Starting with "7-11, the most dangerous lobby?":
1. I hate this idea that people with an economic interest can't plausibly advocate for something based on the merits. If someone wants to eminent domain my house and I don't want them to because it's my house, does that mean that I'm biased and thus my opinion doesn't matter? This is dumb - just as dumb as the dumb restriction on the size of sugary drinks.
2. The male bonding article describes my whole life.
3. I disagree with that privilege post. Yes, many police officers would stop a black person carrying a TV in this way, and perhaps they would stop more black people than white people (though I am not willing to stipulate to that right now). But he is basing his claim purely on how he believes the events would go down, which appears to be based on little more than conjecture. I think a big part of the problem of race relations is that people on each side (meaning the allegedly oppressed side as well) assume that the other side has a certain set of preconceived notions and beliefs about their own side and act based on them, which only serves to inflame the person and prompt him to act negatively.
For example, a young black male is walking down the street in a hoodie when he sees a white police officer coming. He assumes that the police officer is a racist who is going to harass him, so he runs. The police officer sees a young man in a hoodie running at the sight of a police officer and plausibly assumes that the young man has broken the law, thus causing him to follow the young man and, well, harass him about his probable violations. (Of course, I could give an example from the other side: a white police officer is walking down the street and sees a young black male in a hoodie. He assumes that the young man is up to no good and thus confronts him in a somewhat antagonistic way. The young man, innocently walking down the street, balks at such antagonism and responds poorly, leading to a trip to jail for nothing in particular.) I'm not making a relativistic argument about how victims of racism are just as bad as racists or anything silly like that, but at some point I think we have to assume that the average person (police officer, nosy neighbor, or otherwise) is not a racist and act accordingly.
4. Would you ever go on The Price is Right? I think I'd just want to watch because lately (and by lately, I mean the last 4 years) my guessing skills have eroded. I think it's because of inflation.
5. Can we try the Great Wall challenge? Maybe in March, since you just discovered Trader Joe's. This article also reminded me of one of our better go-to meals: dumplings and baby bok choy. Where did that go? (I guess we need more dumplings.)
In any case, I do think that something resembling fear plays a role, but that makes it sound weird. People like eating the same things because they don't want to mess with what works and they want to stay in their comfort zones. It reminds me of my friend Laura's husband who doesn't eat vegetables and eats plain cheeseburgers without even ketchup, much less lettuce, tomato, and onions. It sounds as though you have to have some cooking chops and a willingness to eat somewhat different food to shop at Great Wall, plus a willingness to navigate a completely different layout with all the language difficulties highlighted in the article. I feel like that sounds either intriguing or daunting, with little room in between. I, for one, am intrigued.
B
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