So I am in the waiting room at vets, routinary checkup for my cats and I started talking with this lady sitting right next to me. She s here with a tiny kitty in a carrier.

Apparently she is a first time cat owner (rescued a kitty in her backyard) and she is here because the kitty started “vibrating” this morning and she is worried 😁😁😁

Writing here to avoid laughing out loud.

lack of third spaces really makes me nervous for our generation and the one that comes after. as a teenager we would often hang out at the mall, and at least buy chickfila there. my mom brought me for an Easter dress or Christmas shopping. I just have so many good memories there. but these days there’s no vibe, nothing to buy and the atmosphere is gone. how could we bring it back?

Tried throwing this birthday party for my daughter who turned 5 last week. She’s obsessed with WWE which is kinda ironic because I was actually a D1 wrestler in college but I dropped out the program cuz I had her. Best decision of my life

Anyway so I had her favorite wrestler printed on the cake, got matching WWE napkins and decorations, hired a magician, invited all her little friends from kindergarten, the whole nine yards.

Then the day comes and the rain just absolutely pours. Not a little drizzle either, the kind of rain where nobody wants to leave their house. One by one people start saying they can’t make it, and eventually it becomes pretty obvious none of her school friends are coming.

I’ll never forget her sitting there in her little birthday outfit with this huge wrestling cake and a magician performing for just her and I lol. We still made the best of it, eat way too much cake and let the magician give her basically a private show, but man… watching a 5-year-old keep looking outside hoping her friends are gonna show up will break your heart.

Side note: the magician just asked for gas money which he didn’t have to do at all.

I am 28 years old right now. Almost 30 to be honest. I just feel like once you turn 28, you’re almost 30. Not to be mistaken with how much I correct and remind my parents of my real age. They too call me a 30 year old. I am very clear to them that I am indeed 28 for now and will be 28 for the next 3 and a half months.

Anyway, I’m deviating from the topic at hand. So because I am 28 years old, and I feel like I’m old now, I refuse to engage in books and movies and shows wherein the characters in the said books, movies and shows are younger than me. I don’t know why. I guess I just feel very old when I read or watch characters in schools and colleges and their lives in said schools and colleges.

Which is why, even when I’m searching for new books on GoodReads, it’s first written on ChatGPT to suggest me books wherein the leads are greater than 28. And after November, it’ll be to suggest me books wherein the leads are greater than 29. And so on and so forth every year.

So when I saw the craze and rage that was following this new college show everyone was talking about, which was released on Amazon Prime like 3 months ago, I was hell bent that I will not watch it because obviously it follows the lives of these young students still in college. And like I mentioned above, I would just feel old if I saw it. However. This last Sunday, I just gave in and decided to see one episode. And then, by the end of Sunday, I had already seen four episodes.

So I don’t know what to conclude with the above anomaly that I have written about. Maybe now, I am finally over the fact that time is literally flying and I’m growing so old or maybe Instagram just finally got through to me and I caved in and saw the show that everyone around me was raving about 3 months ago or that no new good content is coming out.

Whatever the reason, I’m four episodes in now, so clearly my ‘I don’t watch college shows anymore’ rule didn’t survive very long.

Has anyone else noticed their reading or viewing habits changing simply because they've gotten older?

I'm almost 40, and lately I've been thinking a lot about what I've actually built with my life.

I've spent most of my adult life doing creative work. I worked as a screenwriter and writer for years, and now I make video games. I've had some successes along the way, so it's not like I've accomplished nothing. But I've never had the kind of success that makes this lifestyle sustainable.

And I'm starting to feel the cost of it.

I work a lot just to make relatively little money. I spend a lot of time worrying about projects failing. Because I don't have much money or free time, my life outside work isn't particularly exciting either. There are hobbies and things I'd love to do, places I'd like to go, but I keep postponing them because there's always another project that needs my time and money.

I'm also reaching the age when I'd like to be able to help my parents if they need it. Fortunately they don't right now, but that might change.

And probably the hardest part is that I want to have a family of my own, but at the moment I don't feel like I have the financial stability or resources for it.

