sundries

[rm]

Patty is home, and it's been super New York-y already: the other people in Terminal 8 were so excited to see their loved-ones they were blocking folks from getting out; the cab said his credit card thing was broken; the sound of the heating pipes woke us up; and there was some seriously creepy bird action this morning. Thumbs up.

Zuckerberg is Time's person of the year. How pissed do you think Assange is?

Meanwhile, the US Air Force has blocked access to news sites that have published the leaks. can someone explain this to me? Is it anything other than "these secret things aren't secret anymore, but we're going to pretend they are, even if it means you're working from a deficit of what is now common information?"

Someone is stealing New York's junked appliances.

On splitting the check. I understand the complaint. I don't understand why it's necessary. I've almost NEVER run into this, though. We all figure out what we owe, chuck it in, and since I've been over the age of about 25, we've usually had too much money, not too little.

A bill has been introduced in California to add historical contributions of LGBT people to school textbooks. A similar legislation passed four years ago, but was vetoed by the governor.

The academics I know keep posting this, but I still love it every time I see it: The Snake Fight Portion of Your Thesis Defense.

Comments

[spreadsothin.livejournal.com]

Beyond the acting dumb, it may be that the women in your group are reluctant to assume the authority of the person who tells others what to pay. I'm a woman and I often assume that role, but know others who are uncomfortable asserting themselves in that way.

[setissma.livejournal.com]

I'd be understanding if that were what was behind it, but it's not, at least in my particular situation. My friends (whom I respect a lot and think are talented, wonderful people, for the record) and the other women I dine with are actually not capable of doing the basic math to calculate a tip. We can't pass around the bill and figure out how much everyone owes individually because people can't figure out what their meal cost by adding up the cost of a drink, their main course, and any appetizers, calculate a tip and tax, and adding the three numbers together.

As someone who's committed to the idea that women are fully capable of doing math and science, I find it really problematic how many women have been socialized that a) they can't do math and b) that it's totally acceptable (and maybe even charming/funny) to be unable to balance your own checkbook, pay your own bills, calculate your own tip, etc.

[spreadsothin.livejournal.com]

Wow. I agree with you. I hadn't encountered that. Let's empower our generation and the next to move past this.

[rm.livejournal.com]

For me I try to avoid that role despite being good at it and comfortable with it, because I'm sick of being expected to play mom.

[spreadsothin.livejournal.com]

I hear you...and I think I can understand.