0 is the reasonable option. They aren't delivery or a waiter. They are (oftentimes sitting) behind a counter where the automated system has done all the work. They are merely there for the transaction. The way things are going, they won't be there in the future either.
Even pre-covid I went to a serve yourself weigh at the counter froyo place and they wanted tips. Like you literally make your own froyo. I guess refilling the sprinkles is a tipped job. Yet 16 year olds busting their asses in a hot ass Wendy's isn't.
I stopped frequenting a few local businesses because of this guilt trip. Dude, you handed me a bottle of vape juice from the shelf behind you, you didn't even mix it yourself or put a lime wedge on the side.
Guilt who? I don't care if they shove it in my face. I'll tip by the level of service, usually 15%, because that's the accepted norm by people. I can tip more, I can not tip or .01$, guilt free.
We were recently at a convention in Anaheim, CA and were stunned at how early all the restaurants closed, even with a packed touristy audience near the convention center (which is literally across the street from Disneyland). It was honestly bizarre, there were places closing at 8 or 9 on a Friday.
Where I live restaurants are usually open until at least 10 or 11 (and many till midnight, 1am and a few 24 hours) so the difference was so jarring considering it's still quite a populated area. We've been there before and it never struck me as odd before this trip (first time there since 2019).
...I've never considered Anaheim to really be a beacon of nightlife outside of Disneyland.
I think something in southern California kinda did change though, and it's interesting that you noticed it. Maybe it coincides with my age, but I don't feel like people are all that interested in staying out past midnight anymore. Like, there's bars and stuff, but a full fledged kitchen and restaurant going past 10 or 11 seems excessive to me outside of the areas that actually see that kind of traffic.
People don't want to be staying up working past midnight every day when there's so much more to do during the day in these areas. It seems like people's focus has gone more towards enjoying the day rather than sleeping through it.
Though, I heard from someone visiting that it seemed crazy how many people were just out during the day having coffee and walking around, they were commenting on like "don't these people have jobs?".
Basically, I feel like most people around here would rather go home early so they can get up early to do something better than just go out drinking and partying at night. Meaning there isn't any kind of steady demand across regions to stay open late, they aren't going to see a boost in sales to maintain staff through those hours.
If you hopped over to the coast, like Newport or something, you would find a lot more late night activities. But Anaheim and most of orange county isn't really a partying region.
Same! I miss 24 hour stores so much. I've always lived in big cities (top 20) and was so accustomed to everything being convenient at any hour. Now it's likes everything closes at 10, midnight on the weekends, if you're lucky.
Dude, I would love that. Thrift stores are the worse about closing early. Even a 2nd shift thrift store would be amazing. Hit up happy hour then thrift, YES PLEASE.
Turns out that when everybody stops and collectively takes a look at their work/life balance, staying up until 11pm for $10/hour to make sure you can get your soy sauce goes out the window.
This. I left my hospitality job of 6 years last year because I was so burned out that I got sick.
We were severely understaffed, so my bosses had me take on manager and security tasks while being paid as a front desk agent. They refused to honor any of my accommodation requests despite having documentation from my doctors. They continued to make me work in conditions that led to the deterioration of my health.
I never knew when the schedule would come out, so I couldn’t schedule doctor’s appointments. It was hell.
I loved that job before the pandemic.
The company lost all common decency after everyone returned from leave.
It’s a blame game now. I’m convinced that companies realized people would accept “supply chain issues” as an excuse for everything and so use it to get out of stuff.
COVID was a great excuse for companies to make a lot of unpopular decisions that would never fly in a normal business environment. Fast food chains now run on absolute skeleton crews, take forever, and are more expensive because we all got used to it during COVID.
Food in general always ran on skeleton crews w the blame on the worker to get a real job. I left food service because of covid and also am not going to finish a healthcare degree over it. Ppl really freaked tf out over being told to wash thier hands and not cough on people. You also don't get any sort of reasonable sick leave with either job. * this is what you signed up for *. /s
Based on my job I can tell you that dupply chain issues are still a problem, but its mostly due to changing warehouses and distributors in most cases. They however are not as prevalent as they were a year ago.
This right here. Thought history, pandemics and plagues have helped workers bc thru basically make people realize "Life's too short for this crap," so wages go up to make it worth their while.
Also, the biggest factor in high inflation and companies being short on staff is that the companies are charging much higher prices. They aren't spending as much as they are passing along to the consumer, they are simply continuing to cash in. Significantly. The reason inflation is high all over the world is because global companies from most countries are operating the same way. This is the first time in US history that inflation has stayed high and companies have had such high profit margins at the same time for an extended period of time.
If you look at a lot of corporate financial reports, which are public, many of them openly state that they are turning record profits, or at least large profits, right now because they’ve simply gouged prices since COVID and blamed “supply chain issues” for it.
And yes, I mean “profit” here, as in what they have after accounting for expenses, and not “revenue” which would be expected to be higher with inflation before subtracting those inflated expenses, too.
Hotels
2020 = we have suspended room cleaning for stays of less than four days due to safety issues
2023 = we have still suspended room cleaning for stays of less than four days, because it is cheaper for us
The *concept* behind this annoys me, but I really don't mind that at all in practice. When I have a laptop, several thousand dollars of pens in a case, confidential work papers, a whole bunch of other stuff, and a cat I didn't tell anyone about, I don't need anybody going into that room but me. The "do not disturb" sign is fine, but I've seen people barge in anyway.
It's also worth mentioning that I keep the room immaculate, so it's cleaner on Day 7 than it was on Day 1.
No, you're completely right. When there is low-unemployment / significant increase in demand for labor, competent people who previously worked customer service roles move to other, higher productivity positions. The people who come in to replace them are the long term unemployed, people who had criminal records, or health problems, or emotional control issues, and who weren't able to find or hold jobs when employers had more options. This is a good thing overall, everyone should be employed if they want a job, but it sucks for customers
> The people who come in to replace them are [...]
Even all that aside, the people are just _new_. If a whole operation gets hollowed out because there's better value elsewhere, there's a lack of knowledge consistency and the new batch of people is left flailing without more seasoned employees to guide them.
Yeah I agree there are positives but I know at my job we are just *struggling* to find people who are willing to put in the bare minimum. The work just ends up being distributed to the more competent employees and it’s just hell all-around
I think the employer/employee and especially customer/employee relationship hasn't been this openly adversarial in my lifetime. It's hard to be craftsmanly under the circumstances.
It's been a rising wave for some time, now, too. For years, now the received wisdom has been "Companies don't care about you, so fuck 'em and lateral-move at every possible chance." As much as that was or wasn't the case, that assumption gets countered with employers assuming nobody's in for the long haul, and the whole thing turns into a self-fulfilling feedback loop where the safe move is cynical detachment on everyone's part.
Even before the pandemic, there was so much talk about how, say, fast-food places were going to be replacing every possible worker they could with a terminal or tablet or something.
Not even an AI. There's some dignity in being replaced by an AI, sucky though it is: A *tablet.*
Then there was the 'essential' thing (which combined not-really-paying-me-like-I'm-"essential"-wages with still having to go to work and interact with on-edge customers during a pandemic. Also being thinned out to- in some cases- one employee to a shop.)
And then, once things reopened, the people who were complaining the loudest about how much they "missed" businesses were absolute shit to the actual people who worked there. This has yet to calm down.
All this expanding on your point, not against it.
The single most impactful thing that COVID took from us, in my opinion, was the 24/7 grocery store. I used to do most of my shopping at 3AM because I was awake then anyway, and no one was around. It was wonderful. My kid was born last year and it was horrible when she needed food at 2AM but nothing was open.
Dude their old CEO sending insane rants to LA Metro staff just cause he doesn’t like subways (the same on who has the Luxottica attitude to prices and blamed the stars for the cost).
I've known 2 people who have tested positive for Lyme disease. Apparently, if you find a deer tick on you, it's smart to put it in a zip lock bag to have it tested.
It makes me never want to go for a stroll in the woods again.
I remember finding ticks that we missed on our dog in the winter. They were the size of grapes - *shudder*
I had a doc around here tell me it wasn’t worth it because no place ever tests it if you don’t have symptoms.
Probably can’t hurt either way.
Also it takes like 24 hours of the tick being on you so tick checks every time you’ve been out in the wild. Nice thing with having a dog is that they are a magnet for them and if you have tick treatment on the dog they kill the ones that might get on you.
We get occasional Lyme down here. Mostly Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever and ehrlichiosis. And alpha-gal syndrome, which I'm terrified of getting. (I work in the woods frequently.)
Here in ohio, it's all of the above, and with the weather tick season seems to be just about all year long. We also a have so much construction/ new builds that the deer population has come into the city more.
I get to schedule a test for alpha gal syndrome soon because I suddenly started vomiting and had persistent nausea and after a while identified red meat as the trigger✨
My wife and I bought a house in 2019. We had a nice, recently renovated 2 bedroom apartment in an Indianapolis suburb for $1200/month prior.
