The automatically-applied tip thing is very aggravating (and I say that as someone who is British-born and therefore tends to overcompensate for what I perceive as an expectation I won’t tip). So too is the “charity donation” or “rounding up.” If as a business you want to donate to charity - great. But don’t strong-arm/guilt-trip your customers into doing it for you. I give money to charity and make my own decisions on that. There are chains such as Giant that I now avoid because I don’t want to be put in the position of having to say no to donating for kids with cancer or whatever.
I have no problem saying “no” and using the custom tip option. If service is solid I also appreciate the calculated 20% option when I feel that is appropriate. Otherwise, I just take 10%, double it and round the result.
I have never heard of "jawn", but it sounds like a simple placeholder for something the listener is expected to be able to figure out from context. In casual conversation it is never necessary to be long-winded, pedantic or grammatical - especially when a NORMAL person would just use a general-purpose expletive like "Bring the s**t to the s**t this afternoon".
Wow. Jon Haidt's article on "Why the Mental Health of Liberal Girls Sank First and Fastest" is a treasure trove of research. It's great to have factual language that explains what many of us have intuitively recognized as destructive. This piece is more profound than the title implicates (he even acknowledges that pinning a title on this work has left his co-author wanting). Please read if you haven't.
The article 'Why the Mental Health of Liberal Girls Sank First and Fastest' sounds like a RW hack job. I have two teens who have friends plus I've volunteered at their middle and high schools. Live in a liberal district. Never heard of any of this. Just another piece of BS for 'woke' to be woven into a conspiracy theory. If you're concerned about our kids, why aren't you looking into the rampant sexual abuse in RW churches? What about the impact of book banning on our teens? And heaven knows the right have very strict definitions of a lady - how is that damaging our girls to fit into a certain patriarchal model? All while our boys are not taught or held accountable for their actions bc 'boys will be boys'. No, Bill. You swung and missed big time. Your bias is showing and it's not pretty.
I do believe you're more conservative than I am. That's fine. I still found value in our articles. However, I've found you're much more versed in center right and, with this article right wing, rather than just being in the middle.
Now, tbh, I've only been moved to respond to this bias twice - I commented on your article where it was glaringly obvious President Carter was missing. And now this about liberal girls. At a time when much of our mainstream news and articles are politicized by rich owners, we know we're not getting 3D views of anything these conservatives don't believe.
And pay close attention to responds to my comments. If this is the type of audience you're shooting to reach, fine. Be bold about it and proudly wear it.
We're a divided nation and, quite frankly, hearing about more crap like this book won't get us working together any sooner.
I guess we'll start hearing about how being asleep, hypnotized, duped and unaware is better than being woke.
For what it's worth, I don't see myself the way you've described.
I remember someone asking why I hadn't included Carter in a list of presidential quotes. No reason, except that there are 46 presidents and I forget how many I included but it was fewer than half. I was leaning toward the ones we don't think of. I've written quite a bit about President Carter separately recently.
I don't know anything about you or where you live, but for what it's worth I live in a town with a very liberal reputation, and I hear parents talking about mental health and teens all the time. I try to keep a buffer and not write specifically about my family in this newsletter but let's just say that as a parent myself I'm certainly trying to pay attention.
Thanks for reading though. I value the back and forth as much as anything on here.
You're also giving me an idea to write something about what kind of audience I am trying to attract, and who I think reads this. On any given day about 50,000 people actually open the newsletter and read it, but only a small number comment on it.
It has changed a lot since the very early days, and I think it's grown into its name: Understandably. The name was originally just happenstance; I just used the most memorable domain name I happened to own at the exact moment the opportunity arose!
I would suggest you look at Jon Haidt’s work more thoroughly before you right this off as a RW hack job. He has years of good research. Some of what he says is hard to hear and I don’t draw all of the same conclusions but there is important information in there. I’ve listened to interviews with him and he is not an extremist on the right or the left. He has several TED talks as well. This interview is really thorough. Even reading his bio on this podcast will give you a sense of his credibility. My intention is not to be antagonistic. I think this is important information to consider and not politicize.
