Try to travelling to a yellow-fever zone without proof of vaccination, you are likely to find yourself turned away at the airport- which is better than potentially undoing decades of work and millions of dollars spent by global health officials containing this disease. Many countries require proof of vaccination in order to enter the country- South Africa won’t even let you in for a stopover where you don’t leave the plane unless you’ve been vaccinated. It’s not about protecting you, it’s about protecting the millions of people in a given country who would rather not see yellow fever re-emerge.
Screw with malaria at your own risk. Some strains are worse than others, but the worst will easily kill a traveller in 24 hours- well before someone who doesn’t know the symptoms intimately and doesn’t have immediate access to medical care is likely to catch it. It kills dozens of western tourists every year. And even if it doesn’t kill you, having malaria is one of the most painful and unpleasant illnesses you can get. Even a “mild” case that is caught early and treated can hurt like a mofo and keep you bedridden and useless for weeks.
You don’t really mean it’s outside your experience, do you? Surely you know people who own a house, two cars and go on family vacations- even if they are your parents’ age. How did people ever afford anything like that? Depends on which people you’re talking about. If you’re talking about the tail end of the baby boomers, IME they mostly did it on two incomes and I think it can still be done with a household income below six figures - even in NYC. If you’re talking about the oldest baby boomers- the world was different then. Single income households were the norm, and housing prices reflected that.
You seem to think I was passing out medical advice or something, I’m not. And obviously if something is a requirement thats different.
I’ve never used protection during oral sex, and I don’t know anyone who has mentioned using it either. Obviously some people do use it because there are dental dams at my local pharm along with flavored condoms, this in no way is meant to discount the risk unprotected oral presents.
Never played a video game, except solitaire and Tetris. Never owned a video game system, and I was born in 1981. Never was interested in them at all. People can’t seem to believe I don’t know a single thing about any video games.
Having a lot of close friends. Does anyone have the time for this? I’ve got my partner and a bunch of casual acquaintances, none of whom are particularly close.
Wedding etiquette. What are the obligations of the Best Man, Maid of Honor, Bridesmaids, etc.?
Using a phone for things other than phone calls. I own seven cameras; I don’t need a phone to take pictures.
Being close to one’s neighbors. I only know the names of two of my neighbors, including the one I suspect is a drug dealer and the one who is my partner (not the same one).
Male eyebrow maintenance. I HATE manicured eyebrows on men; I’d rather see a monobrow. I’ve seen guys who look like they’re aliens. Who convinced them that this is a good thing?
Partying, getting drunk, generally “letting loose.” Never did it, never wanted to.
Promiscuity. I don’t get it.
Wanting to be pregnant or have babies. I have no maternal instinct, and I don’t like babies or small children - I don’t even particularly enjoy being around them. I feel like a space alien when other women talk about pregnancy or taking care of kids.
Being adventurous with food. I’m not. I like simple, boring “regular” food. I wish it wasn’t true, but it is.
Coffee. I don’t like it. I wish I did, but I don’t.
Family closeness. I love my dad and I loved my mom when she was alive, but my family was always very small and not particularly close (not in a negative way–just that they weren’t very emotionally demonstrative). My spouse has a large, close family and I just can’t get my mind around that many people being interested in you and what you’re doing. I would find it incredibly stifling, though I can certainly see how it would be cool to have a relatively nonjudgmental support system.
Caring about the lives and doings of celebrities–especially those “famous for being well known” like the Kardashians and Paris Hilton. Why?
Religion or wanting to submit to authority figures. Ever since I was a small child I wanted to be my own authority figure (with regard to making decisions about my life). That doesn’t mean I didn’t/don’t follow rules (parents’ and society’s then, society’s now)–but I did it because I chose to, not because I felt the need to submit to some higher authority.
Buying dope. I smoked a few times in high school and college, but it was always somebody else’s stuff. If I were to develop a sudden desire to take up pot smoking, I don’t have the faintest idea how I would acquire some. I don’t think anybody I know smokes. I work on a college campus, so you think it would be easy enough, but, really, I don’t have any idea how I’d make inquiries.
Ooh, yeah, I should have added that one to mine too. I’ve never even smoked/used drugs, but if I should ever suddenly develop a desire to do so, I’d probably get myself arrested in five minutes with my inept efforts to try to find some!
This surprises me. Most young families I kow own houses, but not granite-countertopped mini-mansions, take vacations, but not to Europe, and own two cars, but not bought new.
Seriously? Where are you? Is this $50K individual or household income? Because unless you’re talking combined household income in a place with a really high cost of living, that doesn’t jibe with my experience at all. The vast majority of coupled people I know make in the $20K-$30K per adult per year range, and pretty much all of them have a house and 2 cars. Many of them even manage family vacations here and there. The house might be a cracker box, and the cars might be beaters, and most of the vacations are of the “get a cabin at a state park for a few nights and go fishing” variety, but they’re there.
Eating fast food on a daily basis. As a weekly treat, sure. But there are really people who grab a fast food burger for lunch every day? Don’t they miss having real food?
Seriously, we make about 60 grand a year combined and own a house, two cars, take vacations… it’s a honeymoon, but we’re going to Eastern Europe this year. Last year we went to New Orleans.
I don’t think they do. I have met poor souls (even some posting here) for whom food is nothing more than fuel, something they would rather avoid if they could.
I think it’s an age thing and a where-you-are thing. I live in DC, and I often wonder who the hell lives in all of these houses. My friends are all prosperous young professionals in their late 20s, and we are all living in rented rooms. I live in a high-crime area that is not particularly trendy and is a ways out from the high-rent districts, and I couldn’t find a house or even a condo that costs less than a half-million dollars within a few miles (and these are not great neighborhoods). Who owns these houses? Where do they get their money from? Are these houses just passed down through the generations, because that’s the only way I can see it working. A city can’t have two million doctors and lawyers buying this stuff. And if people making good money can’t afford a house, where do “normal” families go? Does everyone with kids just live way out in the distant suburbs?
You seem to think I was passing out medical advice or something, I’m not. And obviously if something is a requirement thats different.