Huh? I don’t understand this comment. Are you saying you think I’m lying? Lol. I mean more power to you if you’ve never experienced these self checkout logjams. I’m fine with them in concept, but the way a lot of the stores I’ve experienced use them makes it kinda unpleasant. Guess it’s regional.

The downside is forcing a bunch of people through self checkout who need a cashier. Whenever you all talk about how great self checkout is, I wonder what mecca you live in. My only experiences with it are long lines and long waits caused by a number of factors:

-Many self checkout lanes closed because they think everyone is stealing and refuse to staff more than one person to watch over you

-Old people who can’t use technology and don’t want to be using the machines

-People who have entire carts and struggle to effectively scan their groceries on the tiny space allocated.

-Machines that scan painfully and artificially slow because they want to weigh every goddamn item to prove you aren’t stealing

-Machines that record you and yell at you for stealing if you move an item slightly awkwardly

I got it at CVS in California and it was just a box you had to tick on the intake form, “I am qualified to receive the vaccine” lol. It was in same section that asks the standard stuff like, “are you allergic to stuff in this vaccine?” etc. No conversation about any of it at all.

I am selling my house, giving up my well paying job, and leaving Texas in a week to be with my fiance who has already moved. I am terrified of the house not selling and of being unemployed. I originally graduated into a depressed job market with a soft degree and spent 2 years(!!!) job hunting before I got a job in retail customer service. Somehow over a decade, I managed to claw my way, tooth and fucking nail, into a career I’m proud of. The closer I get to being out of a job, the more scared I get but then I see stories like this and I am reminded why we decided that getting the fuck out of here was worth more than whatever financial security we’re giving up, (hopefully just in the short term.) This place is not fucking safe.

I feel like it’s one of those things where if you’re in California, people are going to have a lot of big opinions. But if we’re talking outside the state, we got each other’s backs.

Yeah, I know, I had the same thought: it’s not actually about documents so documents won’t stop them if they want to take you. There’s already a story out of Florida where ICE refused to release a citizen even after he produced a birth certificate and a judge dismissed the case against him.

Calling ejaculate “baby gravy” alone should be a fucking crime. These people are so gross.

I’m certain that these jobs are attracting sociopaths who literally want to use their positions of power to harm people. It was bad enough with regular cops but with ICE flaunting their disregard for the law the monsters are coming out in droves. Terrifying.

Anyway, this article has convinced me to start carrying my passport as a vaguely Latino looking person with a Spanish last name in Texas. (I am Filipino American lol.)

I just read an article this morning (tried to find it to link here but couldn’t) that was talking about how it will be more difficult for Dems to lean into this strategy because most of the blue states already have independent committees to draw districts (as they should.) It basically pointed to California as our sole bastion of hope for 2026 and noted that if a bunch of the states follow suit, the Republicans will have the edge. Continues to come down to the electoral college problem with small states getting disproportionate voices.

Not to mention the Texas Rangers don’t have jurisdiction anywhere outside of Texas. They’d be essentially coming in and acting as vigilantes. No other states should be ok with that kind of usurping of power on their soil or it’s a really fucking slippery slope.

Ok but surely they know the difference between price go up and price go down? It’s astounding people will probably believe this.

Yeah, but also for most things requiring proof of citizenship in the US, people generally use their birth certificate or a document, like a passport or real ID, that was originally obtained with a birth certificate. If birthright citizenship is no longer a thing, how would you even provide documentation for your parents’ citizenship if they aren’t naturalized citizens? Can’t rely on their birth certificates because that no longer matters and now I have to prove my grandparents were/are citizens to prove my parents are citizens and on and on. It doesn’t even make sense.

Remember when that treatment came to light and people were generally horrified? Do we just need photos so everyone can see what’s going on with their own two eyes like Abu Ghraib? Or are we morally past the point where people who voted for this would even care? They might even celebrate it.

I see no reason to doubt the original reporter who did actually speak to her. The dispute was denied by her CC after the hotel provided the report. Is that really unbelievable to you?

The commenters are saying “bank” but the original article says she disputed with her credit card company so I don’t think that’s the case here.

Yes, that’s exactly what I expected, too. What actually happened is truly baffling on multiple levels. Why???

Representation matters

Right, and Irish-Americans have more knowledge and understanding about Irish-American culture.

The other poster was making it seem like American culture is homogenous or like descendants of immigrants can’t still retain distinct cultural traditions and identities outside of generic American. Whether or not those traditions are the same as the original country of origin is immaterial. Nobody is claiming that it is.

What I don’t understand is why Americans portray themselves as Dutch when coming to the Netherlands.

Do they, though? Are there really that many Americans who think or try to pretend they are actually Dutch, instead of Americans who are have Dutch ancestry?

It honestly sounds like they are just trying to connect by sharing a commonality and something that is (probably) important to them in some way. It’s an expression of appreciation. Even if the cultural traditions carried on in the US are different than in the modern-day country–so what? It doesnt make those cultural traditions less important to the people who celebrate them. I fail to understand what is wrong with acknowledging or appreciating where those traditions originated.

Is it just a matter of semantics and an objection to the label itself “(whatever nationality)-American”?

The level of authority that you’re speaking with about another country’s culture while clearly only having a surface-level understanding is actually wild. Maybe accept that the Americans who are telling you otherwise have more knowledge and understanding of their own culture.