Discussion thread for the "Polls only" thread (Part 1)

Hanes Men’s 6-Pack X-Temp Crew Socks. They’re cheap, they last reasonably long, and my feet don’t sweat when I wear them. What’s not to like?

I get my sweatsocks at Sports Direct because they’re like £4 for a multipack. They wear out and then I buy more.

Nicer socks I get from Marks & Spencers, because they’re decent quality and reasonably affordable.

I also have assorted woolly, hiking and compression socks but I wear them so infrequently I’ve had some of them for decades.

Except for specialty things like compression or orthopedics, I would never have guessed that socks have brand names that people recognize or care about. Underwear at least has a label(or printing on the cloth) to remind you, but socks don’t have that.

The socks I’ve been wearing for the past few years say “Fruit of the Loom” across the toes.

Over time, I’ve replaced most of my casual wear and undergarments with the stuff I wear for travel because it’s more comfortable, lightweight, and quick-drying.

We have plates we use for things like Thanksgiving or the rare dinner party. They’re not what you would think of as “good china” of days gone past. They’re nice, but not fancy, delicate, or patterned. I’m not sure they’re any better than our every day stuff, but they’re different.

I have fancy china. I use it for Thanksgiving, the Passover Seder, and dinner parties. It’s pretty. We wash it in the dishwasher. It’s at least as robust as our every day china.

I find them to be extremely comfortable: they’re soft, they fit my feet very well, and I never have an issue with a seam rubbing.

I wish that they lasted a little longer, but I wear them constantly (I nearly never go barefoot), and I don’t usually wear shoes while I’m in the house, so I think that contributes to the wear-out.

If “Skid Row” is good enough for Little Shop of Horrors, it’s good enough for me.

That very song popped into my head as soon as I saw the skid row poll

Oddly enough “Tobacco Road” was the song that popped into my head. I guess my brain focused more on “road”.

I’ve never heard Skid Road, but I imagine it’s probably the original term and became Skid Row over time.

My mom’s favorite CD!

(Not really—family inside joke)

According to the Wikipedia article Gyrate linked to, the term “skid road” came first, but it referred to something different (“the path along which timber workers skidded logs”).

I selected “Other” re: childbirth. My son was born at the beginning of COVID, March 2020. Socialization wasn’t really an option. I suffered severe, acutely suicidal depression in the few days immediately after birth which eventually tapered into moderate depression that lasted a good eight months. I had intense anxiety and didn’t want to see anybody or go anywhere. Leaving the house with my child felt impossible. I don’t think I left the house for any non-medical reason until I returned to work. But where would I have gone?

Not a cultural thing, but definitely an unprecedented situation thing.

Compare and contrast to my cousin who just gave birth to her fourth child today and has a birthday party for her twins scheduled next weekend.

Mrs Magill took a couple months off work when our kids were born, but there was no confinement whatsoever. At one month, she would take the babies to visit their grandparents and great-grandparents.

My nephew doesn’t address me. Period, but I would feel funny if he were to refer to me as Uncle Maus. Uncle Maus is my uncle.

Not only do my nephews call me Uncle kayaker, but one of my nephews has a friend who calls me Uncle kayaker. It’s weird. He will call me at work and ask to speak to Uncle kayaker.

I went on disability for 6 weeks after i gave birth. And i spent most of my time carrying for a newborn. People visited me, and i went out to the corner restaurant. But i didn’t feel up to doing much. I had trouble finding the time to sleep and shower as much as i needed to.

Is that confinement? I felt pretty confined.

My nephews call me aunt puzzle. I see them 3-4 times a year. I honestly have no idea how I’d feel if they called me something else. If would probably depend on what they called me.

For purposes of the poll they would just call you Puzzle.

mmm

The kids next door have apparently been taught to call me "Miss [First Name.] (Well, actually, it’s a version of my middle name, but it’s what I go by.) This strikes me as somewhat odd, but I don’t want to interfere with what they’re being taught as politeness. I suppose I could ask them to use Ms. instead, but it doesn’t seem worth the trouble. (Their parents are younger than my niblings and do first-name me, I think it’s an adults-versus-children cultural thing and not a generational issue.)

My neices and nephews are all fully grown and so are their kids. IIRC when they were young they sometimes called me Aunt and sometimes just by name; and sometimes called me Agéd Aunt (in a joking fashion, I was about 30 at the time.)