Once I worked as an intern in the state capital. One of the representatives I worked for was this middle-aged guy. And he hated the tampon and napkin machines in the women’s bathrooms. Hated them. He insisted that they weren’t necessary.
I found out why after I’d been working there, oh, about a month. My period started suddenly, as it sometimes does, and I asked to excuse myself to go to the ladies’ room. He wanted to know why. I told him.
He started ranting about how lazy women were. How we wasted time. How we were so careless and unhygenic, and that there was no call for that. He finished by telling me that I certainly was NOT going to the ladies’ room and that I was just going to sit there and work. He finished this off with a decisive nod, as if I’d just been told and there could be no possible argument.
“If I don’t go,” I said in an overly patient tone, “the blood is going to soak through my pants, stain my new skirt that I just bought, and possibly get on this chair I’m sitting in. I need something to soak up the blood. That’s why I need to go to the bathroom.”
His face turned oatmeal-gray; an expression of pure horror spread across his face. He leaned forward and whispered, “Wait, you mean that if you don’t go, you’ll just keep on bleeding? I thought that women could turn it off any time that they wanted!”
I thought, You have got to be kidding.
Several horrified whispers later, I learned that he wasn’t. He actually thought a) that women could shut down the menstrual cycle at will, b) that we essentially picked a week per month to spend more time in the bathroom, i.e. to goof off, and c) that napkins and tampons were sex toys paid for by Health and Human Services. I didn’t know the term then, but he believed that tampons were dildos. Which was why he and a good number of his friends considered them luxuries.
And that’s how, at twenty, I had to give a talk on menstruation to a middle-aged married state representative who was one of my bosses. American politics, ladies and gentlemen.
Talk to the potential land lord about making installments toward your down payment.
This is how I got out my mom’s house both times.
Each pay check start buying things you need for your place. Family Dollar has just about everything that you will need when it comes to hygiene and keeping the place clean.
If it’s safe talk to your other family members to see if they have furniture they want to donate. Most elderly folks especially have lots of furniture they don’t want cluttering their house and they will love to see you.
Craigslist has a section for things left on the kirb. I got my kitchen Cart free and delivered to me when a couple got sick of theirs
Don’t forget to buy a shower curtain and liner….just don’t lol
Once the apartment is secured talk to the utility companies before you get there. If you have no credit or bad credit they may want you to pay a deposit….I found out the hard way after I moved in. It was not a pleasant experience.
Crock pots are your friends
….you will be broke alot. If you have a car or are thinking about getting one, one job probably won’t be enough to sustain you.
The first time I moved out I had 20 dollars to last me until I was paid again. So I ordered a large cheese pizza and ate that for two weeks.
….if you are leaving an abusive situation you may question if you did the right thing a lot. I had panic attacks before and after I moved out.
This does not mean you were wrong to move. It just means the abuse tricked your brain into thinking moving out would be bad for you.
Your apartment probably won’t look how you want it to for a few years and that’s ok. It takes time to build and afford your “aesthetic ”. Don’t feel bad if your apartment is just a bed, a coffee table, and if you are lucky maybe a used sofa. The peace you will have when you close the door and lock it is phenomenal.
Oh if you eat meat chicken thighs and drumsticks are always cheap as are pork chops. Buy them in the large packs, separate them while defrosted into zip locks, throw them the freezer
Craigslist also has a free section. With enough diligence and scrutiny amazing treasures can be found.
Public libraries have free Wi-Fi and cheap printing for resumes, school projects, etc.
Most places like McDonald’s, IHOP, etc have coupon codes on their receipts for completing online surveys. End up with two meals for the price of one.
There are usually local listings for food pantries that you can get groceries from. I have the full list for the NYC area, I’ll post it later.
Also don’t underestimate the power of a thrift shop.
As someone who plans to move within the next year, good tips.
For boxes go to the grocery store or family Dollar type places and ask if they have any boxes they can give you. If you work in an office ask the receptionist or the folks in the mail room.
Qvc and hsn have easy pay payment options that will allow you to get items sent to you while making monthly payments. They sell some furniture, mattresses, computers, tvs, etc. Definitely better than lay away, but look out for them over charging.
Counter top dish washers are awesome if you hate doing dishes and your land lord allows them
Salvation Army usually has pretty good deals on furniture. Check with the manger for daily deals. Also check liquor stores for boxes they usually have plenty to spare and they’re always very durable. Check stores like Walmart and Kroger around 7-8pm for deals on whole rotisserie chickens for $3. They’re usually trying to get rid of them around that time. You can make a chicken salad with mayo, mustard, and red onion. It will last you all week for under $6, or you can just eat and store the chicken for a few days.
Also check out https://www.freecycle.org/ !!! We’ve gotten some decent furniture off there and you can post if you’re looking for something specific, too.
There have been various posts spreading incorrect information about about Ramadan. Normally I am excited by people posting about Islam in any manner; the religion is a fascinating one. However, I became ashamed.
The people who posted about Ramadan seem to have no idea what it is, the rules, or the reason it occurs.
The biggest problems with the posts:
Myth: Tagging food as “NSFW”, as seeing food will break fast
Fact: Seeing, smelling, or being around food in general will not break fast. Also, the fast is going without food and drink, not just forgoing food.
Myth: “if they see food on their dash you’re just making it harder for them to restrain from eating”
Fact: This is offensive because it says that Muslims do not have the self-control to look at food and then abstain form eating it.