So lately I've been considering something that would have sounded depressing to me ten years ago: maybe I should just get a normal, stable job.

Something predictable. Something that pays reasonably well and doesn't require me to constantly gamble several years of my life on whether a creative project succeeds.

The strange thing is that I don't think I've stopped being a creative person. I still love making things. Maybe I always will. I'm just starting to question the assumption that creativity also has to be my career.

Maybe writing and making games could become things I do in my free time instead. And maybe having a stable income would actually give me more of a life, rather than less of one.

Has anyone here gone through something similar? Especially people who spent years trying to make a creative career work and eventually chose stability instead. Did it feel like giving up? Or did it actually make your life better?

I was on a new friend's porch. We had been cleaning up her yard. So we're talking and she looks at her sleeve. A huge spider is crawling up her sleeve. She lets loose with a bloodcurdling scream, straight out of a horror movie. She flings her arm out to get rid of it and the spider lands on me. I look at it, then leave the porch. The spider was going down the front of my shirt. I picked up a stick. The spider crawls onto the stick. I put it down on the ground.

I look at the porch to tell her the spider is gone. She's behind the screen door, anxiously watching me. I tell her the spider is gone. She's unhappy I didn't kill it.

Now she's saying I'm weird because I didn't scream. She repeated the story of her horrifying encounter to friends, saying she

screamed so loud and again telling them I'm weird for not screaming. I say because everyone knows you can scream spiders away. Now she's angry with me for saying that, and that normal people would scream.

What do you think? I wasn't any happier than she was with having an unknown large spider crawling on me but it never occurred to me to scream. Is that abnormal?

Just a bit annoyed with my friend telling me to stop texting them about random things during work hours. I don't talk everyday but sometimes I just text about small things like 'there's a new shop down that street that has a sale'. I'm not looking for an immediate response otherwise I would have called. I'm going to respect my friend's wishes for me not to do it anymore but I am just a bit pissed. A lot of my friends just ignore me when they're busy, so I really don't mind having delayed responses even if it's months. I think it might be best to install a feature to schedule texts for some friends who treat it as a quick response.

A little context: I’ve been working a lot and have a wonky sleep schedule due to working night shift. My days off are normally spent sleeping and cleaning. My husband normally does school pickup because of my schedule.

So things have been hard recently, as I’m sure a lot of you know. I’ve been working a lot and just playing catch up with everything else. That changed today.

I walked to the school this afternoon to pick up son up since my husband has my car at the moment. It was hot, yeah, but my son and I had a nice conversation on the way home and I just really enjoyed that. It’s been a while since we got to just talk without me trying to multitask and I feel bad about that.

Well, when we got home, he had his after school snack and we talked to my mom a bit for her birthday. Then he asked me to play. Despite being tired (lack of sleep yay) I said yes. It was great! We created this little game with his kids meal toys and a few of the rubber ducks he’s collected that made us both laugh.

I would “quack” like a duck and make them dance on his head, calling it a mountain. He thought this was the funniest thing. My heart warmed hearing him go “again!” Every time I stopped. These days are passing me by so quickly and I’m so glad I slowed down for a moment to enjoy some time with my baby.

What are some fun stories or little games you developed with your kids?

Our dog was attacked by a pitbull a few days ago and lost one of its legs. We're figuring it out and getting him the care he needs. The owner of the pitbull is not paying the associated bills and the police said they can't do anything. Can't do anything. It all goes to the lawyers now. It's been a disturbing chain of events.

I cannot function in a "society" like this. Where anything that can be done is only done when it affects something of financial value. Where justice can only come if I can afford for it to be applied.

I can't wait any longer in hope that things will change and the world will suddenly wake up. Battles are only fought and won because you have people and resources in your side. No one can be a one man army.

I'll start my own though and keep hoping that others will find a place with me too.

Hey everyone, just wanted to share a little personal win from my shift today.

It was a super stressful bust day, but I ended it feeling pretty great because of an interaction that felt like a huge step forward for me.

