It’s ok to take up space. You don’t have to become invisible in order to be around people. Assume others know they’ll be around people in public and that they’re comparing you against the assholes on the subway or the screaming, entitled weirdo who is harassing employees. Since I get the impression you don’t act like that, no one is paying much mind to what you’re doing.

Not to pathologize everything, but I’ve found a lot of help in therapy to deal with past experiences, hang ups I’ve had that I didn’t understand, and things I didn’t like that I couldn’t unlearn on my own. Maybe that’s something that could help you be more content in your interactions with people?

My advice on effective therapy: There are bad therapists out there. Find a therapist you click with. There’s evidence that shows the relationship you have with your therapist is the highest indicator of success. So if you don’t jive with them during the first contact (sometimes that’s a phone call to ask questions before committing, sometimes it’s the first session), find another therapist.

The amount of times I’ve been in a pleasant conversation with a dude and when it becomes apparent I’m not available, they just immediately stop talking to me. Like… what? It’s abrupt, obvious, and super shitty to do to someone. And for the readers making assumptions about the scenarios–this wasn’t in a bar or a social event. It’s just random places in public where two people might make small talk.

I hope everyone takes your advice. Just talk to people to talk to people, without a transactional goal. Worst case scenario, you practice your conversation skills. Best case, you meet cool people and sometimes those people might want to meet up again or start texting etc. Boom a new friend that could be a relationship if you both are into it. Or you can just collect cool friends.

Disclaimer: This is for relationships and not just people to fuck. Go to places where other people are looking for that if you want to speed run fucking (bars, clubs, mixers, anime cons, etc.), which is totally fine.

This is the highest-quality, shocked Pikachu I’ve ever seen.

I had these once. It was psychologically terrible. If you already struggle with sleep or mental health, you’re going to have a very bad time living there while you treat the place.

I saw some good advice in the comments as far as diatomaceous earth and freezing. Make sure you look up the actual temps things will need to get to. I recall baking my clothing in my oven at 110 F, or something like that, before leaving the apartment every day so I wouldn’t spread them. Ugh.

I ended up throwing out most of my stuff, bagging up anything I wanted to keep but didn’t need to access for ~6 months (or whatever their lifespan is) into tightly tied garbage bags with diatomaceous earth inside, and for the remaining possessions, I heated them or sprayed the shit out of their cracks (like wood furniture) with bedbug spray.

Just assume your stuff is infested and treat anything that was in there with you. Don’t fuck around. Go full nuclear on your shit after you move out. It’s the only way you’ll be able to sleep soundly for years.

Best of luck to you. I really hope your living situation gets better. I think I saw your fallback option was loud. I sleep with an earbud in whichever ear isn’t smooshed into my pillow. I also recommend those white noise machines that have an actual fan inside (or just a loud-ass fan lol). Even if it doesn’t drown out all the noise, it’ll cut out a lot and it’ll be easier for your brain to tune out stuff. Maybe that’s something you can try.

I got my tubes yeeted the minute I could after Roe was overturned and my state began talking about a 6wk limit. No regrets, just anger for everyone who isn’t in the same position in life as me and still has to worry about unwanted pregnancy.

I like how this underscores what a joke they think Trump is.

It’s giving big “freedom fries” energy. Makes sense when you think about how much of a wet dream the post-9/11 circle jerk was (is) for conservatives. They’re trying to recreate the same 2002 Republican, plastic-patriot distraction machine again.

What about don’t steal billions from labor?

Did you use that build that’s meant for Surfaces (the name is escaping me)? Or did you use a non-specialty OS and wrestle with the drivers?

I’m curious because I have a 4 Pro and 6 Pro and I’ve been hearing mixed things about the touchscreen and the pen on Linux.

Same, and I limit short video scrolling on Instagram to doing it for a set amount of time with my partner, since it’s like a little comedy break for us. I know myself well enough to avoid that shit like the plague, otherwise.

I haven’t ever cheated but I’m an armchair human development nerd and I’d assume that there are some things at play like:

• Social narratives that make it seem like there’s only one true love out there for you (assuming the cheating here is only physical and not love).
• There can be shame in divorce or breaking up.
• There’s the sunk cost fallacy of staying with someone because you’ve put so many years into the relationship.
• If there are kids, people can believe (whether it’s true or not) that it’s harmful to the kids to separate
• People compartmentalize and can develop really weird cognitive dissonance where they build two realities and can operate as if the two have nothing to do with each other. It’s hard to explain.
• All the other collateral with separating, like potentially moving, new financials and potential child support/alimony, custody challenges, health insurance through marriage, job shifts, etc. etc.

Before you angrily hit reply, dear reader, I’m not defending or condoning cheating. I’m just trying to answer the sociological question of why it’s a behavior that happens enough that we’re talking about it in this thread.

Where’s the fun in that? You’ve gotta raw dog life to get your blood pumping.

^Hey, ^why ^are ^my ^prod ^credentials ^revoked? ^Guys?