Myth: ” I’d just seen a couple pieces of untagged NSFW content on my dash, my fast would have been broken right now “
Fact: Your fast is not broken by viewing images- fast is broken if you act upon desires.
Also, if you read the first post, the person admits they do not know much about Ramadan- but they continue writing instead of reading. Also an important part of Ramadan is avoiding distractions-TV, music, and internet. Which means some Muslims will not be on Tumblr anyway.
For those curious about Islam and Ramadan, please follow these links:
nicroburst asked: So I saw your story about Soul eater and got a laugh out of it, I was curious what you've watched since that fateful day?
Actually I’ve been pretty busy with college, so I mostly have a few that I rewatch a bunch (although this summer I’m planning to go hard and put myself through all of Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood in one fell swoop, pray for me). Let’s see…
I love FMA 03 a lot, I’m currently subjecting my roommate to the pain, it’s fun. I’d probably say it’s my favorite anime (to repeat, I have not seen Brotherhood yet, and am working on it).
I love Soul Eater, of course, I know it pretty well by now.
I’ve seen most of Death Note although it didn’t really do it for me (might’ve been the company, tbh, should probably give it another try).
I’ve seen some of Attack on Titan, which I LOVED because I am a sick twist, but then it was taken off the platform I was streaming it from and also I find subs very hard to watch (yay ADHD), so I haven’t seen most of it.
I like Kaze no Stigma, which is ridiculous and magicky and on Hulu. Fire magic, demons, dubious deals with nebulous all-powerful spirits, fucked up family dynamics, the works. It’s absurd, I think it’s great.
My roommate loves Hetalia and I’m enough of a history nerd to get a huge kick out of it.
I meant to watch Fairy Tale but I got crazy busy around episode four and keep forgetting to go back, so I don’t think that counts.
I watched Black Butler on the recommendation of the same guy who showed us Soul Eater, and really loved the first season and never got around to the second.
My roommate and I watch Ouran when we’re tired/stressed, so we watch Ouran a LOT at school, and we also watch a few other…um…I’m going to admit that we call them ‘garbage animes’ which basically means that we really love them but would also never actually recommend them to another human being, ever. These are things like Seven Deadly Sins on Netflix, and having now been told that piece of information, I naturally expect you to take it to your grave. (Okay, IMO it’s great fun, but it has a lot of what you might call…common anime problems re: women, etc, so YMMV and all that.)
Obviously Avatar: The Last Airbender, but that’s Western animation, so.
As long as we’re on the subject, though, obligatory plug for my favorite non-anime animated thing, though: X-Men Evolution. It’s great, I love it, I am such an X-Men nerd it’s sad.
Um…yeah, I’m sure I’ve forgotten some stuff. But that’s what I can think of right now.
Moran watches anime. Who’d'a thunk.
Aaaanyway, I’d say “tell no one”, but I’m on mobile and I didn’t think it through and am too lazy to retype this whole thing when I get wifi back on my laptop, so. Whatever. I have no shame anyway, come the fuck at me.
once in 5th grade my mom bought me this set of like 200 glitter pens because I had mentioned that everyone at school was obsessed with them but I didn’t really care for them so the next day I brought them to class and kids started offering to buy them so I sold them for $3 each and I made almost $500 and then I got sent to the principals office and was told I couldn’t sell them anymore like sorry that I was a natural born entrepreneur
When I was a freshman in High School our Junior/Senior classes were like 90% stoner kids. When you’re a junior/senior, you can leave the school for lunch if you want, so the majority of the kids would go hot box their cars in an abandoned parking lot a few blocks over during lunch hour.
However, since they needed time to air out, they always got back after the kitchen stopped selling lunch, and they, of course, had the mega munchies.
I started selling kids homemade baked goods at outrageous prices, but I’m a great baker so nobody complained. I was making 25 bucks for 4 muffins, and 8 dollars a brownie.
I made like 2 grand before the school made me stop selling food because it wasn’t a “school official bake sale.” but my regulars would slip me cash + orders in the hallways when we passed each other, and there was nothing in school policy about giving away food, so I would just bring them their snacks the next day. The school couldn’t touch me, I was rolling in dough, and rolling out dough, all freshman year.
Find your loopholes, kids.
born entrepreneurs…. insane…
LOL i know two kids like this.
she made some soap and offered some to my dad and said “Uh 17, I mean 7″ and I was like no, you said it right. 17.
other one sold bracelets
I know a guy in highschool who made so much money in sophmore year selling cupcakes the school shut it all down.
a kid at my school has a panini-maker so he sells paninis to other students and everyone called him Dan the Panini Man
but the campus police people shut him down because it’s not legal to sell food if it’s not a bake sale or w/e
so now he’s Dan the Paper Towel Man and he sells paper towels, but with each paper towel purchase, you get a free panini
Don’t invite me anywhere last minute I enjoy doing nothing so I need to know ahead of time if my plan to do nothing needs to be changed
This is legit and people don’t realize it.
“hey what are you doing?” “nothing” “oh great! so you are avaliab-” “no you don’t understand. I’m doing nothing.”
I have learned the following:
“Hey, what are you doing?” “Why? What’s up?”
Then you have the entire space of their answer to come to terms with potentially doing something, or come up with a better thing to say than ‘nothing’.
Alternately, I find that answering with ‘relaxing’, totally conveys the right mood and people then generally reply with, “ohhhh I know that feeling, no problem, go relax!”
