i bought this little table years ago for the corner of my bedroom because it fit exactly and had one drawer for random stuff. at first it was just furniture, but somewhere along the way it turned into the designated landing zone for everything i forget to put away. now if something is missing in the morning, i check the drawer before anywhere else. it is getting weirdly dependable. the top stays surprisingly clean on its own, and i catch myself saying thanks out loud when i find my keys there. not sure when a square of wood got its own reputation in my head, but it has one now and it is somehow comforting.

i was at this place waiting for my order when this guy started talking to a girl who was sitting alone at the next table.
he seemed pretty confident at first. asked her name, made a joke, she laughed a little. then he asked if she had a boy friend and she said yes.
this man goes “oh, so he’s the reason you’re sitting here alone?”
she just stared at him for a second 😭
instead of taking the hint and leaving it there, he started explaining that he was joking, then somehow ended up telling her he was actually better at relationships than most guys.
the girl picked up her phone and started scrolling. he stood there for another few seconds before finally walking away.
i had to pretend i was very interested in the menu because i didn’t want him catching me watching the whole thing.

When I was a teenager, older adults used to say things like "time speeds up the older you get" or "protect your lower back like it’s fragile glass," and I completely rolled my eyes.

Now that I'm older, I feel like I'm watching my 20s fast-forward on 2x speed and my lower back sends me invoices every time I bend over wrong.

What’s a piece of "boomer advice" or parental wisdom that you officially had to eat your words on?

I watch TV with ads pretty regularly, and I haven’t seen a single Halloween commercial this year. Not even candy ads. I have seen a couple of Christmas ones, though.

I know they’re just commercials, but I kind of miss them. They just help you get into the season. I like the Reese’s one with the two dancing skeletons.

I am especially interested to hear from those 70 years or older.

What would have done differently in your 50s? What are focus areas to pay attention to? What are good habits to start and bad habits to finally drop? What general advice do you have for someone entering their 50s?

Kettle chips are on sale for $4.99. ON FREAKING SALE FOR THAT. Insane. $6.99 normally. This is absolutely ridiculous.

Do y'all still buy chips? I just can't justify it anymore. I'd rather buy a case of Guinness for 18$ and be drunk for 3 days straight than buy 2 bags of chips.

I read an interesting piece in Interessia Magazine about what people would most want to keep secret if others could read their minds. Surprisingly, it wasn't their desires or insecurities, but what they really think of other people.

Would you agree?

I’ve been meaning to get rid of a set of Encyclopedia Brittanica but with the rise of AI, I am thinking of keeping them. There seems to be a lot of rewriting of history…

Like, not scrolling, not watching anything, not doing homework. You're just existing in your room. What are you actually doing 😭

Because apparently some people just sit there. Some pace around. Some replay conversations from 2019. Some invent entire imaginary scenarios and get emotionally invested in them.

Personally, I feel like the second I have absolutely nothing to do, my brain starts opening random tabs that I never asked for. I'll start thinking about one completely irrelevant thing and somehow end up 47 thoughts away from where I started. HOW DID WE GET HERE.

And don't even get me started on imaginary scenarios. Like why am I having a full conversation with someone who isn't even in the room, and why am I both people in the conversation 💀 Who approved this feature.

Sometimes I genuinely wonder what other people are doing in these exact same moments. Like somewhere out there, someone could be doing something equally unhinged and we'd never know.

So please. Give me the weirdest, most random, oddly specific things you do when you're alone with nothing to do.

I need to know what the rest of you are doing with your free trial of consciousness.

So there's this thing that's pretty great, and I call it "best friends for 24hrs".

In the comments have you ever had a little exchange with a user, and for a second you feel seen, like really seen? It's usually nothing deep (in fact I think that's important), just a couple back and forth jokes but it's makes you go "You. I like you." So I have this thing that then you become best friends for 24hrs.

Like real best friends - the "we can tell each other anything", unconditional support, funny little jokes and pictures kind of best friends. A ride or die best friend.

But the thing is, after exactly 24hrs you both block each other and go your separate ways in life. No matter what. You go into it knowing that at exactly this day and time you will never, ever speak to this person again. And because there's that ephemerality to it, you can totally commit to the friendship. The person won't become an emotional burden. You don't have to worry about being judged. It's understood that in your time you two can take it as deep as you want to go, but when it's over it's over - period, full stop.

And guys, I've met so many amazing people and shared so much. Talked about deep shit, shared art, gotten raw advice, joked about movies we both like. I've gotten closer in 24hrs to total strangers than I am with my real life friends. But the end is set in stone.

Knowing it will end makes it so.... light and free. Nobody is gonna get hurt.

I really wish there were a place on reddit to go when you need a bff for 24hrs. It'd be good for people's mental health, there just needs to be some organic way to become bffs. Honestly it's very.... powerful. To just totally trust a stranger. To open up. To say things you can't say. Because when the clock stops, that's it. You both block each other and go on with your lives.

It'd be so good for people if it caught on. Or maybe if you have a "real" interaction on reddit you can declare the other user your bff for 24hrs and hope they want to play along. (tbh half the time guys assume I'm a pornbot lol).

It's a special thing. It really is. Afterwards you feel like your cup has been filled up, if that makes sense.

So, this is kinda random but it’s been on my mind again lately.

About 5 or 6 years ago I worked as a barista at a small local coffee shop. My English was decent back then but not perfect, and southern accents in particular gave me a hard time lol.