There are some companies I will never buy from ever again. My choice. But there are some things that have worked out well too.
Automatic tips? Everywhere you go there is a tip jar or some such thing. I don't use many apps and nothing that will automatically rob me. Next thing you know, that stupid Alexa will want a quarter before she gives you an answer.
Where are they now? Who cares. I have enough trouble figuring out where I am right now.
Regarding "Jawn", check out "Da Kine" in Hawaiian lingo. This two syllables can also be substituted for anything. The speaker and listener apparently have other cues as to meaning because they seem to understand.
A few people have commented on the Jon Haidt article. To me one of the most interesting things was the suggestion at the end about raising the minimum age to create social media accounts without parental consent to 18.
Or at least higher than the (not-even-remotely-enforced) current age of 13!
Pretty hard not to be concerned with mental health if we're talking about teens. Mine are extremely concerned with the shape the earth will be in when they're grown. They're also concerned about reproductive rights and being able to make their own healthcare decisions amongst other things. Paying for college without incurring massive debt is a huge one bc our legislators are passing bills that show they are no longer interested in investing in the education of everyone. Sex trafficking is another biggee for them bc they see Black girls that disappear don't get the over the top exposure as others. So, they're very interested in learning self defense. And my oldest has concerns - justifiably - about being profiled and stopped by cops in the small town where the goes to college. We have to keep having the 'Talk' with her.
Maybe because we're middle class Black Americans and our POV is probably diametrically opposed when it comes to things we're concerned about for our teens. Or maybe not.
Let's not forget - conservative teens are being told what they can read bc of the book bans, what they can learn because of the fear of learning ALL American's history and that the government owns females bodies. But they can get a gun easier than a book.
THAT makes for some terrible mental health for conservative teens, for sure.
I guess we'll have to agree to disagree. I'm used to that too.
I appreciate your POV. Growing up white in Canada, I cannot begin to understand what it's like being Black in America. It saddens me that at this point in civilization, people still get treated like second class citizens. Won't even start with the gun violence, the fear for your children must be enormous. We can only hope as more races get involved in politics at all levels - and in police forces - that things will get better.
Why the Mental Health of Liberal Girls Sank First and Fastest - I worry that we have such a mentally fragile generation; one that is afraid to consider other viewpoints than their own, that think there is only one right way to be. Social media has fueled this; it has also given some people incredible power to shape commentary according only to their viewpoint and not to reality. Pushback is just not allowed without being ostracised.
Kids have always wanted to fit in to the group, now the group is controlled by social media. Their source of knowledge is someone on TikTok or SnapChat or Instagram, right or wrong. I am glad my kids came of age before social media got established.
Maybe I missed the whole point of the article, I don't know. But I have been worried about kids for some time. They seem to have lost the ability to fix themselves, to deal with obstacles that come along, to be resilient. Everything seems to be a crisis, they don't understand how to accept varying viewpoints. While this generation is worrisome, I am more concerned about what their kids are going to be like.
As for the tips question, we only tip at restaurants and hair dressers. For the restaurants, we bring a pocket full of change regardless of the percentage. Hairdresser gets 20% because she understands my hair. I refuse to tip someone for pouring a coffee. I do sometimes do the rounding up thing, depending on the charity, but I usually make my charitable donations as part of registering for running races.
Automatically-applied tip ... kind of like when you "like" a substack post and a popup asks you to select which level of money you're willing to pay to support the writer...and appears you have to choose one (but just click outside the box and it's over).
The automatically-applied tip thing is very aggravating (and I say that as someone who is British-born and therefore tends to overcompensate for what I perceive as an expectation I won’t tip). So too is the “charity donation” or “rounding up.” If as a business you want to donate to charity - great. But don’t strong-arm/guilt-trip your customers into doing it for you. I give money to charity and make my own decisions on that. There are chains such as Giant that I now avoid because I don’t want to be put in the position of having to say no to donating for kids with cancer or whatever.
