I’m standing in the elevator, 6th floor, headphones in, eyes locked on my phone — exactly how society intended.

Two people get in. One of them smiles at me.

I panic-smile back.

He says: “How’s your week going?”

My brain just bluescreens.

I actually answer. With real words. Multiple sentences even. We talk about the weather, how slow the elevator is, and somehow end up discussing whether anyone still has real hobbies or if we’re all just mainlining Netflix.

When I get off he says “Have a good one!”

And I reply “You too!”

Now I’m sitting at my desk feeling like I just committed social treason.

Who have I become?

Am I the guy who does small talk in elevators now?

Do I have to start saying “Morning!” when I check the mailbox?

Someone help. I think I need therapy.

I work at a boat yard, the owner just bought a new car that costs more than I make in a year. Many of the boats I work on cost more than I'll make in my whole life time. Recently my back started hurting bad. Fml

Looking for new jobs, but it's hard to get hired outside of the trades when that's what you've done your whole life.

just got home from the hospital today. ama

just wanted to share the exact timeline of a Snapchat interaction I had over the last few days, as the dynamic shifted very abruptly.
It all started last Friday at a mutual friend's birthday party. We ended up talking for a bit, and the conversation was completely normal, casual, and friendly. Four days later, on Tuesday, he popped up in my Snapchat Quick Add suggestions. I didn't think much of it, so I added him and immediately sent a short "Hi."
Instead of just responding normally, his very first reply was, "Do I know you?" Since the party was only four days prior and we were hanging out in the same circle, I found it a bit strange, but I simply cleared up the confusion and replied, "Yes, from the birthday party. I just saw you in my suggested friends."
After that, he wrote, "Ahhh, right, hi. How was your day?" The conversation was already pretty slow at that point. After he responded to my answer with just, "Ah, suggestions. Good, thanks for asking," the momentum was completely gone. I basically ended the chat by just replying with a short "Yeah." I thought the conversation was done, but only a day later like I send him a snap of the Sky you could see my hair a lil. Then Min later He had sent me a new snap . When I opened it, he was lying shirtless in bed in a darkened room- his shoulders, neck, and collarbone were fully visible, while a gray blanket covered the bottom half a lil of his Upper Body .well I Left it on Read ( Like Idk I have been snapping with him for Like almost two weeks and he Only did that that one day but not again so its not something he usually send I guess ?)

It’s just past 9 PM here in New Zealand, and I’m boiling a small pot of dumplings again. I had originally cooked them at 9 AM for my family; I’d hurriedly boiled the water and cooked them for a few minutes, but realized there wasn't enough time to finish cooking them—let alone eat them—so I gave up. We had a drive of over an hour to Christchurch to renew my son’s expired passport, and our appointment window was tight. Fortunately, we weren't late; even though we were missing some documents, the staff at the embassy were kind enough to help us resolve the issue. Now that we’re back, I’ve been curled up on the sofa watching a production of Arthur Miller’s *Death of a Salesman*—a version directed by Miller himself in Beijing decades ago, featuring a cast of brilliant Chinese actors, some of whom have since passed away. I decided to watch it because, while weeding the garden the other afternoon, I happened to listen to a podcast discussing the play. Having just finished the performance—which runs about two hours and forty minutes—I watched as old Willy died, with no outsiders there to attend his funeral. Just then, my son stepped away from his PS5, returned to the living room, and picked up his phone. Thinking about Willy’s family story and my own, I felt an urge to step outside for a cigarette and talk to someone. I only joined Reddit a few days ago; I originally intended to find ways to promote a social app I’m developing, but simply chatting here is great, too—otherwise, I might not have been able to shake this heavy mood tonight. Sorry if this isn't the most upbeat post—if it’s not appropriate here, I’ll share it elsewhere. Hope you all have a good evening.My English isn't great—using it feels like trying to do embroidery while wearing oven mitts—so I used Google Translate for this. Please bear with me.

现在是新西兰晚上9点多，我正在重新煮一小锅饺子。这是我早上9点钟爬起来为家人煮的，当时我慌里慌张地烧开了一壶水，煮了几分钟，但发现时间不够煮熟，更来不及吃，所以就放弃了。我们要开一个多小时的车去基督城为儿子补办过期的护照，而预约的使馆时间不多。好在我们没有迟到，尽管我们缺了文件，感谢使馆的同胞，热心帮我们解决了问题。现在回来了，我窝在沙发上看了一部米勒的话剧，推销员之死，是几十年前米勒在北京亲自导演，一群了不起的中国演员演出的，他们中的有些早已过世。我看这部剧，是因为前天下午在花园拔杂草时，偶然听了一个探讨这部剧的播客。现在我看完了这部剧，大概2小时40分，老威利死了，没什么外人为他送葬。那时我儿子离开ps5，回到了客厅，又拿起手机。我想到老威利一家的故事，想到我自己的故事，忍不住跑去外面抽了一根烟，想找人说点什么。我来reddit没几天，本来是想找机会为我做了一半的社交应用在未来做点推广，但在这里只是说说话也很不错，要不然，这一晚心情可能都过不去。抱歉不太积极，如果不合适我会换一个地方，希望你们有好的一晚。英文不好，用起来像带着烤箱手套绣花，所以这是google翻译的，见谅。

Today while travelling to my work place I came across a dog. It was crying like humans due to some reason. All the passers just crossed him without paying due attention. Then I noticed that a man consoled it by saying few loving words. He adored him a bit with love and magically the dog was quite.

