oddly enough, the baby animals do help.  I think I spotted a comment from a stressed out politics person on the video of the baby otter sucking its paw.  She said:

HOW SOFT IS IT????? ANSWER ME!!!!!!

[Coffeecup]

The stress has been excruciating for me. I am a senior citizen and have voted since the early 1970s. But in this election, I see for the first time not just philosophical differences between the two parties, not just rational disagreements on the way the country should be run, but outright irrationality, hatred and bloodthirstiness on the part of the Republicans. What in the world has happened to them? There used to be responsible people in the GOP.  Now it is as if we are living in a developing country mired in turmoil, not the United States, the stable and dependable leader of the free world.

I fear that if Trump wins, he will behave like President Erdogan of Turkey: bringing in tanks to (maybe literally) crush the opposition, firing judges, firing civil service employees, and throwing thousands of people in jail. He has no understanding of the obligations of a President or the checks and balances system in the three branches of government. He thinks he's running for CEO of the U.S., where he can just fire everybody who disagrees with him, or even Dictator-in-Chief.  I fear that he wants to establish an American version of the old Soviet Union, given his admiration for Vladimir Putin, where we would all live under the thumb of his Republican Kremlin-ized FBI, and be sent to gulags in Alaska (not all that far from Siberia, you know) if we oppose him.

My fear with a Hillary victory is that Trump and the most fanatic of his supporters would use the Second Amendment to start a civil war, with their militia units conducting guerilla warfare all over the country. I fear that some of those people are so crazy they would not mind resorting to assassination.

Well, those are very extreme scenarios, and hopefully they are unlikely, but it goes to show the very high level of my anxiety. The way I am trying to keep calm is to tell myself that on November 9, life in the U.S. will go on, regardless of who wins. The electricity will be on, the Internet will be on, the grocery stores will have food, the gas stations will have gas, the stock market will not crash, and the banks will be open. We can all go to work, go about our business, and spend time with our loved ones, as we always do. We will make it through this.

[Kemper]

I have been working the polls, passing out sample Democratic ballots.  My fellow passer-outers and I have had people tell us "Jesus doesn't love you"....spitting near our feet...laughing that they will take our ballots and "wipe their rears with it"..."Hillary is a lesbian"...you people "are not Christian"...  Snarling, horrible hand gestures, etc.  I unwind by watching reruns of original Law and Order episodes.  A young Chris Noth....George Dzunda...Michael Moriarty (before he went nuts)...Paul Sorvino...and a young, passionate Jack McCoy.

[bosawks]

2 hours ago, candall said:

Not knowing about this thread--Excellent idea, Spartan Girl--I just posted the same thing (somewhat inappropriately) over in the Hillary thread. 

I'm a lone little Dem in my RL area and this forum has kept me going, and sane. And maybe free of assault charges.

 

I know what you're saying, Bosawks, but I don't think any of this is ever going to really "pass."  People will be dissecting and examining and writing about this mess for the rest of our lifetimes, at the very least.  I've had this thought in my head that we should all look around and get square on the details because, in the future, no one is going to BELIEVE how this all went down.

There is some truly epic shit going on here--I mean besides the advent of the first woman US President (which I feel blessed and lucky to be a part of.)  But vis-à-vis the rest of it, I think it might be very rare to be in the middle of history being made and recognize that the events are going to be historically significant.  It will be a really, really fucked up chapter of history, but nonetheless.  In a few years, the next generation is going to be rolling their eyes at how much we're exaggerating when we try to tell them about it.  We'll say:  I know!  It sounds crazy!  But I was there.

 

Think Reesie cup, but marshmallow cream instead of peanut butter.

 

*******************************

You know, oddly enough, the baby animals do help.  I think I spotted a comment from a stressed out politics person on the video of the baby otter sucking its paw.  She said:

HOW SOFT IS IT????? ANSWER ME!!!!!!

I hear you but "democracy is the worst form of government aside from every other" and social evolution doesn't go in a straight line. This is an unqualified dip but I am hopeful that through struggle we will learn, not as fast as I would like or hope, but learn nevertheless.