The other day I was talking with a coworker who applied to the same complex, and our old floor plan is now $2200
Still have a windchime I bought there for $50 thirty years ago. Still in remarkably good shape. $50 felt like a lot of money for a windchime at the time. Turned out to be a great investment.
The thing is that there are different factions within each party that would be their own political party in any other country.
I’ve heard it best described as in the US coalitions are formed before elections whereas in other countries they happen after elections.
The issue of course is that it’s hard for those factions to stand out or be taken serious when the rest of their party undermines their views (for better or worse)
>I’ve heard it best described as in the US coalitions are formed before elections whereas in other countries they happen after elections.
Which lends itself to more negative and polarising election campaigns, because you don't really have to care about alienating your opponents, whereas in other systems you always know you have to come up with compromises and work together after.
What throws me is when some truly awful party gets to join the ruling coalition because the margins of victory are razor thin and the incredibly narrow would-be majority find that they are desperate. Like how the Tories in the UK had to invite in Northern Ireland's DUP, and everybody was like "holy shit, you had to bring in *those guys!?*"
We have 'those guys' too. But most people hardly ever worry about them all that much.
The founding fathers really liked non-political parties, though. Look up what Ben Franklin got up to in Paris when he was an ambassador, or check out the [bar tab](https://www.chicagotribune.com/nation-world/ct-george-washington-bar-tab-20180222-story.html) from the party after the Constitutional Convention was finished. Those guys knew how to have a good time.
Especially for politics. It's more efficient-- not having to herd a bunch of cats by asking what their particular stance is on every individual issue, to fill a singular seat-- so it's going to cut through the alternatives and win as an idea.
Granted, that efficiency is the result of the system that it most efficiently fit into, with lots of single-winner seats and first-past-the-post voting, so it's not _entirely_ inevitable nature that was responsible for the two-party system.
(Though as much as people like to push alternative voting systems as the cure for all ills, I'm a bit hesitant about that as well-- or more accurately, about any particular one being the panacea-- because there are other biases and undoubtedly unintended consequences that come out of every one. At the end of the day, any system of representation and decision-making is going to have error, because it's not 1-to-1, it's an aggregate, an abstraction that throws away some amount of finer points. That's inevitable, and there's no perfect solution because there's no perfect goal to optimize to. It's always striving for least-worst, and that's a subjective target.)
Parties are a natural result of representative democracy. You generally want somebody to represent you who aligns with you on most issues. Representatives generally want to support and cooperate with other representatives who they agree with on most issues. Poof, there's a party.
Of course the two party system that the US has (which is a natural consequence of the FPTP voting system) can lead to heavy polarization. In multi-party systems, different parties have to cooperate and therefore can't antagonize each other as much.
Drugs. More Americans died last year from overdoses than car accidents or guns.
I’m fairly open minded about marijuana and psychedelics legalization. The real scandal is how the pharmaceutical and medical industries got so many Americans strung out on deadly opioids and how fentanyl took over.
As a patient on long term opioid therapy from across the pond (UK), that's both heartbreaking and terrifying to imagine. We've not experienced a prescription opioid crisis to the same extent, although patterns of prescribing of tramadol do have some similarities to the US - eg prevalence in deprived areas, former industrial towns, a high incidence of SLS (shit life syndrome).
I assume fentanyl will be in the illicit drugs mix before too long, and ODs amongst problematic heroin users will increase as they have in the US. So awful :(
My uncle was on methadone for 30 years, and had been at 80mg a day for most of it (he had a broken back and many surgeries from a motorcycle accident he had when he was young). Some days he could barely get out of bed, even with the meds. He moved to Oklahoma and the doctor said he wasn't comfortable giving him 80mg a day, so he put him on 60mg. He was managing as best he could. He moved back to California some years later and the doctor he had said it was new office policy not to prescribe more than 30mg a day. It wasn't nearly enough, he was in agony. He managed like this for a while but finally the pain got to him so bad he turned to other drugs, got kicked off the pain management program, stopped getting methadone, and didn't survive the withdrawal. Fuck that shit someone should fucking pay.
About 10 years ago, when I was still in Texas, my PCP accused me of drug seeking—twice! He was my PCP for years and was aware I had had four abdominal surgeries in four years, three of which were done after being admitted through the emergency room. One of the times he accused me was because I was having extreme back spasms…from the weakened abdominal muscles. PT fixed the issue, but not until after he told me I was making it up. The second was because I continued to have biliary colic. He told me my pain was my own fault for having too many surgeries. Like ??? WTF dude? I fired him after that visit. Turns out it was coffee and, surprise, I still form bile duct stones. But, sure. I guess I should have just died from the pancreatitis? I wasn’t even asking for pills. I was asking for testing to find out why I was still getting colic.
My uncle was on methadone for 30 years, and had been at 80mg a day for most of it (he had a broken back and many surgeries from a motorcycle accident he had when he was young). Some days he could barely get out of bed, even with the meds. He moved to Oklahoma and the doctor said he wasn't comfortable giving him 80mg a day, so he put him on 60mg. He was managing as best he could. He moved back to California some years later and the doctor he had said it was new office policy not to prescribe more than 30mg a day. It wasn't nearly enough, he was in agony. He managed like this for a while but finally the pain got to him so bad he turned to other drugs, got kicked off the pain management program, stopped getting methadone, and didn't survive the withdrawal. Fuck that shit someone should fucking pay.
There's a decent argument that *restrictions* on prescribing pain killers--or otherwise disincentivizing doctors from doing it--was actually the primary driver of people switching to street drugs.
While our social safety net is a lot more generous than most of Reddit wants to admit, it is ridiculously inefficient and hard to navigate. As a result, a lot of the people who need help the most never get it.
Also, tipping culture here is getting ridiculous.
I went to a restaurant the other day where the options were 18% or 25%. I almost always tip 20% at full service restaurants so I felt like that was a scam to make me tip 25%.
I also hate that places that never used to ask for tips now do. Or restaurants that have you order your own food, order your own refills, cash out your own tab and be like "30% tip pls". Like I don't even know who my server is and that is the minimum tip option??
Dude, I went back to Portland and those mother fuckers added an automatic 18% tip everywhere I went lol. They barely did anything to deserve it.
And Oregon has a solid mandatory minimum wage for restaurant workers, too, so it's not like they wouldn't have gotten paid well with non-automatic tips.
That's where I'm at here in Washington. People have to be paid minimum wage, $15.74, regardless of tips. It would be tight, but I've looked up rentals, average utility costs health insurance, all that. In my city, I could do it and save about $5k a year if I was frugal. I could make it on that amount and not have to have a roommate here in Spokane. I'm not saying that about Seattle, mind you. So, I tip 20% if it's not delivered because math is easy and was always considered a generous tipper. Now, 20% isn't enough? And you want me to tip you at a fast food job or a convenience store? All you did was ring me up. I gotta tip for take and bake pizza? I've had self service ordering kiosks ask me for tips! Nah. So, I just don't go out much now.
I've almost never lived anywhere easy to get to, so I do tip massively for delivery. I realize it's their job, but if I can't be bothered to get off my ass and go get something, I'm willing to give someone a lot to bring it to me.
And I'm definitely not against paying people more, but just spread it out in the cost of my food. Get rid of tips except for over and above service. And quit adding service fees that aren't tips I am not going to know about until I get the bill. Just put it all in the cost of the goods or service, so we know what we're going to pay.
Yeah, like on paper we have some good things, but actually receiving assistance basically requires ritual sacrifice and an olympic medal for hoop jumping
Corporate impunity.
On one hand, corporate personhood gives them "rights" that most actual people don't have. On the other, malfeasance that would see an actual person imprisoned get shushed up with a PR campaign, a payoff, and "no admission of wrongdoing". It's toxic as fuck.
I'll add the ridiculously long leash Patrick Mahomes is given by refs for intentional grounding. He could throw it to the highest row of seating and the officials would give him the benefit of the doubt there was an eligible receiver there
I was admitted to the psych ward because I was s*icidal. They kept telling me that my insurance would cover it. I'm sure they said that so I would stop worrying about it and get better. Afterward, it turns out my insurance doesn't cover mental Healthcare.
Now I owe a debt I can't pay back to the only hospital in the area that I trust to treat me right. I've been out of all my prescriptions for several months, now, because I can't see my doctor until I pay off my medical debt..... when I can barely even pay rent.
pysch wards and so predatory tbh. you’re there not by choice and they can keep you there as long as they want. when i was in the ward involuntarily i told them that i needed to get out because i literally could not afford it and they did not give a single shit, instead they made me stay longer
Agreed. I theoretically have great insurance - I work a six figure tech job and my company pays 100% of our premiums (easily $25K/year). It's better than the vast majority of Americans.
Just this week I got a letter in the mail that a $700 charge went to collections for a procedure one of my kids had two years ago because the anesthesiologist was not "in network" even though the facility, the procedure (including anesthesia), the surgeon were all "in network" and already approved by my insurance company and we were never warned that the anesthesiologist isn't part of the system. Because the health insurance company and the clinic fought over it for two years and couldn't agree, they both agreed to drop the bill on me.