Toward the end of my shift, I had a really unusual interaction with a rude customer. People rarely act up like that at my job, so it definitely caught me off guard. To make things trickier, her kid was right there with her, so I wanted to handle it carefully.

I was definitely frustrated. But instead of immediately calling my manager over to bail me out, I decided to handle it myself. I stayed calm, stood up for myself, and made it clear that I wasn't comfortable with how she was treating me. What I said back might not have been the most pleasant thing in the world, but honestly? I don't even care. She was out of line, and I needed to draw the line.

What made me feel really good afterward was realizing that I actually handled it. Situations like that usually trigger a massive fight-or-flight response, and it's so easy to just shut down or react purely on emotion. I didn't handle it perfectly, and I'll admit I’ve probably overthought the interaction a bit too much since leaving. But I'm just so proud of the fact that I navigated something that uncomfortable on my own.

By the time I clocked out, I genuinely felt great. It feels like a solid step forward in becoming more comfortable standing up for myself. It's funny how one crappy interaction can sometimes leave you feeling better about yourself afterward.

Has anyone else had a moment where standing up to a rude person unexpectedly boosted your confidence?

What’s the best advice you’ve heard that actually stuck with you? i’d love to read yours , so share yours, maybe we can all learn something from each other 😊

If you’ve never played, it’s just like a simplified version of Monopoly. My 4 year old son loves it. This morning we had a game where we basically reached equilibrium in how many properties we owned, and we kept just trading rent back and forth, going around the board and getting money from passing Go until the bank was out of money. It was of course a very tedious game but I was proud of us for beating capitalism somehow.

(I know some of you may be ready to suggest we weren’t playing it right, but we weren’t getting money from free parking or anything. I read the rules a few times just to make sure. We were playing by the book!)

I love this song because it really depicts the struggle of wanting to help a loved one. “I wanted to look for you, you walked in, I didn’t know just what I should do. So I sat back down and had a beer”. I love how the song also depicts exhausting yourself to help/love someone else.

Growing up, whenever I couldn't sleep, my mom didn't reach for medicine — she went to the kitchen. There was this whole quiet ritual: warm milk with a small handful of goji berries, or sometimes a simmered red date and longan drink that made the whole house smell sweet.

I didn't realize until I was older that this was part of a much bigger tradition — Chinese food-as-medicine culture, where the kitchen was basically the first pharmacy. I still make these for myself now, and it's less about whether they "work" scientifically and more about the ritual itself — it signals to my brain that it's time to wind down.

Anyone else have a bedtime ritual from childhood that you still carry into adulthood, food-related or otherwise?

Yo when I was chilling on my bed in my hostel... I saw smth moving on the floor..so I squinted and looked at it closely 👀... I thought it was an insect..and I feared it might crawl into my ears while I was asleep, so I tried to slam it with my slippers...But when I went closer, I realized it was an isopod...Woahhh seeing one after yrs..Basically, they’re not insects..they’re crustaceans, which means they belong to the same group as crabs and shrimps...So isopods are more closely related to them than to ants or spiders..i luv thm ❤️...They don’t bite, sting, cause allergies, or climb onto ur bed and crawl into your ears...They just vibe in dark corners, and they’re scavengers..meaning they eat decaying food and wood, which is gud for the environment...So what I did was take a piece of paper, scoop it up, and gently toss it in the grass, bcz I was just trying to save the little homie from getting crushed like a grape under someone’s boot 😭

When it comes to working out I’m too lazy. I have everything I need to do so from home . I tried gyms but that’s just never worked because yea I’m too lazy . I’m not lazy when it comes to working, cooking cleaning etc.

I hate that I’m like this and I’ve always been like this. And I need to work out. It’s important but I just feel like i do not matter enough to treat myself body well.

I grew up doing different sports 4-5 times a week. And I had to bicycle everywhere. When I moved out I stopped because I didn’t have to anymore.

I lack motivation to get my body moving. Anyone else feel like that ?

Edit: thank you for so many great ideas and comments. I think why I avoid working out is childhood related. But I need to start small. I’ve two workout machines that I avoid , they’re places in front of the tv . So I’ve no excuse. I was worried jumping into a work out Reddit sub and talking about my laziness but it’s not so scary as I thought it would be.

