I’m afraid to ask, but my curiosity overwhelms my fear. Why do you have a trackball mouse? It’s 2025, there are far better options.

I know from experience that those can be heavy if you need to pick them up with snow on them. I made the mistake of using one to clear my deck and had to lift it up, all laden with snow, over the railing to dump it. If you’re doing anything like that just be careful for your back, bend at the knees as much as you can.

we are going to need a lot of bullets points to fight this.

Ftfy

Like most other gifts, it’s only acceptable if you put a specific one on a wish list and they bought that one. Who wants a random wallet? That’s like buying a random watch, or cologne, or belt. Any accessory should be picked out by the person wearing/using it.

This is exactly it for me. If you give me cash, I will appreciate it but just end up saving it. If you give me a gift card I will use it to buy something I wouldn’t have otherwise.

Plus, you can be more intentional with gift cards. Was your dad talking about how much he’d like a new fishing pole? Getting him a gift card to an outdoors store shows you were paying attention. Maybe your wife really likes manicures but never gets them for herself. A gift card to a spa shows thought.

Fuck dude, it’s all so goddamned depressing. The only sliver of hope I have is that I can pass my knowledge to my kids and teach them better much younger. Hopefully enough people do this sort of thing that we might finally pull ourselves out of our bullshit ignorance. I know it’s worth nothing, but I’m sorry all the same.

I think you’re correct. We were taught about manifest destiny but not the genocide of Native Americans, and that’s just one instance of the institutionalized racism we were taught was good. SO MANY PEOPLE never grew out of that or tried to be better.

I was also gifted firearms as a child. They were kept inside a locked safe that I didn’t have the combination for when not being used for hunting or target shooting. As much as I enjoy guns, hunting, and shooting, I can also see that responsibility goes beyond “it’s guaranteed in the constitution” or equivalent bullshit.

Drag queen story times are of the devil! ( The Christians say while attending church where someone dresses up and reads stories).

Except responsible gun owners wouldn’t buy their child a gun and give them access to it whenever they please. Any firearms I may or may not possess would be locked in a safe which no one but any spouse I may hypothetically have had access to. Unfortunately I lost all my firearms in a tragic boating accident a few years back.

What I’m trying to say is that, while the government shouldn’t be allowed to come check that people have their guns locked up when not in use, there should absolutely be repercussions for anyone found to not be doing so.

Strong Poe’s Law energy with this comment.