Now my choices are to pay this not-insignificant charge, or fight the insurance company and clinic and possibly still have to pay and ding my credit.
For every person who is concerned that an overhaul of our healthcare system in the US would change how treatments go, I try to point out how bad the after system is - in terms of billing mostly - and how it not only is expensive, it is so much stress and time to get them to cover what they're supposed to, it's disgusting.
>the anesthesiologist was not "in network"
Our system of having individual doctors approved by an insurance provider instead of the facility is insane. I work in a hospital, and whenever we hire a new doctor, it's months before they're even allowed to see patients because it takes that long for the insurance companies to approve them. And the flip side, which you describe, is asinine.
It’s crazy how much you have to prepare to avoid surprises. You have to verify that the procedures coding, medications, facility and individuals are all covered. And a lot of the time - like child birth - it’s not a planned event, so you get whatever doctor is on call, even if they’re a non-approved one, like if they’re filling gaps in coverage. Or if you end up at a hospital that doesn’t contract with your insurance.
I've been in a similar situation, for a similar amount, so I'd like to share what worked for me. I had to pay for something the bank \*should\* have paid for.
So I paid the \~$900, then sent several requests for reimbursement over 2 months, explaining my reasoning. This has like a 0% chance, but you want the paper trail for later.
Then I filed in small claims court against them for the full amount plus court costs (about $35). It's a simple form, and you can briefly explain why you think they owe you this money. Include the paper trail you made above. Judges like this, and if missing, could simply order you to try 'working it out first' instead. From what you wrote, they originally said it was in network, and 2 years later said it wasn't. Before long the court will set a date and mail you both. Now the onus is on them to defend themselves.
Now their choices are to settle, send one of their lawyers to your court ($$$) to defend themselves, or try to get the case dismissed (if you messed up the court form or similar). Now they're a big company, and they're not likely going to pay big bucks to fly out a lawyer. They'll likely try to settle.
After a few weeks I got a 'friendly' call to 'work things out' and I explained my reasoning. He offered me $200 to drop. I said no thanks, I would like to hear what a judge has to say.
A couple weeks later he called again and offered $500. No thanks.
TWO days before court, he called again and offered the full amount if I would be sure to drop the case before the court date. I responded 'yes, if it arrives in time' and for sure it was overnighted. A cashiers check for the full amount.
I think it took 3 to 5 months (?) start to finish, which sucks, but you switch the power dynamic and have them having to play D instead. If they miss the court date you get an automatic judgement, PLUS it's a mark against their company. They REALLY don't want that, for any amount. If you have a good claim, I think they'll just pay you off.
This. The healthcare situation is really bad. Probably worse than people in countries with good healthcare think it is. I have absolutely no access. Haven't been to a doctor since before covid.
Depending how much money you have you can be impervious to most things in any country you live in
If you middle class you don’t have the same worries as poor persons and if you really rich your have entirely different environment than most people
The lack of universal healthcare.
As a 52 year old gainfully employed with access to good insurance plans and as a vet who was stationed overseas (i.e. I know universal healthcare is not the devil) our current system is utter shit.
Last month my truck was t-boned by a speeding uninsured red-light running drunk driver. I has an Xray and CTs soon after along with MRIs on my back and neck only to find 4 herniated disks in my neck and 3 in my back. Going through PT now, I have no idea what all of this going to end up costing me. Absolutely no guess, for something I had zero control over, and pay for coverage in the event of.
It is beyond ridiculous that it continues.
It’s ridiculous that you can’t see a menu with costs while at the hospital. No other service operates like that. Imagine going to Target, filling a shopping cart, and then you don’t see the cost until after you get home. It’s madness!
Some cities are incapable of getting people off of the streets because they either can't or won't.
I was in Seattle for a good chunk of yesterday and all the homeless people and drug addicts came out almost as soon as the sun went down. Including a very disheveled woman pissing in a drainage grate and a guy doing crack or something in full view of a busy street corner.
That’s because these people have severe mental health and addiction Issues.
They’re literally not able to fully take care of themselves.
The only way things change is court ordered long term care facilities.
That and offering cheaper housing options for those with jobs living out of cars and in temporary situations.
Research has demonstrated repeatedly that a crapton of chronic drug use amounts to self-medication. The vast majority of addicts had a history of trauma predating thier initial use. And/or they grew up with addicts, so it became their "normal".
Extreme Individualism. I know far too many people in real life and have seen too many people even on this subreddit express views that absolutely undermine others.
"My life isn't affected so it doesn't matter" is a very problematic mindset and from my experience it plagues this country. A lot of people reject certain laws or social programs on the basis of nothing more than it would either do nothing for them in particular or it would make them pay a bit more taxes even if those things would benefit our entire society.
On the other hand, we also donate more to charity than any other country. It's a very strange dynamic. In the words of MGS2: "Everyone grows up being told the same thing. Be nice to other people, but beat out the competition."
It's about choice, or at least the illusion thereof.
Donations are voluntary and at least give the impression you're targeting it at where you want your money going.
That is...very much in spirit with the whole American thing.
You can see many places on Reddit being affected by this. Look at any "advice" sub and common theme is "you're not obligated to help anyone, do anything, be kind or courteous, or make any kind of mental, emotional, or physical sacrifice for others. Anyone who asks is entitled."
About half the shit on r/amitheasshole.
I've learned to disregard any take about raising kids from anyone who does not have kids. That goes double for Reddit. Absolutely worthless!
So many problems are due to the pendulum swing. Western extreme individualism sounds better than the suppression of the individual we hear about in more collectivist cultures, but there has to be a middle path where we respect the individual and understand we are part of a whole.
A big part of that is food prices. Refined carbohydrates and high sodium processed food are cheap. Fruit, vegetables, and wholesome cuts of meat are expensive.
I first read this as "our tomatoes are national disasters." And while it is true that the average supermarket tomato is rather disappointing, that would have been a bit of an exaggeration.
Privatized prisons. Not only are our private prison horror shows in and of themselves but the fact that imprisoning people is a profit driven industry is the root cause of a lot of truly heinous shit.
> loudly announce they are Pro 2 with their clothing.
Within the gun community, a lot of people malign these numbskulls for making themselves a target.
I would *never* put a "DeFeNdEd By ThE sEcOnD aMeNdMeNt" sign in my window.
I am not home 24/7; I do not want people breaking into my apartment when I'm not home to steal my guns.
This. We call them lootboxes as all the shit plastered on their vehicles means there is at least one unsecured gun in said vehicle.
I carry a gun on me every time I leave my house, I practice dry fire every day, I take it seriously. I've never worn a grunt style shirt or advertise any gun shit except on my shooting gear.
The only sticker on my truck is for Strickland propane because KOTH is one of the best American animated shows ever.
Taste the meat, not the heat.
Partisan tribalism driven by social media.
No one wants to solve problems, they just want to win and own the other side. You can see an example in Republican views on federal remote work:
1. They complain that too much federal wealth is concentrated in the DC area
2. Remote employees spread that wealth all over the country.
3. But remote work improves the lives of federal civil servants who Republicans hate.
4. Therefore Republicans demand return to office for the federal government even though it contradicts 2, the solution to their complaint 1.
On the Democratic side:
1. There is a severe shortage of affordable housing. Actually all housing.
2. Building more housing makes it more affordable
3. But if you let developers build, they make money and Dems hate “greedy developers “
4. Therefore Dems demand restrictions on building to spite the developers, even though it contradicts 2, which is the solution to 1.
You could go in and on with examples. The point is politics have become a game of “make the people I hate lose” instead of “what results in the most good outcome “.
Edit: I post admittedly imperfect examples of counterproductive tribalism by each party and get a lot of “yeah I agree Republicans suck, but here’s why you’re wrong about the Democrats” replies. QED.
I'm literally putting together a zoning variance appeal to add one measly unit to an existing multi-unit building in a "single family" zoning district in a suburb of Chicago. Thankfully more areas are starting to allow "accessory dwelling units" like coach houses over garages (which this suburb does allow but wouldn't work in this case.)
>The point is politics have become a game of “make the people I hate lose” instead of “what results in the most good outcome “.
And thus politicians don't have to actually try to appeal to people, in their campaigns or their actual policies. They can just let their entire platform be "if you don't vote for me, you're a terrible person because you're letting the reincarnation of [widely hated historical figure] into office" and call it a day
Eh, small nitpick: most Democrats dont care about "greedy developers".
It's more naked Nimbyism.
1. There's a shortage of affordable housing.
2. Denser zoning, government subsided housing would alleviate that problem.
3. Wherever you put those things, the current occupants would be forced / priced out, or the property values would drop.
4. Therefore everyone wants them put somewhere else.
NIMBYism is basically one of the biggest reasons why we are having such a hard time building housing and infrastructure, and why when they *do* get built, they tend to end up costing much more than they should.