I'm actually more annoyed at the people who say they're moving to Canada than the Trumpers.  If nobody stays to fight the good fight then it has already been lost. I'm all set to put on my boxing gloves for the next four years.....

[starri]

As Hillary herself once said: Keep GOING!

[Guest]

Not that I have anything against brandy, but that's Dom Perignon in my av.  While champagne is a wonderful thing, and it's true, that a $20 bottle is lovely, it really is amazing how much different the good stuff is! And now as I'm typing this, I'm thinking I should get a good bottle (not Dom good, maybe Verve)

Oh, girl...sit down right here next to me! I looooooove champagne! Veuve is my hands-down favorite (even over Dom) and more recently I've found Heidsieck & Co. Monopole which was super affordable (all things considered) but I can't seem to get it anymore. Waaah!!! After I imbibe though, I have to take a Benadryl because every time I drink wine these days, I fall asleep only to reawaken 2-3 hours later, wide awake, and can't fall back to sleep for hours. Sucks. 

I am also grateful for these forums because I don't know how I'm not outside, screaming at the top of my lungs, "HOW THE FUCK IS THIS HAPPENING?! HOW! IS! THIS! HAPPENING?!?!!?!" Donald fucking Trump! TRUMP! The man literally knows NOTHING about EVERYTHING! He's a fucking fraud! As a Spy magazine subscriber for all of its existence, I knew it decades ago. I don't even think this is a subjective thought. He literally is a crazy person. Imagine if Mitt Romney got caught pretending to be his own spokesperson! Imagine if John McCain did that! WHO DOES THAT?! That it's now so close and we have the goddamned head of the FBI throwing out "bombs" on behalf of the party? I swear to god, I feel like I'm living in the Upside Down.  

Yesterday, I decided to swear off Twitter for the duration. It's gonna be tough but, in the long haul, best for my psyche. 

[starri]

2 minutes ago, Giant Misfit said:

I swear to god, I feel like I'm living in the Upside Down.  

Let them come.  There is one dwarf in Moria who still draws breath.

[33kaitykaity]

The author has been doing this weekly thread for years.  I always squee at least once.  

Quote

 

Your Sunday LOLcats (dial-up warning) Tricks And Treats Edition

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1018902002

 

[HumblePi]

13 hours ago, NewDigs said:

Might take long to load. 

[starri]

[Spartan Girl]

You want cute animals? Try the Charlie the Dog YouTube Channel. The videos are of an adorable toddler and her two beagles. I couldn't pick my favorite video; just watch them all.

[BW Manilowe]

Thanks for all the panda content! Much appreciated. I've seen the Tian Tian panda in the snow videos--I love him & his "family" at the National Zoo.

Another animal that de-stresses me is a little Australian being called a quokka, which is found on smaller islands near Perth--particularly on Rottnest Island--& in a nature preserve on the Australian Mainland. So cute!

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quokka

http://www.google.com/search?site=webhp&tbm=isch&source=hp&ei=Je4VWKPxH56vjwSq9LngBA&q=quokka+selfie&oq=&gs_l=mobile-gws-hp.1.0.41l3.0.0.0.5255.1.1.0.1.1.0.513.513.5-1.1.0....0...1c..64.mobile-gws-hp..0.1.68.3.jhsaTQ8o4lY#tbm=isch&q=quokka+smiling

Sloths are cute too!

Edited October 30, 2016 by BW Manilowe
To add a comment.

[BW Manilowe]

Whatever happens on November 8th, there's 1 thing to hold on to--even if Trump's side goes majorly ballistic if when he loses: Barack Obama is still our POTUS until the winner takes the oath at Noon on January 20, 2017 (or whatever date is designated in the event that falls on a weekend or something, like I think happened with Obama's second inauguration).

Edited October 30, 2016 by BW Manilowe
To try & fix a code.

[HumblePi]

Whatever you do, don't use the virtual reality goggles to relax. They tried to get this mom to relax while in the hospital waiting room while her husband was undergoing surgery by watching a roller coaster.  Bad idea.

 

[DeLurker]

A cute animal thread may need to become a permanent fixture of the site.

[Shannon L.]

