I agree - there's some large accesibility-like issues with communication, which causes issues for people where it isn't their first language, the neurodiverse, or in safety critical applications. The /s is a fine early example of that.
That said, if everyone stuck to basic facts and focussed on clarity rather than content, the world would be a mega boring place.
What they mean does not matter.
Nearly every internet comment section for the last thirty years summed up in one line.
Hi American friend!
I absolutely get it - "too good to be true" is definitely a thing in the English speaking world.
I absolutely get the apprehension - if I was jumping on to a Bee Bus or the Edinburgh Trams with a ticket that some rando was trying to offload, then my Spidey senses would be tingling too.
In this instance though, we're probably looking at a value of US$10ish, so in my own perfectly subjective opinion, I'd be happy to give it a bash. If it doesnt work, the the ticket gets yeeted and the contactless card gets used instead.
I absolutely understand settling in to the "normal" of buying your own ticket though and I really appreciate you taking the time to share your experience.
A great question. I was going to call it a "thought experiment", but as Wikipedia more succinctly calls it, a "philosophical concept". I'm wary of jumping to the paradox of tolerance as a device to handwave away violence against anyone.
It's an important point to consider and it raises vital questions that challenges my own argument, but ultimately the rights of the human override any philosophical ideals.
In this instance, I would much rather preserve the rights of any person - arsehole or not - rather than subject them to sexual violence because of a perceived difference in political opinion.
It's whatever floats your boat at the end of the day. I've seen people with unique usernames being super chill in one community, and then appear in another spouting off like they're two steps away from annexing Poland in another. It's wild.
I do my absolute best not to block people or communities though. I worry that my account will just end up as an echo chamber for whatever I'm interested in, and I'll just end up disconnected from the Real World™️, as tempting as it sounds sometimes.
Sometimes seeing and hearing shit that wasn't top of your agenda keeps you grounded - but it's an entirely subjective view.
e: community clarity.
Stop trying to police language.
dat irony tho
Thanks for taking the time to reply, but:
Many of us heard it back in 2016, but the media
I lost interest after this. Someone's talking about normalising the sexual assault of a group of people - as likeable or dislikeable as they may be - and all I can see is some "I told you so" word salad?
I'm sorry if I've picked you up wrong, but I'm happy to be corrected.
Do you hear yourself?
quality burn
Though I would still like to go. That architecture looks fantastic.
Cheers for the added advice.
It was a bit over 18 months ago I was last in a CVS, but as has already been pointed out, the US is a huge place so there's bound to be regional differences. Glad contactless payments (or is it tap-to-pay in the US?) has become the norm.
Hello fellow Brit.
Everything is bigger. That's an obvious statement, but the knock on effect is that nobody seems to have a sense of "nearby". I frequently went out running on the pavement around two or three blocks, and people either looked at me as if I was possessed, or honked their horns like a "run Forrest run!" type thing because there was literally nobody else out putting miles on tarmac.
Retail parks are a cracking example. I was out with a friend who knew the area well, and we wanted to go from one store at one end of the retail park to the other. I was happy to walk the three or four hundred metres and back, but they were positively horrified at the thought of not taking the car to another parking spot there.
Speaking of driving - know your rules. Four way intersections are a cool invention. ~~Roundabouts~~ traffic circles are fucking wild going in from the right.
See those 300, 200, 100yd marker boards on A-roads and motorways allowing you to figure out what lane you need to be in to take your slip road? Purely optional in the US. Be ready for people in lane three (or four, or five, or six) to see their exit and cut straight across. Blind spot checking is for nerds and communists.
Things have changed lately, but go out with two or three changes of clothes, and that's it. The clothes in the US are generally much cooler and much cheaper, it's a good excuse to get new gear. Depending on where you're going though, it's hard work getting particular stuff - asking for Under Armour's heatgear stuff if you go running in winter will get you some real fuckin' weird looks in Florida, where even the vests are sometimes hotter than a duffle coat.
The border: know your shit - where you're going, how much you got, who you're with. The border force agents (whatever their unit is called) are generally super cool, but they ask super intrusive questions. That Marks and Spencer ham baguette you got in Gatwick/Edinburgh/Manchester? Eat it quick, because it isn't going through customs.
Not sure how long you're going for, but get a Post Office multi-currency card, or a credit card that specialises in the US Dollar or low international currency fees. While you're at it, feel free to wow them with contactless payments. Last time I went to CVS, I had tapped the card before the cashier had finished his spiel about swiping the card, and refused to believe I'd actually paid for a few seconds. It's like a magic trick with none of the effort.
Overt generosity is mostly viewed suspiciously. I left the DC metro system at a gate, and tried to hand off my all-day travel card for someone else to use for the day, and was looked at like I'd shit on their station concourse and drew a Greek flag in it. It's not like the tube.
Tylenol: get shitloads. It's basically paracetemol wrapped in bubblegum. Outstanding for hangovers.
Enjoy it! The Americans are friendly enough even if the majority of them make some pretty wack political choices, but that's another discussion. They're generally sound as fuck, and find the British accent something of a novelty, so feel free to use it as a get out of jail card if you make a social faux pas. (edit: I don't mean literally, I haven't tried it on police officers)
Have fun, let us know how you get on!
Isn't that basically Cyprus?
My Cypriot history is severely lacking here.