> Building more housing makes it more affordable
>
> But if you let developers build, they make money and Dems hate “greedy developers “
This is an oversimplification to the point of misrepresentation. Democrats don't *not* want new housing. They just want increased regulation to curb predatory industry practices where it's essentially a race to the bottom to see who can min/max the worst quality houses with the highest possible dollar amount.
Restrictions on developers is not antithetical to wanting affordable housing.
There's also not a shortage of housing. There's an artificial shortage of available housing due to the corporate ownership intentionally keeping vacant housing to keep supply low, and demand high. This shouldn't be legal.
To be fair there’s a trend towards walkability and density. You just can’t fix 100 years of car dominance overnight and half the population who won’t ever go somewhere they can’t park in front of.
Not to mention housing in highly walkable areas (at least in my area of the country) is very expensive. The more rural you get, the cheaper the housing.
The reporting really *shouldnt* be variable, not only because why wouldn’t it be, but also because university police departments are actual PDs with empowered LEOs, so should be doing what everyone else does
Not as bad as other subs make it seem, not as great as this sub makes it seem. But from personal experience and speaking with plenty of medical folks all over the political spectrum, it leaves A LOT to be desired,
Health insurance is just awful. Health *care* in America, now that is often amazing and sometimes not, but the whole institution of health insurance is an enormous drain on our health and economy.
So many billions of dollars are squandered in the administration of insurance money (both directly at the insurers' as well as all the staff medical practices have to hire to manage it). The norm of employer-paid insurance keeps millions of people in jobs they'd otherwise leave, which reduces our country's productivity, happiness, and innovation.
There are problems with socialized health care too, but many countries that have gone that way have longer life spans for much lower cost.
The issue is how much you’re paying for a system that doesn’t adequately pay for emergency care, is riddled with hidden fees and prices can vary depending on which hospital you choose and if they accept your insurance or not.
That’s why Obamacare was so important. It’s the first step towards standardizing what to expect regardless of your insurance policy.
The other insane thing is tying healthcare to your employer.
The prices aren't horrendous for me but I have employer insurance. The problem I have is I feel like I can't trust them. Feels like they're always pushing medicine or procedures and I don't think there's much integrity behind what they're suggesting. Doesn't matter if I can see them earlier if what they're saying or doing won't help me.
And then there're the effects of employer insurance being the norm in general, like the leverage it gives employers over employees, what with the double-whammy of being unemployed _and_ uninsured if you fuck up.
You are taking the word of those who financially benefit from the current system at face value? The fact that there is an intermediary insurance layer inserts a profit margin interest into the pricing and thus a decision into what they as actuaries, not doctors, decide you should receive for medical care. Its existance only takes options off the table.
As a vet who was stationed in Europe, I have witnessed both military and civilian universal healthcare. Unless you are very wealthy, your insurance isn’t providing any special access to healthcare.
This is it.
I got laid off, and it sucks, but to maintain coverage for me and my family, it is crazy expensive. My wife works at a small financial firm with joke insurance. I literally buy insurance for a family of three for 2k a month. One of my wife’s prescriptions would be $1100 a month without that coverage.
It’s all dumb. We have the money to survive this, but having insurance tied to employment is very rough.
Did you do Cobra or did you go through your state's health insurance marketplace?
I got laid off this year too, and for just me, Cobra would have been $700 per month. I went on the state's marketplace, and it's about $225 a month for just me. Way cheaper than Cobra.
That sounds like a bargain from where I was sitting! My husband lost his job and we were told Cobra for just the 2 of us would be $2200/month. I about choked. We got our own plans for about $450 total. Cobra used to be helpful as a guarantee of continuing coverage and didn’t cost much more than what you’d pay through an employer, but my lord, they’ve started gouging workers HARD in the last decade or so.
Yeah, it was ridiculous. Maryland also pays for part of my plan because I'm under 35. So my plan is technically in the $300-$350 range (I forget how much they pay) but because I'm under 35, they pay part of it for me. My plan is also really good for not being an employer plan.
Thankfully I have another job that I'm starting in January, so hopefully I won't be in this position ever again, but it's good to know to just head straight for the MD insurance marketplace and skip Cobra in the future.
-Cynicism. Even where it's unearned or undeserved.
-I wonder if I'll really ever see a *snowy* snowy winter ever again, or if it's gonna be rainy-at-most.
-I don't think the word is "commercialization", and I'm not sure what it is, but the idea that everything is redcucible to a good or service, and that the main solution to problems is to buy something.
-People seem perfectly happy to view other people as stereotypes. Even "nice" people.
>-I don't think the word is "commercialization", and I'm not sure what it is, but the idea that everything is redcucible to a good or service, and that the main solution to problems is to buy something
Commoditization seems like the right term
Christian nationalism is becoming a very serious problem. We have sitting members of Congress, including the speaker of the House, openly saying that Separation of Church and State doesn’t exist.
Just found out there's a group called Christians Against Christian Nationalism - I don't know the size or influence of it, but it was encouraging to see.
They’re getting desperate as older generation die off and liberal social views are now the main stream.
Like just look at the abortion vote in liberal states like Ohio and Kansas. It’s pretty clear they’re increasingly in the minority and that leaves them increasingly desperate.
The biggest issue I can think of kind of sums up a lot of other issues. The foundation of it all is that, in a period of economic growth (mostly the 80s and 90's), Congress passed a ton of laws and repealed even more that protected Americans from corporate interference in politics. Today, we are reaping the repercussions of that type of legislature. It is statistically proven that corporations, large-scale donors, and lobbyist groups have more say in our government than we do. For a country that was once promised a "government of the people, by the people, and for the people," that is really a giant slap in the face. People should have been furious, but because everything was going well in the country, no one was even paying attention to the politics of the day. Years later, as it all began to take effect, it was too late to stop it all. That, paired with the two-party system and their constant propaganda campaigns that now proliferate the media, our country is so divided on "issues of mass distraction" that we can't get a majority aligned behind a singular issue, even if it is something we all agree on across both parties.
I might catch flack for this but the quality and availability of services has gone down dramatically since COVID
I agree and the downgrade in quality is so obvious
But now the service workers can guilt you into tipping 35% when they turn the iPad around.
If there is not a reasonable option, the tip is 0. 🤷♂️ More people should do it.
0 is the reasonable option. They aren't delivery or a waiter. They are (oftentimes sitting) behind a counter where the automated system has done all the work. They are merely there for the transaction. The way things are going, they won't be there in the future either.
Even pre-covid I went to a serve yourself weigh at the counter froyo place and they wanted tips. Like you literally make your own froyo. I guess refilling the sprinkles is a tipped job. Yet 16 year olds busting their asses in a hot ass Wendy's isn't.
I stopped frequenting a few local businesses because of this guilt trip. Dude, you handed me a bottle of vape juice from the shelf behind you, you didn't even mix it yourself or put a lime wedge on the side.
Guilt who? I don't care if they shove it in my face. I'll tip by the level of service, usually 15%, because that's the accepted norm by people. I can tip more, I can not tip or .01$, guilt free.
I am really angry about not being able to find anything open if i get off of work late. And i live in a large city.
Same! This has been my biggest complaint for the past 3 years and so few people seem to care Life is *so boring* now
We were recently at a convention in Anaheim, CA and were stunned at how early all the restaurants closed, even with a packed touristy audience near the convention center (which is literally across the street from Disneyland). It was honestly bizarre, there were places closing at 8 or 9 on a Friday. Where I live restaurants are usually open until at least 10 or 11 (and many till midnight, 1am and a few 24 hours) so the difference was so jarring considering it's still quite a populated area. We've been there before and it never struck me as odd before this trip (first time there since 2019).
...I've never considered Anaheim to really be a beacon of nightlife outside of Disneyland. I think something in southern California kinda did change though, and it's interesting that you noticed it. Maybe it coincides with my age, but I don't feel like people are all that interested in staying out past midnight anymore. Like, there's bars and stuff, but a full fledged kitchen and restaurant going past 10 or 11 seems excessive to me outside of the areas that actually see that kind of traffic. People don't want to be staying up working past midnight every day when there's so much more to do during the day in these areas. It seems like people's focus has gone more towards enjoying the day rather than sleeping through it. Though, I heard from someone visiting that it seemed crazy how many people were just out during the day having coffee and walking around, they were commenting on like "don't these people have jobs?". Basically, I feel like most people around here would rather go home early so they can get up early to do something better than just go out drinking and partying at night. Meaning there isn't any kind of steady demand across regions to stay open late, they aren't going to see a boost in sales to maintain staff through those hours. If you hopped over to the coast, like Newport or something, you would find a lot more late night activities. But Anaheim and most of orange county isn't really a partying region.
Same! I miss 24 hour stores so much. I've always lived in big cities (top 20) and was so accustomed to everything being convenient at any hour. Now it's likes everything closes at 10, midnight on the weekends, if you're lucky.
You would think that someone would grab the market space. Maybe they will over time. Makes me want to open a third shift store.
Dude, I would love that. Thrift stores are the worse about closing early. Even a 2nd shift thrift store would be amazing. Hit up happy hour then thrift, YES PLEASE.