You know what caused me the most anxiety?  The debates!  I didn't watch the first one, I only got through about 10 minutes of the VP debate, the 2nd debate was on, but only as back ground noise because after about 10 minutes, I found I had to keep busy and the 3rd one I didn't watch at all. 

Thank God for SNL.  Their skits have been the only politically related thing that I have been able to comfortably watch this whole year.

Plenty of sloth videos.  Here's one getting a bath:

Or how about a moose calf playing in a sprinkler?

[atomationage]

I woke up and turned on the tv to see Dr Julia Hoffman opening up Barnabas Collins' coffin. 

Quokkas are new to me, but out of all the most recent ones, I thought the owls were the cutest.  I guess it's the big eyes.

[MulletorHater]

7 hours ago, Fable said:

I have some anxiety about the election, but I have more anger over the general idiocy going on.  I’m tired of emails and sex tapes.   What I would really like to know is what, if anything, are these people going to do for us…what about taxes, health care, social security, climate change…something, anything useful! 

Exactly.  That's why it offended my sensibilities to watch Secretary Clinton sharing a debate stage with a fucking fool who has never served the public and who doesn't have a clue about public policy.  The only reason Drumpf got as far as he did in the primaries is because he shit-talked and insulted his way through the debates and the media--and public--loved it.  I knew that things went into the dumpster when we had presidential candidates on stage ridiculing each other about their penis size.  That's why I wasn't surprised when the GOP convention was an absolute shit show.  But it also gave us a clear glimpse into how Drumpf and his unfortunate looking brats would be running things and how he would cheapen and pollute the White House.

That's why he got his clock cleaned in all three debates.  For the first time, he was up against an opponent who was prepared and who actually could discuss public policy with intelligence.  He thought he could bully and bluster his way through it.  It also demonstrated the difficulty he has in focusing and how easily riled he gets.  I wish more time was spent on climate change, health care, and education.

I'm afraid though that our political discourse has been cheapened and will never be the same.  It's indicative of the fact that everything Drumpf touches turns to shit.

[callmebetty]

3 hours ago, Shannon L. said:

You know what caused me the most anxiety?  The debates!  I didn't watch the first one, I only got through about 10 minutes of the VP debate, the 2nd debate was on, but only as back ground noise because after about 10 minutes, I found I had to keep busy and the 3rd one I didn't watch at all. 

Thank God for SNL.  Their skits have been the only politically related thing that I have been able to comfortably watch this whole year.

Plenty of sloth videos.  Here's one getting a bath:

 

Or how about a moose calf playing in a sprinkler?

 

I LOOOOVE sloths. Thanks for that. I also LOVE  Moose. if there had been wolves you would have my Trifecta . 

Awe who am I kidding I love all baby animals.

Who knew baby bats were so cute, I had no  idea . 

My support is this thread, and wine and chocolate . 

Edited October 30, 2016 by callmebetty
Spelling is important

[BW Manilowe]

9 hours ago, Pixel said:

I just wanted to elaborate. I shop in Indiana because I live right on the border of Indiana and Illinois. So my Trump -shirt stand sighting isn't much of an indicator of popularity overall, because it was in a state that's always firmly red. 

If you're calling Indiana firmly red, that's maybe not necessarily so. We went blue/for Obama during his first election (which happily surprised the crap outta me). Then, sadly, when Obama ran against Romney we reverted to our true "red" state nature.

[atomationage]

I don't care what any polls say, I'm saying it's going to be a 50 state 100 million votes for Hillary victory in 10 days. 

[Ladyrain]

2 hours ago, Kemper said:

I have been working the polls, passing out sample Democratic ballots.  My fellow passer-outers and I have had people tell us "Jesus doesn't love you"....spitting near our feet...laughing that they will take our ballots and "wipe their rears with it"..."Hillary is a lesbian"...you people "are not Christian"...  Snarling, horrible hand gestures, etc.  I unwind by watching reruns of original Law and Order episodes.  A young Chris Noth....George Dzunda...Michael Moriarty (before he went nuts)...Paul Sorvino...and a young, passionate Jack McCoy.