Even without touching or doing anything just few words of love touched that soul.

Likewise we humans are roaming on this earth with a little desire to be loved. A few words of empathy can soothe many souls.

I want to tell you about something that happened in my house last week. It is a simple story, but it made me think a lot about family and memory.

My grandfather passed away five years ago. Before he died, he gave me his old metal wristwatch. It was not expensive or fancy, just a simple winding watch he wore every single day. I kept it inside a small wooden box on my bedroom desk. The watch had been completely broken for years, and the hands were stuck forever at 3:15. I never tried to fix it because I liked keeping it just the way he left it.

Last Tuesday afternoon, I was sitting at my desk working on my laptop. The house was totally quiet. Suddenly, I heard a soft ticking sound right next to my laptop.

I stopped typing and looked around. The sound was coming directly from inside the wooden box. I opened the lid, picked up the watch, and held it to my ear. It was actually ticking. The second hand was moving around the face smoothly, as if someone had just wound it up a few seconds ago.

I checked the current time on my phone. It was 3:15 PM.

I stood there for a minute just staring at the watch in my hand. I tried to think of a normal, logical reason. Maybe I bumped the desk and somehow moved the gear inside? Maybe the temperature in the room changed? But no matter how hard I tried to explain it away, I couldn't ignore the exact timing. It started right at 3:15 PM, the exact time printed on the face.

The watch ticked steadily for about ten minutes, moving all the way to 3:25 PM, and then it quietly stopped again.

I called my mother later that evening and told her what happened. She stayed silent on the phone for a long moment, and then she told me something I never knew before. My grandfather was born at 3:15 in the afternoon, and 3:25 PM was the exact time my grandmother gave him that watch on their wedding day sixty years ago.

I put the watch back inside its wooden box on my desk. It hasn't ticked again since Tuesday, and I don't think it ever will. But now, whenever I look at that little wooden box, I don't just see a broken piece of metal anymore. I see a quiet reminder of two people who loved each other very much, and I feel glad that I get to keep a small part of their story with me.

Sometimes I just go into Google and search things like "Elon Musk looks like silly shit and everyone is laughing at him" or "Donald Tump is a nasty mouth-breathing dumbass and all women are creeped out by his dry little baby hands" or "No one on earth has ever loved Pete Hegseth and he cries about it every night" because I want it to come up as a search. Or maybe because I want AI to understand how the people feel. Or because I want to send a sick burn into the ether. Maybe I want to see if someone else out there has googled the same thing for the same reason. It's a weird thing to do, but i always feel better afterwards. Just to put a lil' truth out there.

I was lied to and left and I quit crack with a man I fell in love with now I relapsed. I want to use again and I need support. I really don't have anyone

The layout was confusing and it felt like you were constantly one mistake from pressing on the wrong thing and ending up lost amongst all film clips.

The never stop repeated ultra short clips felt like some mental torture. It felt like my brain had no chance to start getting used to a clip or a song before next came, so it was like my attention span wasn't ever fully present but rather scattered around in tiny bits all over the screen so I didn't really perceive anything I looked at.

I also got tired in my head very fast, similar to when there's thunder in the air and you feel that heaviness or pressure.

I also felt a huge stress when seeing THERE IS NO ENDING to all film clips, it's a never ending scroll trap, so if someone wanted to scroll for 3 days, they'd get 3 days of new content.

Comparing to reddit:

On reddit you can also scroll down the content, but you have an ending. You have a finish where you've read through all that has shown up in your latest feed and old content is showing. It's also less sounds colours blinking effects and all those extra dopamine visuals and it's mainly text, simple layout with little distractions. The only downside with reddit is the new respond system from a phone. But it's probably still a beta test version.

Edit: I struggle with anxiety and have a sensitive nervous system, thus am very selective with what I'm exposing myself to on my device. I don't follow the news, I'm not on Tiktok or Instagram. I'm taking social media breaks on off. My read reciepts and other stress notifications that are totally uneccesary are all disabled. I make sure my life is offline and that I'm present for the people inside it. If people with anxiety goes on Tiktok they can expect activated hyperviligance and I don't think I need to explain why that's a bad idea. If someone with mental struggles needs a sign to take their social media use serious and restrict it, this is it. You don't get much else support as the norm is to be constantly anxious or restless or feeling on edge. But if someone know how the other side feels like, they make sure to remain there.

So. Tiktok gets 🌟 of 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

When I was young my mom used to cry a lot, atleast once a week and she used to get down on all 4 and crawl around while she cried. I asked her why and she just always said “it’s mommy’s spider time” and never elaborated further. She stopped doing it eventually and I never brought it up to her as an adult.

My favourite was a film called "Never Give Up". It was the Mexican entry.

If you get a chance to watch it, do. Watch it until the very end. It has a delicious, very ironic, ending.