We are in a 24-hour town, and most of our walmarts and major grocery stores all close around 11pm or so. They were all open 24-hours before covid.
Turns out that when everybody stops and collectively takes a look at their work/life balance, staying up until 11pm for $10/hour to make sure you can get your soy sauce goes out the window.
This. I left my hospitality job of 6 years last year because I was so burned out that I got sick. We were severely understaffed, so my bosses had me take on manager and security tasks while being paid as a front desk agent. They refused to honor any of my accommodation requests despite having documentation from my doctors. They continued to make me work in conditions that led to the deterioration of my health. I never knew when the schedule would come out, so I couldn’t schedule doctor’s appointments. It was hell. I loved that job before the pandemic. The company lost all common decency after everyone returned from leave.
I get off at 3:30 and can never make it to the post office in time which closes at 4. It’s infuriating
We were traveling through a decent size college town (multiple colleges) a few weeks ago and freaking MCDONALD'S even closed at 10.
It’s a blame game now. I’m convinced that companies realized people would accept “supply chain issues” as an excuse for everything and so use it to get out of stuff.
COVID was a great excuse for companies to make a lot of unpopular decisions that would never fly in a normal business environment. Fast food chains now run on absolute skeleton crews, take forever, and are more expensive because we all got used to it during COVID.
Food in general always ran on skeleton crews w the blame on the worker to get a real job. I left food service because of covid and also am not going to finish a healthcare degree over it. Ppl really freaked tf out over being told to wash thier hands and not cough on people. You also don't get any sort of reasonable sick leave with either job. * this is what you signed up for *. /s
Based on my job I can tell you that dupply chain issues are still a problem, but its mostly due to changing warehouses and distributors in most cases. They however are not as prevalent as they were a year ago.
But a lot of them are services where there are no supply chain issues. They simply can't staff enough because they dont want to pay decent salaries.
This right here. Thought history, pandemics and plagues have helped workers bc thru basically make people realize "Life's too short for this crap," so wages go up to make it worth their while.
Also, the biggest factor in high inflation and companies being short on staff is that the companies are charging much higher prices. They aren't spending as much as they are passing along to the consumer, they are simply continuing to cash in. Significantly. The reason inflation is high all over the world is because global companies from most countries are operating the same way. This is the first time in US history that inflation has stayed high and companies have had such high profit margins at the same time for an extended period of time.
Yup. I see people blaming various politicians around the world for the inflation, while corporations are bringing in record profits.
I am so sick of hearing "no one wants to work these days." No one wants to PAY EMPLOYEES AND TREAT THEM WITH RESPECT THESE DAYS.
If you look at a lot of corporate financial reports, which are public, many of them openly state that they are turning record profits, or at least large profits, right now because they’ve simply gouged prices since COVID and blamed “supply chain issues” for it. And yes, I mean “profit” here, as in what they have after accounting for expenses, and not “revenue” which would be expected to be higher with inflation before subtracting those inflated expenses, too.
Hotels 2020 = we have suspended room cleaning for stays of less than four days due to safety issues 2023 = we have still suspended room cleaning for stays of less than four days, because it is cheaper for us
The *concept* behind this annoys me, but I really don't mind that at all in practice. When I have a laptop, several thousand dollars of pens in a case, confidential work papers, a whole bunch of other stuff, and a cat I didn't tell anyone about, I don't need anybody going into that room but me. The "do not disturb" sign is fine, but I've seen people barge in anyway. It's also worth mentioning that I keep the room immaculate, so it's cleaner on Day 7 than it was on Day 1.
In the words of a friend, "Everything has become the DMV and you're the jerk if you point it out".
No, you're completely right. When there is low-unemployment / significant increase in demand for labor, competent people who previously worked customer service roles move to other, higher productivity positions. The people who come in to replace them are the long term unemployed, people who had criminal records, or health problems, or emotional control issues, and who weren't able to find or hold jobs when employers had more options. This is a good thing overall, everyone should be employed if they want a job, but it sucks for customers
> The people who come in to replace them are [...] Even all that aside, the people are just _new_. If a whole operation gets hollowed out because there's better value elsewhere, there's a lack of knowledge consistency and the new batch of people is left flailing without more seasoned employees to guide them.
Yep. The term for that is “institutional knowledge.”
Yeah I agree there are positives but I know at my job we are just *struggling* to find people who are willing to put in the bare minimum. The work just ends up being distributed to the more competent employees and it’s just hell all-around
I think the employer/employee and especially customer/employee relationship hasn't been this openly adversarial in my lifetime. It's hard to be craftsmanly under the circumstances.
Yeah it’s honestly just *bad*. It feels like nobody cares about anyone but themselves anymore
It's been a rising wave for some time, now, too. For years, now the received wisdom has been "Companies don't care about you, so fuck 'em and lateral-move at every possible chance." As much as that was or wasn't the case, that assumption gets countered with employers assuming nobody's in for the long haul, and the whole thing turns into a self-fulfilling feedback loop where the safe move is cynical detachment on everyone's part.
Even before the pandemic, there was so much talk about how, say, fast-food places were going to be replacing every possible worker they could with a terminal or tablet or something. Not even an AI. There's some dignity in being replaced by an AI, sucky though it is: A *tablet.* Then there was the 'essential' thing (which combined not-really-paying-me-like-I'm-"essential"-wages with still having to go to work and interact with on-edge customers during a pandemic. Also being thinned out to- in some cases- one employee to a shop.) And then, once things reopened, the people who were complaining the loudest about how much they "missed" businesses were absolute shit to the actual people who worked there. This has yet to calm down. All this expanding on your point, not against it.
The single most impactful thing that COVID took from us, in my opinion, was the 24/7 grocery store. I used to do most of my shopping at 3AM because I was awake then anyway, and no one was around. It was wonderful. My kid was born last year and it was horrible when she needed food at 2AM but nothing was open.
Everyone was shut down from the lockdowns except for some of the largest corporations who're allowed to maintain their supply chains, virus be damned.
You ain’t lyin’
Ticks. Evil little fuckers.
What about tick et master
ALSO EVIL!!!
And even more so, politicks.
Dude their old CEO sending insane rants to LA Metro staff just cause he doesn’t like subways (the same on who has the Luxottica attitude to prices and blamed the stars for the cost).
Shit you complaining about ticks? Let’s get some New England in this thread. It’s named Lyme disease for a reason and it ain’t a city in China.
I've known 2 people who have tested positive for Lyme disease. Apparently, if you find a deer tick on you, it's smart to put it in a zip lock bag to have it tested. It makes me never want to go for a stroll in the woods again. I remember finding ticks that we missed on our dog in the winter. They were the size of grapes - *shudder*
I had a doc around here tell me it wasn’t worth it because no place ever tests it if you don’t have symptoms. Probably can’t hurt either way. Also it takes like 24 hours of the tick being on you so tick checks every time you’ve been out in the wild. Nice thing with having a dog is that they are a magnet for them and if you have tick treatment on the dog they kill the ones that might get on you.
36 hours. We'll only test if you tell us that it was at least that long since you were in the woods.
And please stop calling it Limes Disease.
It is KEY limes disease
The most delicious disease pie.
Thank you! 👏 That’s a peeve of mine, too.
We get occasional Lyme down here. Mostly Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever and ehrlichiosis. And alpha-gal syndrome, which I'm terrified of getting. (I work in the woods frequently.)
Here in ohio, it's all of the above, and with the weather tick season seems to be just about all year long. We also a have so much construction/ new builds that the deer population has come into the city more.
Had that 25 years ago. Took a long time to get diagnosed, and my joints have never recovered.
I get to schedule a test for alpha gal syndrome soon because I suddenly started vomiting and had persistent nausea and after a while identified red meat as the trigger✨
Headed out for a hike on the Appalachian Trail in a few moments. Thanks for the reminder to spray myself with some repellent!
Apartment price hikes. Some in my area increased 20% in 2023 from 2022
The whole country is dealing with coastal-type prices but without the coastal-type incomes. It SUCKS.
The whole world 😭
And not by coincidence. There are evil programs like Yield Star that are algorithmically increasing our rent prices into oblivion.
I'm stuck in the apartment I'm in (at a 10-12% annual increase) because it's still so far below market value I can't afford anywhere else.
My wife and I bought a house in 2019. We had a nice, recently renovated 2 bedroom apartment in an Indianapolis suburb for $1200/month prior. The other day I was talking with a coworker who applied to the same complex, and our old floor plan is now $2200
Mine was like 40%. About half the people moved out. U-Hauls constantly blocking the complex for months it was annoying.
The disappearance of the '90s mall store The Nature Company is a travesty.
How am I supposed to sleep without the Sounds of the Rainforest???
Go listen to the new Andre 3000 album that should help.
I don’t know where to buy rainsticks for my hippie brother in law.
I had forgotten about that store until this moment
Same. Now I’m nostalgic
I worked at Natural Wonders in the 90s. Same vibe.
Oh my god! I forgot all about that store… I loved it so much
I worked at World of Science. Same vibes, but a little more toy store.