I have no problem saying “no” and using the custom tip option. If service is solid I also appreciate the calculated 20% option when I feel that is appropriate. Otherwise, I just take 10%, double it and round the result.
I have never heard of "jawn", but it sounds like a simple placeholder for something the listener is expected to be able to figure out from context. In casual conversation it is never necessary to be long-winded, pedantic or grammatical - especially when a NORMAL person would just use a general-purpose expletive like "Bring the s**t to the s**t this afternoon".
Wow. Jon Haidt's article on "Why the Mental Health of Liberal Girls Sank First and Fastest" is a treasure trove of research. It's great to have factual language that explains what many of us have intuitively recognized as destructive. This piece is more profound than the title implicates (he even acknowledges that pinning a title on this work has left his co-author wanting). Please read if you haven't.
The article 'Why the Mental Health of Liberal Girls Sank First and Fastest' sounds like a RW hack job. I have two teens who have friends plus I've volunteered at their middle and high schools. Live in a liberal district. Never heard of any of this. Just another piece of BS for 'woke' to be woven into a conspiracy theory. If you're concerned about our kids, why aren't you looking into the rampant sexual abuse in RW churches? What about the impact of book banning on our teens? And heaven knows the right have very strict definitions of a lady - how is that damaging our girls to fit into a certain patriarchal model? All while our boys are not taught or held accountable for their actions bc 'boys will be boys'. No, Bill. You swung and missed big time. Your bias is showing and it's not pretty.
I'm curious what you think my bias is?
I do believe you're more conservative than I am. That's fine. I still found value in our articles. However, I've found you're much more versed in center right and, with this article right wing, rather than just being in the middle.
Now, tbh, I've only been moved to respond to this bias twice - I commented on your article where it was glaringly obvious President Carter was missing. And now this about liberal girls. At a time when much of our mainstream news and articles are politicized by rich owners, we know we're not getting 3D views of anything these conservatives don't believe.
And pay close attention to responds to my comments. If this is the type of audience you're shooting to reach, fine. Be bold about it and proudly wear it.
We're a divided nation and, quite frankly, hearing about more crap like this book won't get us working together any sooner.
I guess we'll start hearing about how being asleep, hypnotized, duped and unaware is better than being woke.
For what it's worth, I don't see myself the way you've described.
I remember someone asking why I hadn't included Carter in a list of presidential quotes. No reason, except that there are 46 presidents and I forget how many I included but it was fewer than half. I was leaning toward the ones we don't think of. I've written quite a bit about President Carter separately recently.
I don't know anything about you or where you live, but for what it's worth I live in a town with a very liberal reputation, and I hear parents talking about mental health and teens all the time. I try to keep a buffer and not write specifically about my family in this newsletter but let's just say that as a parent myself I'm certainly trying to pay attention.
Thanks for reading though. I value the back and forth as much as anything on here.
You're also giving me an idea to write something about what kind of audience I am trying to attract, and who I think reads this. On any given day about 50,000 people actually open the newsletter and read it, but only a small number comment on it.
It has changed a lot since the very early days, and I think it's grown into its name: Understandably. The name was originally just happenstance; I just used the most memorable domain name I happened to own at the exact moment the opportunity arose!
I would suggest you look at Jon Haidt’s work more thoroughly before you right this off as a RW hack job. He has years of good research. Some of what he says is hard to hear and I don’t draw all of the same conclusions but there is important information in there. I’ve listened to interviews with him and he is not an extremist on the right or the left. He has several TED talks as well. This interview is really thorough. Even reading his bio on this podcast will give you a sense of his credibility. My intention is not to be antagonistic. I think this is important information to consider and not politicize.
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-tim-ferriss-show/id863897795?i=1000590904322
Yeah. I bet our choice of TED talks is probably different.
This was the last TED talk I watched so we probably have a completely different POV:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0H6yte4RXx0
Shouldn’t our goal be to expand our point of view rather than restrict it? Otherwise we’re constantly feeding our bias.
Trust me, I'm always exposed to other's POV.
