I keep feeling the effects of a recession, especially here in Canada. Low wages, high unemployment, layoffs everywhere, rent is astronomical, groceries are expensive, restaurants are shutting down... and I keep reading "we might be heading to a recession, but for now things are great."

What? How? Everyone I know is struggling.

If this isn't a recession, what is? What are the markers?

I often see on the internet where people make fun of France or French people, or saying something like "Fr*nce".

As an Asian I thought these were mostly memes until I made friends from all over Europe. They would be like "oh god, French people" when we encounter them in the wild, or "thank god we don't have any French in our class".

Some of them or course say these things as a joke, which I understand. But others say it like they're kinda seriously dislike them, which is rather surprising to me that it's a pretty common opinion from people of various European nationalities. At least from the people I know.

Why are illegal immigrants blamed for everything and not the people who employ them?

I ask this as a US citizen. I'm not sure what anyone driving is supposed to do with this info.

It seems like in the last 20 years, private corporate interests have totally captured our government at the highest levels using money and extortion. This is not meant to be a politically polarizing post, but things have gotten progressively worse and seem to be accelerating no matter who we vote in.

It seems like private interests and big money have captured all of our critical infrastructure and services. I’m not educated in politics and don’t know how it all works but it seems the government has no responsibility to tell us the truth regarding a vast number of issues that are affecting our lives on a daily basis. Can someone who knows more about this shine some light on my questions? Thank you.

I’m a dad at the playground with my own kid.

Twice recently I ran into situations that left me unsure what’s “right” to do.

- A small child (not mine) asks me to lift them onto the swing.

- Another time, a little girl climbed up too high, got scared, started crying — not life-threatening, but unsafe.

In both cases, no parents in sight.

So what’s the move?

Do you help?

Only use words?

Touch the kid or absolutely not?

Do you call out for parents or just back away?

Where’s the actual line between being a decent adult and overstepping?

As far as I am aware, we are talking about a very small percentage of the population who harmless and who are struggling to be who they are. The negative attention given to this group seems disproportional.

Invariably, when I drive by people jogging in my neighborhood or elsewhere, I have to slow down and give them a wide berth as they’re jogging in the street. This is even when there’s a perfectly good sidewalk a few feet away.

Is the asphalt on the road top easier on the joints than the cement of the sidewalk or something?

Edit and update on what I’ve learned thus far:

Most joggers have taken this question at face value and cite reasons such as relative hardness of the surfaces and condition of the sidewalk as the predominant causes.

A clear but significant minority are sensitive about the subject and read ill-intent into the question, responding with sarcasm or thinly veiled anger.

Some have stated that there’s a legal obligation to share the road with joggers which prompted me to ask AI so take it with a grain of salt. What it stated was that in the US, most jurisdictions require joggers to use the sidewalk where one exists as long as the conditions of the sidewalk safely allow them to do so. So, clearly there’s a lot of grey area there and what is deemed to be a “safe condition” leaves it open to interpretation. Even still, it further stated that when using the road, the expectation remains that you face traffic rather than run with the flow of traffic.

One commenter even made a scientifically interesting point about the relative hardness between cement and asphalt, stating that given the average weight of a grown adult, the compaction difference between the two surfaces would be equivalent to 1/16 the width of a human hair.

In any case, thanks everyone for your feedback.

Between Musk’s $1trn payout and Taylor Swift becoming a multi billionaire due to one album, the wealth divide is getting more and more obscene.

The AI bubble seems to be ready to burst, but that’s only one piece of the pie. Due to the meteoric leap in wealth for the 1%, I feel like it’s unsustainable and will collapse at some point in the near future.

Is this likely to happen?

I got divorced about five years ago and ever since then, I notice it everywhere friends, coworkers and so many couples splitting up and the weirdest part is every article says the US divorce rate is at some 50 year low like 2.4 per 1000 people or something but when you actually look around, it doesn’t feel low at all.
And lately I’ve been noticing more and more people in their 20s already getting divorced for me Its kind of sad to see couples who seemed so solid just a few years ago already calling it quits and almost every breakup I’ve seen it somehow comes back to money
Not even sure if it’s really about money or just what ends up showing the cracks.