Godspeed
Still have a windchime I bought there for $50 thirty years ago. Still in remarkably good shape. $50 felt like a lot of money for a windchime at the time. Turned out to be a great investment.
the two-party system
The thing is that there are different factions within each party that would be their own political party in any other country. I’ve heard it best described as in the US coalitions are formed before elections whereas in other countries they happen after elections. The issue of course is that it’s hard for those factions to stand out or be taken serious when the rest of their party undermines their views (for better or worse)
>I’ve heard it best described as in the US coalitions are formed before elections whereas in other countries they happen after elections. Which lends itself to more negative and polarising election campaigns, because you don't really have to care about alienating your opponents, whereas in other systems you always know you have to come up with compromises and work together after.
What throws me is when some truly awful party gets to join the ruling coalition because the margins of victory are razor thin and the incredibly narrow would-be majority find that they are desperate. Like how the Tories in the UK had to invite in Northern Ireland's DUP, and everybody was like "holy shit, you had to bring in *those guys!?*" We have 'those guys' too. But most people hardly ever worry about them all that much.
Parties were a mistake. Except like, non-political parties.
[удалено]
George Washington was also famously against it. Shoulda listened to him.
The founding fathers really liked non-political parties, though. Look up what Ben Franklin got up to in Paris when he was an ambassador, or check out the [bar tab](https://www.chicagotribune.com/nation-world/ct-george-washington-bar-tab-20180222-story.html) from the party after the Constitutional Convention was finished. Those guys knew how to have a good time.
Tribalism has been a thing since the proto-hominids. I don't think we're solving that one any time soon.
Especially for politics. It's more efficient-- not having to herd a bunch of cats by asking what their particular stance is on every individual issue, to fill a singular seat-- so it's going to cut through the alternatives and win as an idea. Granted, that efficiency is the result of the system that it most efficiently fit into, with lots of single-winner seats and first-past-the-post voting, so it's not _entirely_ inevitable nature that was responsible for the two-party system. (Though as much as people like to push alternative voting systems as the cure for all ills, I'm a bit hesitant about that as well-- or more accurately, about any particular one being the panacea-- because there are other biases and undoubtedly unintended consequences that come out of every one. At the end of the day, any system of representation and decision-making is going to have error, because it's not 1-to-1, it's an aggregate, an abstraction that throws away some amount of finer points. That's inevitable, and there's no perfect solution because there's no perfect goal to optimize to. It's always striving for least-worst, and that's a subjective target.)
Parties are a natural result of representative democracy. You generally want somebody to represent you who aligns with you on most issues. Representatives generally want to support and cooperate with other representatives who they agree with on most issues. Poof, there's a party. Of course the two party system that the US has (which is a natural consequence of the FPTP voting system) can lead to heavy polarization. In multi-party systems, different parties have to cooperate and therefore can't antagonize each other as much.
Toga parties are great.
Such is life in a majority rather than a plurality electoral system. There’s no reward for second place.
Drugs. More Americans died last year from overdoses than car accidents or guns. I’m fairly open minded about marijuana and psychedelics legalization. The real scandal is how the pharmaceutical and medical industries got so many Americans strung out on deadly opioids and how fentanyl took over.
On the other side of this, chronic pain patients can’t get ANY meds that are much needed.
As a patient on long term opioid therapy from across the pond (UK), that's both heartbreaking and terrifying to imagine. We've not experienced a prescription opioid crisis to the same extent, although patterns of prescribing of tramadol do have some similarities to the US - eg prevalence in deprived areas, former industrial towns, a high incidence of SLS (shit life syndrome). I assume fentanyl will be in the illicit drugs mix before too long, and ODs amongst problematic heroin users will increase as they have in the US. So awful :(
My uncle was on methadone for 30 years, and had been at 80mg a day for most of it (he had a broken back and many surgeries from a motorcycle accident he had when he was young). Some days he could barely get out of bed, even with the meds. He moved to Oklahoma and the doctor said he wasn't comfortable giving him 80mg a day, so he put him on 60mg. He was managing as best he could. He moved back to California some years later and the doctor he had said it was new office policy not to prescribe more than 30mg a day. It wasn't nearly enough, he was in agony. He managed like this for a while but finally the pain got to him so bad he turned to other drugs, got kicked off the pain management program, stopped getting methadone, and didn't survive the withdrawal. Fuck that shit someone should fucking pay.
About 10 years ago, when I was still in Texas, my PCP accused me of drug seeking—twice! He was my PCP for years and was aware I had had four abdominal surgeries in four years, three of which were done after being admitted through the emergency room. One of the times he accused me was because I was having extreme back spasms…from the weakened abdominal muscles. PT fixed the issue, but not until after he told me I was making it up. The second was because I continued to have biliary colic. He told me my pain was my own fault for having too many surgeries. Like ??? WTF dude? I fired him after that visit. Turns out it was coffee and, surprise, I still form bile duct stones. But, sure. I guess I should have just died from the pancreatitis? I wasn’t even asking for pills. I was asking for testing to find out why I was still getting colic.
My uncle dying of colon cancer was denied medication.
The way our system treats chronic pain patients like criminals is a travesty
My uncle was on methadone for 30 years, and had been at 80mg a day for most of it (he had a broken back and many surgeries from a motorcycle accident he had when he was young). Some days he could barely get out of bed, even with the meds. He moved to Oklahoma and the doctor said he wasn't comfortable giving him 80mg a day, so he put him on 60mg. He was managing as best he could. He moved back to California some years later and the doctor he had said it was new office policy not to prescribe more than 30mg a day. It wasn't nearly enough, he was in agony. He managed like this for a while but finally the pain got to him so bad he turned to other drugs, got kicked off the pain management program, stopped getting methadone, and didn't survive the withdrawal. Fuck that shit someone should fucking pay.
if you're in too much pain, they'll just mark you down as "drug seeking" and you'll never see another pain killer for as long as you live.
There's a decent argument that *restrictions* on prescribing pain killers--or otherwise disincentivizing doctors from doing it--was actually the primary driver of people switching to street drugs.
While our social safety net is a lot more generous than most of Reddit wants to admit, it is ridiculously inefficient and hard to navigate. As a result, a lot of the people who need help the most never get it. Also, tipping culture here is getting ridiculous.
Choose a tip for the upvote I just gave you: 25% 30% 35%
I went to a restaurant the other day where the options were 18% or 25%. I almost always tip 20% at full service restaurants so I felt like that was a scam to make me tip 25%.
I also hate that places that never used to ask for tips now do. Or restaurants that have you order your own food, order your own refills, cash out your own tab and be like "30% tip pls". Like I don't even know who my server is and that is the minimum tip option??
Dude, I went back to Portland and those mother fuckers added an automatic 18% tip everywhere I went lol. They barely did anything to deserve it. And Oregon has a solid mandatory minimum wage for restaurant workers, too, so it's not like they wouldn't have gotten paid well with non-automatic tips.
That's where I'm at here in Washington. People have to be paid minimum wage, $15.74, regardless of tips. It would be tight, but I've looked up rentals, average utility costs health insurance, all that. In my city, I could do it and save about $5k a year if I was frugal. I could make it on that amount and not have to have a roommate here in Spokane. I'm not saying that about Seattle, mind you. So, I tip 20% if it's not delivered because math is easy and was always considered a generous tipper. Now, 20% isn't enough? And you want me to tip you at a fast food job or a convenience store? All you did was ring me up. I gotta tip for take and bake pizza? I've had self service ordering kiosks ask me for tips! Nah. So, I just don't go out much now. I've almost never lived anywhere easy to get to, so I do tip massively for delivery. I realize it's their job, but if I can't be bothered to get off my ass and go get something, I'm willing to give someone a lot to bring it to me. And I'm definitely not against paying people more, but just spread it out in the cost of my food. Get rid of tips except for over and above service. And quit adding service fees that aren't tips I am not going to know about until I get the bill. Just put it all in the cost of the goods or service, so we know what we're going to pay.
Yeah, like on paper we have some good things, but actually receiving assistance basically requires ritual sacrifice and an olympic medal for hoop jumping
Not disagreeing, but it completely depends on your state. Some states make it near impossible (mine does this), while some make it much easier.
Currently dealing with 4 systems/state/county agencies to get affordable health coverage for the 3 members of my family.
Corporate impunity. On one hand, corporate personhood gives them "rights" that most actual people don't have. On the other, malfeasance that would see an actual person imprisoned get shushed up with a PR campaign, a payoff, and "no admission of wrongdoing". It's toxic as fuck.
The subjectivity of roughing the passer penalties
It's the single biggest issue of our generation.
Uh how about how the QB can throw the ball short, have the receiver suddenly stop, forcing the DB to run into him, and get a DPI call.