And I agree - we should all be expanding our POVs. Cheers to those that don't fall in the trap of only seeing things from their own experiences
That's one of the guiding goals of this newsletter.
Love the Friday Free for All!! Thanks Bill! Have a great weekend!
I’ve been saying this since the early days.. “Friday, it’s pizza night in America!”
“Jawn” or “Johnny” bring the Johnny to the Johnny, yeah heard that before haha
Have a great weekend! Thank you!
There are some companies I will never buy from ever again. My choice. But there are some things that have worked out well too.
Automatic tips? Everywhere you go there is a tip jar or some such thing. I don't use many apps and nothing that will automatically rob me. Next thing you know, that stupid Alexa will want a quarter before she gives you an answer.
Where are they now? Who cares. I have enough trouble figuring out where I am right now.
Regarding "Jawn", check out "Da Kine" in Hawaiian lingo. This two syllables can also be substituted for anything. The speaker and listener apparently have other cues as to meaning because they seem to understand.
A few people have commented on the Jon Haidt article. To me one of the most interesting things was the suggestion at the end about raising the minimum age to create social media accounts without parental consent to 18.
Or at least higher than the (not-even-remotely-enforced) current age of 13!
I like this idea. It's scary out there
Good idea, but I don't know how you could possibly police that.
Pretty hard not to be concerned with mental health if we're talking about teens. Mine are extremely concerned with the shape the earth will be in when they're grown. They're also concerned about reproductive rights and being able to make their own healthcare decisions amongst other things. Paying for college without incurring massive debt is a huge one bc our legislators are passing bills that show they are no longer interested in investing in the education of everyone. Sex trafficking is another biggee for them bc they see Black girls that disappear don't get the over the top exposure as others. So, they're very interested in learning self defense. And my oldest has concerns - justifiably - about being profiled and stopped by cops in the small town where the goes to college. We have to keep having the 'Talk' with her.
Maybe because we're middle class Black Americans and our POV is probably diametrically opposed when it comes to things we're concerned about for our teens. Or maybe not.
Let's not forget - conservative teens are being told what they can read bc of the book bans, what they can learn because of the fear of learning ALL American's history and that the government owns females bodies. But they can get a gun easier than a book.
THAT makes for some terrible mental health for conservative teens, for sure.
I guess we'll have to agree to disagree. I'm used to that too.
I appreciate your POV. Growing up white in Canada, I cannot begin to understand what it's like being Black in America. It saddens me that at this point in civilization, people still get treated like second class citizens. Won't even start with the gun violence, the fear for your children must be enormous. We can only hope as more races get involved in politics at all levels - and in police forces - that things will get better.
“Jawn” sounds like the equivalent of “thing”. Remember to bring that thing to the thing.
Why the Mental Health of Liberal Girls Sank First and Fastest - I worry that we have such a mentally fragile generation; one that is afraid to consider other viewpoints than their own, that think there is only one right way to be. Social media has fueled this; it has also given some people incredible power to shape commentary according only to their viewpoint and not to reality. Pushback is just not allowed without being ostracised.
Kids have always wanted to fit in to the group, now the group is controlled by social media. Their source of knowledge is someone on TikTok or SnapChat or Instagram, right or wrong. I am glad my kids came of age before social media got established.
Maybe I missed the whole point of the article, I don't know. But I have been worried about kids for some time. They seem to have lost the ability to fix themselves, to deal with obstacles that come along, to be resilient. Everything seems to be a crisis, they don't understand how to accept varying viewpoints. While this generation is worrisome, I am more concerned about what their kids are going to be like.
As for the tips question, we only tip at restaurants and hair dressers. For the restaurants, we bring a pocket full of change regardless of the percentage. Hairdresser gets 20% because she understands my hair. I refuse to tip someone for pouring a coffee. I do sometimes do the rounding up thing, depending on the charity, but I usually make my charitable donations as part of registering for running races.
Automatically-applied tip ... kind of like when you "like" a substack post and a popup asks you to select which level of money you're willing to pay to support the writer...and appears you have to choose one (but just click outside the box and it's over).