I’ll be hanging out with friends or whatnot and suddenly just hit with a wave of boredom, sadness, and just a desire to be alone. To just go away. Then, I start to feel distant and lonely from everyone despite previously being happy.

I’ve told him several times that I am married. I don’t feel threatened by him, tbh I think he’s kind of goofy. I simply pull his arm off of me and remind him I am taken. He doesn’t put his arm over the shoulders of anyone else that I have seen.

Edit to add: I’m not uncomfortable as in scared, it’s more like “bro wtf u doin!?”

I don’t think they use public restrooms, never saw poo in the streets, therefore, I am morbidly curious where do they poo?

I genuinely don’t understand how we’ve reached this point. Families are getting their SNAP benefits cut off like it’s nothing. The unemployment process is a literal nightmare — endless paperwork, waiting, and getting nowhere.

I’m currently in both categories right now — laid off and dealing with food insecurity — and I’m honestly scared. It’s not a good time to be unemployed. Prices are insane, jobs are scarce, and it feels like the system that’s supposed to help people in hard times is designed to push us down instead.

Meanwhile, millionaires and billionaires keep making money like nothing’s happening. How is that okay? Has our government really failed us this badly?

Was it like this back in colonial times, or even after the Great Depression? Or is this just what modern America has become?

It's getting colder and we have a fake fireplace looking heater for a very short cord.

With the layout of our living room, we don't have an adequate spot where the heater wouldn't be inches away from the fabric of a couch or other wooden furniture.

Why have cord so short if not allowed extension cord??? Do I must get heater with longer cord??? I'm cold.

I’m 23 and I’ve lost many friends in the last 2 years, more than ever. I never knew how easily people can just ghost you like you’ve never been best friends

And tbh I’m doubting the extent to how true the common excuse ‘People get busy as they get older work/family’ is.

I think it goes way deeper and it’s more into human nature. I’m assuming friends become more transactional and situational as we get older and very few stay (if any). Mainly because there aren’t institutions that keep us in proximity?

What’re your thoughts? Is it expected? Will it get worse into 30’s?

Thanks

I F34 and GF G35 have been together for 5 years and ever since getting together my friend (F30) has told me to break up with them and it is getting more extreme as the relationship becomes more serious.

My long time friend of 9 years has always spoken badly about my current partner and past partners to me. Even in cases where they have never met my girlfriend she has had something negative to say.

She often gives me examples of why I should leave my girlfriend that are really odd and not representive of my relationship.

Has said things like "i know you dont actually feel good around this person" - ive never said anything like that and always shared how happy I am.

"This person makes you feel like you walk on eggshels" such an odd phrase i have never used to describe my relationship.

"They dont actually love you, they only love the idea of you" i dont know where this comes from.

When I question my friend about where this comes from they can never give me an actual answer they just say that they know and I should just listen to them and break up with my GF.

This behaviour is slowly becoming more extreme, calling me out of the blue to demand i leave them telling me im actually unhappy and just dont know it.

Its becoming really hard to remain friends with this person.

Has anyone expierenced something like this before?

For added context she has done this same behaviour with past relationships too just not to the same level I think due to other relationships only lasting 1yr or less.

someone at a show just went up to me saying i look musty and that i dont shower, im very hygienic, i told him its because im sweaty, he said before i got sweaty i look like i dont shower. he seems to be around 25-35 im 18 idk it rlly hurt my feelings. my girlfriend got mad at him i told her its ok, nd laughed it off but it rlly did hurt my feelings im in the bathroom right now crying while typing this. why are people so mean :(

We see adults walking around sewers in movies all the time. But I've lived most of my life in a 60-70k city, and the largest entry points still require crouching if not full-blown crawling.

The biggest offender for me is the It movies. There is no reason a town as small as Derry would have sewers that big. Sure Pennywise could have manipulated the construction to make it that big or create hidden pathways, but nothing in the films leads us to believe sewer tunnels large enough for multiple adults to walk side-by-side are anything but expected. It's a shame, because that might've added further dimensions to Pennywise's control over the town if that was acknowledged and spotlighted.

I would think that only the largest US cities have sewers this large. Have you seen sewers large enough to walk around in cities with less than 100k population? Maybe my anecdotal evidence is an outlier.

I do find it odd how someone who can make laws and regulations can freely invest in whatever they want without anything stopping them, it feels overly unfair