I heard that sentiment a lot the last couple of days, and people were so serious about it. It was mostly because I thought it was common sense to use sun protection with my 3 year old and not let her play out in the sun in a short bathing suit at noon and without a hat. And that I preferred her to wear socks and tucked in pants when they went to a forest with ticks.

You worry too much Look at us, we also made it here, and our parents didn’t look out for these things How are people even living nowadays with all their restrictions Think less you’ll sleep better Ignorance is bliss, we just don’t overthink it

Your kids all look like tomatoes turning into raisins y’all

I feel like in a fever dream

So Idk where you guys live and how your self checkouts look but here is my German perspective.

1. If I need a new gas cylinder I have to exchange it at the cashier’s
2. If I buy alcohol or cigarettes I also have to get my ID checked. The self checkout will then be put on pause until some worker shows up and realizes I am well in my 30s. I can also not buy things like razorblades at self checkout.
3. Often the stuff will be weighted to ensure I put it in the bag and not more or less. When I buy something light, think a small back of herbs of like 15 grams, the scale doesn’t realize it and again a problem occurs and a worker has to come
4. If I make a mistake like scanning twice I cannot cancel and again a worker has to come
5. It usually is a much more crammed space. I don’t even need a whole trolley for it to become uncomfortable. More than 5-10 items just don’t work because I have no space. Putting everything out of the trolley on the conveyor belt, getting it scanned, and then putting it back in the trolley is much easier.
6. If there are any items with a sale (30% off because BB date is approaching) I cannot scan this and again a worker needs to come.
7. I am not as fast. Not only because it is not a conveyor belt and I am not sitting at a scanner deck, but also I am just slower than a cashier who knows the code for fairtrade bananas and the avocados from spain but not from peru by heart. It’s my first time scanning this can of beans, where is the bar code? While it is 9 am and the cashier has already scanned this can of beans 25 times today. (8. In some supermarkets my kid gets a free fruit which it not necessary but I find super cute. This is only a thing at the cashier’s)

All I have to say is “hello”, “card please”, and “good day”. And I can also just wave these things. So yeah, I am absolutely standing in line if it is possible. It is so much faster and more convenient and going to self checkout to then get an error code and wait for help to arrive for 10 minutes is absolutely not worth it. (Looking at you, cursed Rewe in Munich). Then I also have to explain what’s the problem much more embarrassingly than any “hi thanks yeah with card please have a great day you to bye” conversation could ever be.

Edit: I just thought of an important 9.

9. I feel so much more anxious and pressured in the self checkout. How fast I am done with scanning, paying, and packing things up depends entirely on me. And I feel the stares of the people in line at self checkout stabbing my back. Telling me to hurry. I try to be fast but the more I try the more I fuck up. So for all the folks who don’t like cashiers because of social interaction, don’t you feel the angst of the line?

I know I’m in the minority

Dude look around the comment section. 90% talk about prefering self checkout

Thank you so much!! I wish I had more stuff to post but I’ll try 🫠 I think the guilt tripping is working

Thank you!

Here’s an anecdote: When I studied abroad, I met a guy who was in his master’s program for psychology, and he wasn’t convinced that phobias were a real thing and not something else. Some day, we tried to get home to the dorm through the rain in the dark, and he eventually ended up carrying me home. Before we said good night, he told me that he now has finally seen someone with a phobia, and now believes they are a real thing.

I am actually scared of all wormy creatures, ie long, no vertebrate, no legs or more than 10. That also means I am scared of bugs and flies, not because I am scared of them - I am scared of their kids. (I haven’t taken the trash out in 8 years or so.)

And to me it makes only sense. I cannot understand how others aren’t scared to death. I cannot explain what it is, I can tell you this: it is not just disgust. It is not just their form or smth. It’s a genuine fear. I get tense just writing about this. I would never do therapy because to me the thought of being ok with it is not appealing. I don’t want to be ok with it. Fuck that. Y’all should do therapy to realize that you’re crazy for being ok with it. (I’m joking, I know that’s wrong, but this is 100% how it feels.) I would rather chop off my arm than touch it. I would, and I mean this, rather let my mother die, than touch it. I regularly reevaluate these statements and they are still true.

I am fine with snakes and spiders tho lol.