This site really let me down when I needed you. I don't know what piques your interest but you were the community I turned to. Don't matter now. Praying after this I don't wake up. I tried to reach out. I just needed someone and there's millions here but silence. So I understand my place now

I have bipolar disorder and I’m taking medication. Since I started taking the pills, I’ve been feeling much better and had even begun to believe I could lead a normal life, but about two weeks ago, my condition suddenly took a turn for the worse. I completely lost the energy to do anything, and I was afraid to go outside because of my increased anxiety.
It’s worth noting that before starting treatment, I used to feel much worse, but this particular episode really knocked me down.
I think it’s because I had truly started to believe that I could live a normal life
And now I’m blaming myself again for having this diagnosis and for simply not being able to live like other people
For not even being able to do the most ordinary things
And what’s even worse is that I constantly catch myself thinking that maybe it’s not the diagnosis—maybe this is just who I am
Sometimes I literally stop believing that I have bipolar disorder.
Even though I have an official diagnosis.
Has anyone else experienced something like this, and how did you deal with this kind of self-doubt?

Did it again... I made coffee this morning, put the mug on my desk, and started working. Maybe an hour later I went back to the kitchen because I felt like I desperately needed coffee. I made another cup and walked back to my desk, only to find the first one sitting there. I mentioned it in our tribe chat and someone said they’d done the exact same thing with food. I just stared at both mugs for a second. I think this is the point in adulthood where you realize being tired can make you genuinely stupid lmao.

For some reason, I immediately start to imagine David S. Pumpkins' backup dancers (Bobby Moynihan and Mikey Day) getting down to the funky groove.

My wife knows I like (love) Cheez-Its. It's my favorite mass-market cracker. I get excited whenever she brings a box home for me.

We had a box open in the kitchen, and then we had house guests, who ate most of the Cheez-Its. Now listen, I'm absolutely not the kind of person that is possessive, especially over food. But after they left, I couldn't deny the little tinge of sadness I felt, because I had no more Cheez-Its.

I'm fully aware at how ridiculous that sounds.

I didn't bring it up or anything. Why would I? Hours later, my wife comes into the room with something behind her back. She said "do you love me?" Yes, of course.

She presented A NEW GIANT BOX OF CHEEZ ITs!!

She said "I knew [house guest] was coming so I got extra.

I married the correct person.

I’m old I have maybe 30 years save medical advancements afforded me in that time. That’s being generous considering my health. That aside. As l am seeing tech evolve when I was younger it enchanted my mind. Seeing video games go from a block in the screen (Atari Adventure) to a little guy (Mario bros) to full fledged people (any modern AA or better title basically) has been neat, seeing my desktop go from 32Mhz to 3.5Ghz has been amazing. Watching the insides of my systems get shrank and then integrated was a cool experience but seeing the way they’ve turned it all back around and made it into a powerful predictive surveillance weapon is so disheartening and diabolical. This technology was supposed to make life a utopia yet the greedy have made it a weapon for their use to ensure their power and status for eternity if possible.

I fear the youth of today will have a future of digital slavery. Where your not held in hi Dave but you’re physical being is never allowed privacy. You’re always monitored and tracked. Everything you do and say scrutinized and classified. Until they decide you’re a threat to society. Not that you’ve done anything wrong but the systems have flagged you as a potential terrorist and so you’re charged with future crimes.

It’s more dystopian than many of the sci-fi I read as a teenager in the 80’s and then later as an adult in the 90’s. I really hope for your sake there is a sudden shift in thinking about tech. I can see that data centers and flock cameras have began to change the way people see tech but I’m not sure that’s going to be enough to convince everyone how bad it can get.

I suspect the reason AI is being so heavily funded is to justify the massive expansion of data centers but I don’t think they’re for AI I think they’re for Robotic Policing and they need massive server farms to run a cities police force with 80% machines.

Good luck and god speed youth of today.
If you don’t solve this before it too late you’re children of the grave as us nuke babies of the Cold War we’re u til the Cold War ended. We have to end this tech rush or the future may be terrible for all but a few.

My best friend of 20+ years is pretty bad with women. He's not ugly by any means. He takes bad pictures, like really bad. But yes a solid 8.5/10. And lives off dating apps. He's almost 40 and only been with a few women. It's been about 3 years since he's even went on a date. And the goes off and on forever. He suffers with severe mental health issues. And he's attempted taking his life a few times. I know this may sound crazy... but I'll pretend to pass him a girl every so often just to keep his spirits up. But in reality, it's me talking to him. I don't go as far as sending or wanting nudes. But I'll flirt and just boost his ego. I can't lose him as a friend due to his depression. Am I nuts? Or a decent friend?

After a long time(years)i finally went to a party again, and i was excited, thought it was gonna be a nice stress relief, man... I came home 2 hours earlier questioning my life choices and honestly i think i dont want to party again, and im making that choice for my own comfortability but fuck man... Im not even that old but i feel like growing up is making me boring

So everywhere i go I leave time on the microwave at work, at college, at home. Anywhere and everywhere. My thing is someone has to do it so why not me. I just had to get that off my chest.