They're usually the ones with the smug assurance that it'll never happen to them... and short of saying, "You're different, so be prepared to take your lumps," they stop thinking at the point of preventive detention and fall back on "just in case" rhetoric. No acknowledgement nor responsibility of the outcome, because those particular ends are irrelevant to the justification of the means. I asked, what if it were I? Being acquainted with me didn't change their minds--they wanted to ensure their own protection--and supported sacrificing an innocent person for the good of the whole. Which is a whole 'nother issue altogether, still unresolved, and the subject of many graduate psychology experiments.

I think you misunderstood the intent of my post, which was, at that age, many people I knew were having children or going to grad school or both, and I couldn't identify with those experiences, so I felt left out. I'm assuming the LW doesn't have kids. Friends in the young professional childless demographic eased my feeling of boredom and loneliness and provided me with a social niche, and as they started grad school and had children I became more comfortable with the ways that adults' lives change, i.e. it wasn't so strange and out-of-reach for me. Role models can be invaluable for a depressed twentysomething person. And by no means are my friends now restricted to this demographic. But I had to start somewhere. I should have clarified this. I don't despise people who have children, nor do I have a dog.

Peace.

...so I'll just suggest one thing which helped me greatly -- hang around people you admire, kind, smart, understanding people who exhibit traits you want to cultivate in yourself. Don't be envious of their abilities, but rather let their company bring out the best in you.

The demographic in which I found many such people were young professional childless couples, late 20s and early 30s. And, those I befriended didn't really change after they had kids, and they didn't stop being my friends. I learned a lot about them and how to be an adult while watching them with their kids, because the kindness and generosity of parents has to be unconditional.

You seem to have left childish ways behind, so loosen up and have fun. Don't worry, you're not stunted and you're not regressing. You're on the right track.

There is NO way the committee has the balls to go against the insurance companies.

Now, is it someone people still pay attention to?

I detect that harshness and edge that he's talking about, and it gives me the willies, because I know what it's coming from. The opposition has been IRRATIONALLY angry with Obama -- as if he got caught under the desk with an intern and a cigar. He has NOT, and he's only been president for nine months. They've been attacking him since before his inauguration... and now they're ticking off the ways in which they can latch their hatred to something he's done or hasn't done in order to unleash their prejudices in the name of something else.

Are they fooling anybody?

Yeah, it seems so.

Sorry, but if you're still denying this and calling it a natural progression of polarization, you need a lamp in your cave.

Your mention of a "d*ck rubbing up" convinces me that this is a good idea for India for as long as it takes until the groping becomes rare. But then, how would we be able to tell?

It's not a bad idea to let the longest legs sit in front. It was interesting that it didn't hold for white girls who claimed shotgun. Opportunity vs. courtesy. Still, I think it should be offered rather than expected, and someone already in front shouldn't be evicted but allowed to enjoy the ride. The differences in height weren't so great (a matter of a few inches, all less than 6 ft tall) that a shorter person in back *wouldn't* feel cramped as well.

Your comment reminds me of something I used to observe in college: In mixed-ethnicity groups, it didn't matter, but in a car of all Asian students, if the driver were male, the biggest passenger (always male) would get the front passenger seat. If a girl got in the front seat, she was asked to move to the back, or else the biggest male (who had sat in the back without complaining) would suffer the heinous discomfort of being cramped in the backseat of a Honda Accord/Toyota Corolla. The guys had already been trained to yield the front passenger seat to the biggest male, and if one objected, it was only an occasional thing.

However, this rule did not hold for the driver's potential romantic interest--she could sit next to the driver. Other girls were not allotted that privilege. Also, if the girl were white and claimed shotgun, she was not told to move, presumably because her culture wouldn't expect it.

ever happen to Bush II, Clinton, Bush I, Reagan, or Carter?

Would any Congressperson in the audience have DARED?

These white, conservative school districts don't want an uppity black man talking down to them?