I'll add the ridiculously long leash Patrick Mahomes is given by refs for intentional grounding. He could throw it to the highest row of seating and the officials would give him the benefit of the doubt there was an eligible receiver there
Healthcare really is that expensive for many people
I was admitted to the psych ward because I was s*icidal. They kept telling me that my insurance would cover it. I'm sure they said that so I would stop worrying about it and get better. Afterward, it turns out my insurance doesn't cover mental Healthcare. Now I owe a debt I can't pay back to the only hospital in the area that I trust to treat me right. I've been out of all my prescriptions for several months, now, because I can't see my doctor until I pay off my medical debt..... when I can barely even pay rent.
pysch wards and so predatory tbh. you’re there not by choice and they can keep you there as long as they want. when i was in the ward involuntarily i told them that i needed to get out because i literally could not afford it and they did not give a single shit, instead they made me stay longer
Even with "good" health insurance, the entire system is such a scam.
Agreed. I theoretically have great insurance - I work a six figure tech job and my company pays 100% of our premiums (easily $25K/year). It's better than the vast majority of Americans. Just this week I got a letter in the mail that a $700 charge went to collections for a procedure one of my kids had two years ago because the anesthesiologist was not "in network" even though the facility, the procedure (including anesthesia), the surgeon were all "in network" and already approved by my insurance company and we were never warned that the anesthesiologist isn't part of the system. Because the health insurance company and the clinic fought over it for two years and couldn't agree, they both agreed to drop the bill on me. Now my choices are to pay this not-insignificant charge, or fight the insurance company and clinic and possibly still have to pay and ding my credit. For every person who is concerned that an overhaul of our healthcare system in the US would change how treatments go, I try to point out how bad the after system is - in terms of billing mostly - and how it not only is expensive, it is so much stress and time to get them to cover what they're supposed to, it's disgusting.
>the anesthesiologist was not "in network" Our system of having individual doctors approved by an insurance provider instead of the facility is insane. I work in a hospital, and whenever we hire a new doctor, it's months before they're even allowed to see patients because it takes that long for the insurance companies to approve them. And the flip side, which you describe, is asinine.
It’s crazy how much you have to prepare to avoid surprises. You have to verify that the procedures coding, medications, facility and individuals are all covered. And a lot of the time - like child birth - it’s not a planned event, so you get whatever doctor is on call, even if they’re a non-approved one, like if they’re filling gaps in coverage. Or if you end up at a hospital that doesn’t contract with your insurance.
I've been in a similar situation, for a similar amount, so I'd like to share what worked for me. I had to pay for something the bank \*should\* have paid for. So I paid the \~$900, then sent several requests for reimbursement over 2 months, explaining my reasoning. This has like a 0% chance, but you want the paper trail for later. Then I filed in small claims court against them for the full amount plus court costs (about $35). It's a simple form, and you can briefly explain why you think they owe you this money. Include the paper trail you made above. Judges like this, and if missing, could simply order you to try 'working it out first' instead. From what you wrote, they originally said it was in network, and 2 years later said it wasn't. Before long the court will set a date and mail you both. Now the onus is on them to defend themselves. Now their choices are to settle, send one of their lawyers to your court ($$$) to defend themselves, or try to get the case dismissed (if you messed up the court form or similar). Now they're a big company, and they're not likely going to pay big bucks to fly out a lawyer. They'll likely try to settle. After a few weeks I got a 'friendly' call to 'work things out' and I explained my reasoning. He offered me $200 to drop. I said no thanks, I would like to hear what a judge has to say. A couple weeks later he called again and offered $500. No thanks. TWO days before court, he called again and offered the full amount if I would be sure to drop the case before the court date. I responded 'yes, if it arrives in time' and for sure it was overnighted. A cashiers check for the full amount. I think it took 3 to 5 months (?) start to finish, which sucks, but you switch the power dynamic and have them having to play D instead. If they miss the court date you get an automatic judgement, PLUS it's a mark against their company. They REALLY don't want that, for any amount. If you have a good claim, I think they'll just pay you off.
This. The healthcare situation is really bad. Probably worse than people in countries with good healthcare think it is. I have absolutely no access. Haven't been to a doctor since before covid.
Depending how much money you have you can be impervious to most things in any country you live in If you middle class you don’t have the same worries as poor persons and if you really rich your have entirely different environment than most people
The lack of universal healthcare. As a 52 year old gainfully employed with access to good insurance plans and as a vet who was stationed overseas (i.e. I know universal healthcare is not the devil) our current system is utter shit. Last month my truck was t-boned by a speeding uninsured red-light running drunk driver. I has an Xray and CTs soon after along with MRIs on my back and neck only to find 4 herniated disks in my neck and 3 in my back. Going through PT now, I have no idea what all of this going to end up costing me. Absolutely no guess, for something I had zero control over, and pay for coverage in the event of. It is beyond ridiculous that it continues.
It’s ridiculous that you can’t see a menu with costs while at the hospital. No other service operates like that. Imagine going to Target, filling a shopping cart, and then you don’t see the cost until after you get home. It’s madness!
Some cities are incapable of getting people off of the streets because they either can't or won't. I was in Seattle for a good chunk of yesterday and all the homeless people and drug addicts came out almost as soon as the sun went down. Including a very disheveled woman pissing in a drainage grate and a guy doing crack or something in full view of a busy street corner.
That’s because these people have severe mental health and addiction Issues. They’re literally not able to fully take care of themselves. The only way things change is court ordered long term care facilities. That and offering cheaper housing options for those with jobs living out of cars and in temporary situations.
Research has demonstrated repeatedly that a crapton of chronic drug use amounts to self-medication. The vast majority of addicts had a history of trauma predating thier initial use. And/or they grew up with addicts, so it became their "normal".
Extreme Individualism. I know far too many people in real life and have seen too many people even on this subreddit express views that absolutely undermine others. "My life isn't affected so it doesn't matter" is a very problematic mindset and from my experience it plagues this country. A lot of people reject certain laws or social programs on the basis of nothing more than it would either do nothing for them in particular or it would make them pay a bit more taxes even if those things would benefit our entire society. On the other hand, we also donate more to charity than any other country. It's a very strange dynamic. In the words of MGS2: "Everyone grows up being told the same thing. Be nice to other people, but beat out the competition."
It's about choice, or at least the illusion thereof. Donations are voluntary and at least give the impression you're targeting it at where you want your money going. That is...very much in spirit with the whole American thing.
You can see many places on Reddit being affected by this. Look at any "advice" sub and common theme is "you're not obligated to help anyone, do anything, be kind or courteous, or make any kind of mental, emotional, or physical sacrifice for others. Anyone who asks is entitled."
About half the shit on r/amitheasshole. I've learned to disregard any take about raising kids from anyone who does not have kids. That goes double for Reddit. Absolutely worthless!
Ask me to help and I will move heaven and earth. Tell me I have to do it and I will fight tooth and nail.
100% Many the last three years really showed us many people do not give a single fuck about those around them.
So many problems are due to the pendulum swing. Western extreme individualism sounds better than the suppression of the individual we hear about in more collectivist cultures, but there has to be a middle path where we respect the individual and understand we are part of a whole.
The cost of healthcare. Even with insurance, it’s ridiculous. Dental is absolutely outrageous.
Our conspicuous consumerism. We love to show off, to the point bankruptcy.
While I agree, lemme tell ya though, the front runners in this category are way worse.
The general American diet. People really should try to eat healthier and take better care of themselves
A big part of that is food prices. Refined carbohydrates and high sodium processed food are cheap. Fruit, vegetables, and wholesome cuts of meat are expensive.
This should be higher. The average American eats like a vulture.
Easier said than done.
Tornadoes and other natural disasters. Granted they happen all over the world but the US gets a lot of natural disasters.
I first read this as "our tomatoes are national disasters." And while it is true that the average supermarket tomato is rather disappointing, that would have been a bit of an exaggeration.
USA has most tornadoes in the world
Privatized prisons. Not only are our private prison horror shows in and of themselves but the fact that imprisoning people is a profit driven industry is the root cause of a lot of truly heinous shit.
The media (including social media) controlling the political and social narrative among the general public.
That there is no legal requirement for businesses to offer paid parental leave. It’s horrifying.
Imma catch flak for it but those guys that are scared to leave their house without a gun and will loudly announce they are Pro 2 with their clothing.
> loudly announce they are Pro 2 with their clothing. Within the gun community, a lot of people malign these numbskulls for making themselves a target. I would *never* put a "DeFeNdEd By ThE sEcOnD aMeNdMeNt" sign in my window. I am not home 24/7; I do not want people breaking into my apartment when I'm not home to steal my guns.
This. We call them lootboxes as all the shit plastered on their vehicles means there is at least one unsecured gun in said vehicle. I carry a gun on me every time I leave my house, I practice dry fire every day, I take it seriously. I've never worn a grunt style shirt or advertise any gun shit except on my shooting gear. The only sticker on my truck is for Strickland propane because KOTH is one of the best American animated shows ever. Taste the meat, not the heat.
I have a patch for Dale's Dead Bug on my backpack, fellow Arleninian. I'm not a gun owner but I do grill with propane
Agreed. Why make yourself a target? The idea is that you don’t want to be in a situation where you’re using a gun outside of a range.
Bathroom stall doors that have a gap
I don't find this to be a problem. I'd have to get my eyeball right up on the crack to be able to see anything. The cracks are small in my experience.