I live in Germany so they are even in cities :(

Yeah the soil thing is difficult for me. I just wish there was a healthy world without any kind of ~ thing. I love the idea of gardening, planting my own food and stuff, but it takes about 20 minutes in nature for me to realize that is a fantasy self. I like nature, I just don’t want to be around it. At all.

Well that can be less of a wonder and more of a curse. I have a very huge phobia of earthworms, and I can see them very well. People who know me well go outside and are like “it’s all clear, I checked!” and then I go outside and I see them everywhere.

I also get “Oh just don’t look down” by people who I tell this to all the time. Like, sure, stepping on that will totally be ok as long as I don’t see it? That’s not how this works.

Same goes for these stupid tiny green caterpillars hanging from trees. You wear hats to protect yourself from the sun. I wear them as head condoms against these fuckers. But the truth is I see them from miles away. Miss me with that shit.

I 👏 want 👏 more 👏 girl 👏 content 👏

To be clear - I am talking about stereotypically “female” subjects, not about the gender itself, and I hope it goes without saying that I want people of all genders to be part of it. Some topics over on reddit are full of guys, NBs, and everyone else, but are what a bigoted 90s teacher would call “female” topics. I want more stuff of what that 90s teacher would call “girly” stuff.

I mean, something like a makeup community. Maybe skincare and fashion. Cleaning tips. Pre and post and peri pregnancy content. The parenting community on lemmy is super quiet. There is a sewing community but it is rather quiet too. I haven’t found a mending focused community yet. Boy there even isn’t a sailor moon community, like 😭 come on

I’m horrible in creating any content tho, so uhm, not sure I should be complaining.

It’s a show, not a movie, but I have been watching Fleabag at least 20 times on repeat within half a year (November to April). I do a lot of housework and it often plays in the background while I cook or clean. I know every line. I know every shot and smile and can basically watch it in my head.

When I was 11, I was watching the VHS tape with Pirates of the Caribbean daily for about 1.5 months.

Movies and series are just one of my favorite things in the world. I do want to make time for that. Are there more important and wholesome things to do? Absolutely. But I also feel like I should be allowed to do something not meaningful or important every now and then. I’ve been thinking about it a lot throughout my life, whether, on my deathbed, I will regret having watched so much stuff, thinking I should have spent that time differently. I don’t think I will. Because I love stories. I think it is one (possible) meaning of life, to listen to as many stories as you can. I listen to people’s stories, to things that are actually happening, and TV and movies are another medium that also tells stories. I understand that a lot of people prefer books, maybe that’s objectively the better, healthier choice, but I am fine with choosing the former. I once fancied a career in that field, but after a year I realized that it killed any joy I got out of it, and fucked up my health (99.9% of people are smokers). But at the end of the day, thinking of something from scratch and conveying this idea of events to someone else is fantastic. It is amazing. I feel like I have lived a thousand lives, and I want to live another thousand.

And I reevaluate that question and my answer to it often, on a regular basis. So far, I am very d’accord with it.

Also, just to make it clear, of course I do other stuff. I go outside with my kid every day, we play, we are being creative, I meet a lot of people and always have. I just don’t see less value in watching a movie than in woodwork, gardening, sewing. Also, to be fair, a lot of times when I watch something, it’s because I can’t do anything else, “more productive”, in that moment. I’m not gonna go turn on the sewing machine at midnight. The realistic choice is between watching tiktoks, shorts, etc, or hanging at lemmy for an hour, or watch a movie. I think watching a movie (or half) is time better spent than on social media clicking through short videos.

Me being like “what does it mean to boot from a USB 👁️👄👁️”

Fr though, the account thing is not too far off. When I made my first account (when the Reddit thing happened, it was on lemm.ee) I absolutely didn’t understand jack shit and what I was doing. I was very ready to throw in the towel. I didn’t understand how to add communities, how to search for communities, anything. I still have problems grasping the whole server thing. (Or what a server is.)

So a lot of times I feel excluded here, or at least like an unallowed invader, or a feral maniac just running around, throwing stuff at a wall and looking for what sticks. But that’s ok. I’m happy I’m still here and one day I might even know what a command line is.

I’m confused, this isn’t loss

Did you just assume all dinosaurs tasted the same? Or are you asking about a specific dinosaur species?