Tonight, I had a really strange feeling. I live alone, and I went outside for a walk to get some fresh air. While I was walking, near my neighborhood's bushes, I suddenly felt like someone was watching me.

I looked toward the bushes, and for a moment, I thought I saw some figures moving. Maybe it was just my eyes playing tricks on me or my imagination because it was dark, but it honestly gave me chills. LOL, SUPER CREEPY.

Has anyone ever experienced something similar? That moment when you feel like you’re not alone, even though there’s no one around?

This experience of mine, try to assure me PLEASEEEEE that its not something concerning HAHAHAHAHA

An upcoming trip has me thinking about what people do to keep themselves entertained on long car rides and their opinions on them in general.

I have a 12 hour round-trip planned in a few days. I’ll be in the car with some near strangers i’m hoping to avoid using my phone on the trip, but still trying to figure out how to entertain myself.

Lately, I’ve realized that repetitive and simple activities can be surprisingly relaxing—things like sorting objects, doing an easy puzzle, listening to lo-fi music, or organizing something without any pressure.

There’s something satisfying about letting your brain focus on one simple task after a busy day. Sometimes it even makes me sleepy.

Do you have a particular activity, game, sound, or little routine that helps you unwind before bed?

I remember taking my niece to a magic performance at the library. It was super fun even for the adults, but I couldn't help remembering my Mr. Rodgers and Sesame Street days.

It's such a difficult thing to balance fun for children. The performance is for them and it encourages participation, but they don't have the experience to understand that it doesn't give them a free pass to do whatever they want. There are little rules to make sure everyone has a great time, and the performer has to deal with that in real-time.

To me, the most impressive thing I remember was when he set a boundary for this one kid. I don't remember the exact details, but he basically had to X out this kid from the audience because they were trying to be part of the act. It was probably twice that he had to warn the kid, but he did it with a grace and firmness that I had never seen before. As someone who has worked with both children and teenagers.

I've always had a respect for clowns and people who specifically entertain children, but this is the first time I experienced it so closely as an adult.

Any show I enjoy, it's not about any show specifically. But I am currently starting Marvelous Mrs. Maisel

I have tried a lot of other unwinding hobbies, and as much as I enjoy gaming, nothing quite hits the same for me as a tv show.

I love a story neatly tied in 30-90 minutes. On the longer end yea a movie could satisfy that itch but I like the momentum a show has.

I don't know what it is, but I really like watching TV.

Do you have a hobby that helps you unwind? If so, what's the hobby and what do you like about it?

My whole life I've been terrified of public speaking. Like physically sick before class presentations terrified.

This month I pitched my small business at a live competition. Few hundred people in the room, tens of thousands on a livestream, my mom in the audience. I spent the entire day nervous, sweating through my shirt in the August heat, rehearsing one line over and over like a lunatic.

And then I just did it. And won.

But the weird part is what happened after. Since that night, other stuff that used to stress me out feels small. Phone calls I'd been putting off, hard conversations, asking people for things. It's like my brain recalibrated what scary even means.

Has anyone else had this? Where you do the one big scary thing and it quietly shrinks all the little ones? Curious what everyone's version was.

For example, in the last movie I watched, the heroine really stood out to me. She lives in the moment, doesn’t care much about what people think, and has this wonderful positive energy that makes anyone feel good around her. She makes people smile, and I really liked the way she talks and interacts with people.

She definitely talks a lot , but like the hero said about her, she’s like a work of art.

What I think i could take from her is the way she doesn’t overthink everything and just lives life. And I don’t mean that you shouldn’t think. I just mean that sometimes you have to let go a little , Just live the moment, do things without overthinking every little detail, and let yourself enjoy life❤️.

So, what’s a character that influenced you in some way, and what did you take from them?

Can't remember how I drove home. Changed clothes. Had some leftovers in my fridge, and scrolling tiktok on my phone and then might play a few rounds of Mahjong Rumble while half-watching TV.
Apparently, this is where my brain is at after a full day of work.