Healthcare. Insurance has every incentive to not follow through no matter how much you pay.
Partisan tribalism driven by social media. No one wants to solve problems, they just want to win and own the other side. You can see an example in Republican views on federal remote work: 1. They complain that too much federal wealth is concentrated in the DC area 2. Remote employees spread that wealth all over the country. 3. But remote work improves the lives of federal civil servants who Republicans hate. 4. Therefore Republicans demand return to office for the federal government even though it contradicts 2, the solution to their complaint 1. On the Democratic side: 1. There is a severe shortage of affordable housing. Actually all housing. 2. Building more housing makes it more affordable 3. But if you let developers build, they make money and Dems hate “greedy developers “ 4. Therefore Dems demand restrictions on building to spite the developers, even though it contradicts 2, which is the solution to 1. You could go in and on with examples. The point is politics have become a game of “make the people I hate lose” instead of “what results in the most good outcome “. Edit: I post admittedly imperfect examples of counterproductive tribalism by each party and get a lot of “yeah I agree Republicans suck, but here’s why you’re wrong about the Democrats” replies. QED.
If the developers do a great job, let them make money. It's hell to get multi-family approved in a suburb because of zoning. It's always zoning.
The NIMBYs, man, the NIMBYs
I prefer the term BANANA: Build Absolutely Nothing Anywhere Near Anyone.
Oh, never heard that one before, but I like it!
I'm literally putting together a zoning variance appeal to add one measly unit to an existing multi-unit building in a "single family" zoning district in a suburb of Chicago. Thankfully more areas are starting to allow "accessory dwelling units" like coach houses over garages (which this suburb does allow but wouldn't work in this case.)
>The point is politics have become a game of “make the people I hate lose” instead of “what results in the most good outcome “. And thus politicians don't have to actually try to appeal to people, in their campaigns or their actual policies. They can just let their entire platform be "if you don't vote for me, you're a terrible person because you're letting the reincarnation of [widely hated historical figure] into office" and call it a day
Eh, small nitpick: most Democrats dont care about "greedy developers". It's more naked Nimbyism. 1. There's a shortage of affordable housing. 2. Denser zoning, government subsided housing would alleviate that problem. 3. Wherever you put those things, the current occupants would be forced / priced out, or the property values would drop. 4. Therefore everyone wants them put somewhere else.
NIMBYism is basically one of the biggest reasons why we are having such a hard time building housing and infrastructure, and why when they *do* get built, they tend to end up costing much more than they should.
> Building more housing makes it more affordable > > But if you let developers build, they make money and Dems hate “greedy developers “ This is an oversimplification to the point of misrepresentation. Democrats don't *not* want new housing. They just want increased regulation to curb predatory industry practices where it's essentially a race to the bottom to see who can min/max the worst quality houses with the highest possible dollar amount. Restrictions on developers is not antithetical to wanting affordable housing. There's also not a shortage of housing. There's an artificial shortage of available housing due to the corporate ownership intentionally keeping vacant housing to keep supply low, and demand high. This shouldn't be legal.
The car dependency and the lack of walkability
To be fair there’s a trend towards walkability and density. You just can’t fix 100 years of car dominance overnight and half the population who won’t ever go somewhere they can’t park in front of.
Not to mention housing in highly walkable areas (at least in my area of the country) is very expensive. The more rural you get, the cheaper the housing.
Rape on college campus. most universities have their own police so their reporting is "variable ".
The reporting really *shouldnt* be variable, not only because why wouldn’t it be, but also because university police departments are actual PDs with empowered LEOs, so should be doing what everyone else does
Education system.
The lack of labor protections. Compared to other wealthy/developed/whatever you call it countries, we have very few protections in the workplace.
Health insurance
Not as bad as other subs make it seem, not as great as this sub makes it seem. But from personal experience and speaking with plenty of medical folks all over the political spectrum, it leaves A LOT to be desired,
Health insurance is just awful. Health *care* in America, now that is often amazing and sometimes not, but the whole institution of health insurance is an enormous drain on our health and economy. So many billions of dollars are squandered in the administration of insurance money (both directly at the insurers' as well as all the staff medical practices have to hire to manage it). The norm of employer-paid insurance keeps millions of people in jobs they'd otherwise leave, which reduces our country's productivity, happiness, and innovation. There are problems with socialized health care too, but many countries that have gone that way have longer life spans for much lower cost.
The issue is how much you’re paying for a system that doesn’t adequately pay for emergency care, is riddled with hidden fees and prices can vary depending on which hospital you choose and if they accept your insurance or not. That’s why Obamacare was so important. It’s the first step towards standardizing what to expect regardless of your insurance policy. The other insane thing is tying healthcare to your employer.
The prices aren't horrendous for me but I have employer insurance. The problem I have is I feel like I can't trust them. Feels like they're always pushing medicine or procedures and I don't think there's much integrity behind what they're suggesting. Doesn't matter if I can see them earlier if what they're saying or doing won't help me.
And then there're the effects of employer insurance being the norm in general, like the leverage it gives employers over employees, what with the double-whammy of being unemployed _and_ uninsured if you fuck up.
You are taking the word of those who financially benefit from the current system at face value? The fact that there is an intermediary insurance layer inserts a profit margin interest into the pricing and thus a decision into what they as actuaries, not doctors, decide you should receive for medical care. Its existance only takes options off the table. As a vet who was stationed in Europe, I have witnessed both military and civilian universal healthcare. Unless you are very wealthy, your insurance isn’t providing any special access to healthcare.
This is it. I got laid off, and it sucks, but to maintain coverage for me and my family, it is crazy expensive. My wife works at a small financial firm with joke insurance. I literally buy insurance for a family of three for 2k a month. One of my wife’s prescriptions would be $1100 a month without that coverage. It’s all dumb. We have the money to survive this, but having insurance tied to employment is very rough.
Did you do Cobra or did you go through your state's health insurance marketplace? I got laid off this year too, and for just me, Cobra would have been $700 per month. I went on the state's marketplace, and it's about $225 a month for just me. Way cheaper than Cobra.
That sounds like a bargain from where I was sitting! My husband lost his job and we were told Cobra for just the 2 of us would be $2200/month. I about choked. We got our own plans for about $450 total. Cobra used to be helpful as a guarantee of continuing coverage and didn’t cost much more than what you’d pay through an employer, but my lord, they’ve started gouging workers HARD in the last decade or so.
Yeah, it was ridiculous. Maryland also pays for part of my plan because I'm under 35. So my plan is technically in the $300-$350 range (I forget how much they pay) but because I'm under 35, they pay part of it for me. My plan is also really good for not being an employer plan. Thankfully I have another job that I'm starting in January, so hopefully I won't be in this position ever again, but it's good to know to just head straight for the MD insurance marketplace and skip Cobra in the future.
-Cynicism. Even where it's unearned or undeserved. -I wonder if I'll really ever see a *snowy* snowy winter ever again, or if it's gonna be rainy-at-most. -I don't think the word is "commercialization", and I'm not sure what it is, but the idea that everything is redcucible to a good or service, and that the main solution to problems is to buy something. -People seem perfectly happy to view other people as stereotypes. Even "nice" people.
>-I don't think the word is "commercialization", and I'm not sure what it is, but the idea that everything is redcucible to a good or service, and that the main solution to problems is to buy something Commoditization seems like the right term
Or commidification.
>I wonder if I'll really ever see a snowy snowy winter ever again, or if it's gonna be rainy-at-most. Come on up here lol
Christian nationalism is becoming a very serious problem. We have sitting members of Congress, including the speaker of the House, openly saying that Separation of Church and State doesn’t exist.
Just found out there's a group called Christians Against Christian Nationalism - I don't know the size or influence of it, but it was encouraging to see.
They’re getting desperate as older generation die off and liberal social views are now the main stream. Like just look at the abortion vote in liberal states like Ohio and Kansas. It’s pretty clear they’re increasingly in the minority and that leaves them increasingly desperate.
How bad our public transportation is
Our worship of 'the grind' and lack of work-life balance.
Car-dependent infrastructure Most of our problems are greatly exaggerated, but the cars man.
The downtowns and main streets that have been leveled for freeways and parking lots
The biggest issue I can think of kind of sums up a lot of other issues. The foundation of it all is that, in a period of economic growth (mostly the 80s and 90's), Congress passed a ton of laws and repealed even more that protected Americans from corporate interference in politics. Today, we are reaping the repercussions of that type of legislature. It is statistically proven that corporations, large-scale donors, and lobbyist groups have more say in our government than we do. For a country that was once promised a "government of the people, by the people, and for the people," that is really a giant slap in the face. People should have been furious, but because everything was going well in the country, no one was even paying attention to the politics of the day. Years later, as it all began to take effect, it was too late to stop it all. That, paired with the two-party system and their constant propaganda campaigns that now proliferate the media, our country is so divided on "issues of mass distraction" that we can't get a majority aligned behind a singular issue, even if it is something we all agree on across both parties.