OMG, you are saint for enduring that despicable conduct from so-called 'Christians'.  That attitude makes me sick.  All I ever want to ask those narrow-minded idiots is - WWJD.  I'm pretty sure he'd be coming down on our side in this race.  Those moronic bigots must be the deplorables HRC was referencing.  ~  May I ask what state this took place in?  I'm in MA, so the worst it gets for me is some stupid, misspelled, grammatically incorrect letter to the editor in our little local newspaper. 

[candall]

2 hours ago, Kemper said:

I have been working the polls, passing out sample Democratic ballots.  My fellow passer-outers and I have had people tell us "Jesus doesn't love you"....spitting near our feet...laughing that they will take our ballots and "wipe their rears with it"..."Hillary is a lesbian"...you people "are not Christian"...  Snarling, horrible hand gestures, etc.  I unwind by watching reruns of original Law and Order episodes.  A young Chris Noth....George Dzunda...Michael Moriarty (before he went nuts)...Paul Sorvino...and a young, passionate Jack McCoy.

Uh-oh, an alarming report from the front lines.  Are we still going to use Vegas and Boulder as the meeting points?

Good for you, Kemper, out there doing the good work.

I think old L&O episodes are like some kind of national treasure.  I keep a cache on my DVR to fall asleep by--the familiar voices are soothing and there's no need to see the screen because I already know where everyone is standing.  You're supposed to shut off the audio-video distractions to sleep, but without it, I fret.

[Pixel]

1 hour ago, BW Manilowe said:

If you're calling Indiana firmly red, that's maybe not necessarily so. We went blue/for Obama during his first election (which happily surprised the crap outta me). Then, sadly, when Obama ran against Romney we reverted to our true "red" state nature.

I hope I am wrong. I'm just going by history and the current electoral map on 538.

[BW Manilowe]

2 minutes ago, Pixel said:

I hope I am wrong. I'm just going by history and the current electoral map on 538.

Considering our sitting misogynist, anti-LGBT Governor--whom many of us are happy to be rid of, hopefully without him winning the VP office to make that happen--is on the Republican ticket, I have the feeling Hillary will only get Indiana through a miracle. There tends (except with me when the candidate's a Republican) to be a "we have to vote for the home team" mentality here when it comes to Hoosiers on the Presidential ticket, even in the second slot. Trump/Pence probably had us locked up as soon as Trump picked Pence as VP, our propensity to go "red" notwithstanding.

[HumblePi]

I had mentioned Monty Python in the Hillary Clinton comments but it brought a funny memory to my mind about Monty Python who I thought was an absolutely brilliant British comedy team. I remembered this video because it reminds me a little of what we're going through with this undisputed most contentious election in our history. It's basically a video of four old friends getting together to reminisce about their childhoods. They talk about the hardships they underwent growing up but suddenly began out-doing each other, that's when it gets funny.

If you have a problem understanding the accent, here's the script for The Four Yorkshiremen. It helps to read as you listen, I guarantee you'll finish with tears of laughter running down your cheeks.

Four Yorkshiremen Sketch
Monty Python
Four well-dressed men sitting together at a vacation resort.

Michael Palin: Ahh.. Very passable, this, very passable.

Graham Chapman: Nothing like a good glass of Chateau de Chassilier, ay Gessiah?

Terry Jones: You're right there Obediah.

Eric Idle: Who'd a thought thirty years ago we'd all be sittin' here drinking Chateau de Chassilier, eh?

MP: Aye. In them days, we'd a' been glad to have the price of a cup o' tea.

GC: A cup ' COLD tea.

EI: Without milk or sugar.

TJ: OR tea!

MP: In a cracked cup and all.

EI: We never used to have a cup. We used to have to drink out of a rolled up newspaper.

GC: The best WE could manage was to suck on a piece of damp cloth.

TJ: But you know, we were happy in those days, although we were poor.

MP: Aye. BECAUSE we were poor. My old Dad used to say to me, 'Money doesn't bring you happiness.'

EI: 'E was right. I was happier then and I had NOTHIN'. We used to live in this tiny old tumbled down house, with great big holes in the roof.

GC: House? You were lucky to live in a HOUSE! We used to live in one room, all twenty-six of us, no furniture. Half the floor was missing; we were all huddled together in one corner for fear of FALLING!

TJ: You were lucky to have a ROOM! *We* used to have to live in a corridor!

MP: Ohhhh we used to DREAM of livin' in a corridor! Woulda' been a palace to us. We used to live in an old water tank on a rubbish tip. We got woke up every morning by having a load of rotting fish dumped all over us! House!? Hmph.

EI: Well when I say 'house' it was just a hole in the ground covered by a sheet of tarpolin, but it was a house to US!

GC: We were evicted from *our* hole in the ground; we had to go and live in a lake!

TJ: You were lucky to have a LAKE! There were a hundred and fifty of us living in a shoebox in the middle of the road.

MP: Cardboard box?

TJ: Aye.

MP: You were lucky. We lived for three months in a rolled up newspaper in a septic tank. We used to have to get up at six o'clock in the morning, clean the newspaper, go to work down mill for fourteen hours a day week in-week out for sixpence a week and when we got home, our Dad would thrash us to sleep with his belt!

GC: Luxury. We used to have to get out of the lake at three o'clock in the morning, clean the lake, eat a handful of hot gravel, work 20 hours a day at the mill every day for tuppence a month, come home, and Dad would beat us around the head and neck with a broken bottle, if we were LUCKY!

TJ: Well of course we had it tough. We used to have to get up out of the shoebox in the middle of the night, and LICK the road clean with our tongues. We had half a handful of freezing cold gravel, worked twenty-four hours a day at the mill for fourpence every six years, and when we got home, our Dad would slice us in two with a bread knife.

EI: Right. I had to get up in the morning at ten o'clock at night, half an hour before I went to bed, (pause for laughter), eat a lump of cold poison, work twenty-nine hours a day down mill, and pay mill owner for permission to come to work, and when we got home, our Dad and our mother would kill us, and dance about on our graves singing 'Hallelujah.'

MP: But you try and tell the young people today that... and they won't believe ya'.

ALL: Nope, nope..

Edited October 30, 2016 by HumblePi

[StatisticalOutlier]

4 hours ago, Giant Misfit said:

Yesterday, I decided to swear off Twitter for the duration. It's gonna be tough but, in the long haul, best for my psyche. 

I think the fact that I'm not on Facebook or Twitter has been the primary reason I've stayed sane.  I didn't like either one long before the election precisely because of what a lot of people are experiencing now--finding out things you didn't want to know.  Giant Misfit, take some advice from StatisticalOutlier--stay away.

 

1 hour ago, Ladyrain said:

OMG, you are saint for enduring that despicable conduct from so-called 'Christians'.  That attitude makes me sick.  All I ever want to ask those narrow-minded idiots is - WWJD.  I'm pretty sure he'd be coming down on our side in this race.

No, he'd be coming down on their side in this race.  They know because he's told them. 

 

2 hours ago, Shannon L. said:

Plenty of sloth videos.  Here's one getting a bath:

Because he has mange!  A sloth with mange is still cute.  [Trying unsuccessfully to insert DT hair joke, and oh how I long for the days when his hair was the most laughable, and scary, thing about him.]

[Princess Sparkle]

14 hours ago, Menrva said:

Those videos are great! Seriously, I feel so much better, even with this chest cold.

As a distraction, my husband convinced me to watch Gods of Egypt, so we could Mystery Science Theater it and holy cow, was that a horrible movie. I mean, not Sucker Punch bad, but close (Sucker Punch is so awful, so very very awful). Leaving aside the egregious whitewashing of characters (that's a whole other huge problem), it was horribly written, atrociously acted and made no sense whatsoever. It was like someone found a pile of poop by the road, whipped out a Bedazzler, and went to town. We laughed so hard, and even though it's 2 hours of my life I'll never get back, I did manage to not obsess about the election for a little while.

I'm not sure if you're a podcast listener, but if you are, there's an episode of How Did This Get Made (a comedy podcast about bad movies) about Gods of Egypt (and actually, they also have one for Sucker Punch).  The episode is hilarious, and at the very least, it's another hour-long distraction.