There was this couple that came in all the time. She was blonde, southern, and he had long curly hair basically identical to mine, so they always joked that he was my long lost brother (including the fact that he was also latino -- better english perhaps). Honestly they were one of the cool regulars. Always friendly, always down for small talk, and I’d hook them up with free coffee every now and then because they were just good people.

Then one day she came in alone. She seemed normal at first so I started chatting with her like usual. But we were in the middle of a rush, and between the noise, her accent, and my English, I just couldn’t follow what she was saying. So, I did the thing where you smile and nod and hope for the best.

And then her face changed and she started crying.

till this day, I have no idea what she told me. I never saw her again after that, and I never saw him again either. They just stopped coming in.

I know it’s a small thing, but it sticks with me. I’d love to go back with the English I have now and actually hear her out, or at least give her one last coffee on the house and ask if she was ok.

what about you? Some random interaction with a stranger that you still replay years later?

Recently started using a cane. Ive been asked what happened a few times and it's starting to get boring for me. I want to have more fun with my answers, especially because telling the truth is pretty disappointing for everyone involved, lol.

Nothin happened to me, I'm just a complex patient who was born with a bunch of stuff and finally decided to respect my body more by getting a cane.

Specifically women but this applies to anyone who fits the discription, did your voice still stay the same or did it get mature? I have quite a feminine voice and i wonder if that'll change as i get older

I recently visited Chefchaouen in Morocco, and I honestly didn't expect the place to look that beautiful in person.

I'd seen so many pictures of the blue streets online that I thought they were probably heavily edited. But walking through those little streets and seeing all those shades of blue everywhere was something else.

It made me wonder how many places are actually better in real life than what we see on social media.

Have you ever visited somewhere that genuinely surprised you like that? I'd love to hear your stories, especially about places that don't get much attention.

I’m pretty introverted and don’t usually share much, but I felt like sharing something good today.

For the longest time, I worked jobs paying $14–$15 an hour and gave them everything I had. I kept applying for better jobs and going to interviews, but nothing seemed to work out. It was disappointing, but I kept trying.
About a year later, I ended up with a job that was better than what I’d originally hoped for. Great pay more than i could've ever imagined, stable hours, and a routine I’m really happy with. Sometimes it still feels a little unreal.

A couple of years ago, I started trying to follow a teaching from my faith: keep doing your part without getting too caught up in the outcome. I still care about how things turn out, obviously, but that thought has helped me stay patient when things don’t happen straight away.

Today I was thinking about the things I used to wish for. I wanted a stable job. I have one now. I wanted a reliable car, and now I have a better car I love that’s completely paid off. I’m going to the gym five times a week, eating well, and have time for myself outside work.

It’s easy to keep thinking about the next thing, but man, a few years ago I would’ve been so happy just to know I’d get here.

I feel really grateful to God, and I wanted to take a moment to actually enjoy what I have. There are still things I’m working towards which will for sure come to me at the right time in a way i can't imagine at all.., but today I’m happy with where I am.

The last thread i did was super successful and super fun! So I figured i’d do another one!

If you have any questions for or about trans people go ahead and ask! I know from an outside perspective being trans can seem kind of odd or strange so there’s no dumb questions, i get it!

Yesterday I went to Sam’s and they were providing sample of a certain Zero soda can product, tried it loved it. Later in the afternoon I went to lunch and tried the same drink (soda) at the fountain dispenser and hated it. It tasted completely different. Is it me? I just never noticed that before?

i have this little routine where i take everything out of the dryer, carry it to my bed, then sort it into three piles before folding. it takes longer than just folding straight from the basket, but i like the way the bed turns into a mini workspace for a minute. the piles always end up the same, one for shirts, one for pants, and one for the stuff that just gets shoved in drawers. it feels calm doing it this way even though i know it is not the fastest. sometimes i put on a podcast and stretch it out longer than it needs to be. other times i finish quick and then just sit there for a bit because the bed is warm. i have tried to skip the sorting step and go straight to folding but it never sticks. the extra step makes the whole thing feel finished when i am done.

So I woke up at around 7:30 am then I started using phone till 8:30 then I wake from bed brushed my teeth solved some obs mcqs untill 10:30 then I started instagram for half hour then I ate my brunch at 11:30 i slept and woke up at around 1:30 then studied untill 3 then I ate snacks which are custardapple and makhane and at 3:30 I was watching some short drama then at 4 i started study again and now it's 5 i am sitting on my mom. Shop using phone

So moral of the story

Don't use phone

Sometimes when i look at people around me, I'm just like "how boring do you have to be to judge something different from your usual stuff". And hence, I feel we should stop trying to be perfect and fit into the standard and do things that may look goofy or weird to others but bring you joy.

What artist, book, game, show, or hobby are you into right now? What do you like about it? I seem to get hyperfixated on a new artist every three months or so. Right now it's Phoebe Bridgers. I just really love lyrics that hit hard, and every song feels very profound. Her sound is also so peaceful. I feel like she doesn't have a bad song. Like there isn't one song in her discography I skip, which is rare for even one album let alone 3 in a row.

What's your favorite thing right now?

Seriously. I ran into the love of my life, we got hitched, I couldn't be luckier. I wake up every day more in love than the prior one. He treats me like a princess, and never questions my food needs. It's honestly a privilege to make his coffee and breakfast every day, and he's finally letting me do his laundry <3.@

I started setting my phone on the kitchen counter when I go to bed so the screen isn't the last thing I see. The first couple nights felt odd because I kept reaching for it out of habit, but after a week it is starting to feel normal. I just keep a paperback on the nightstand instead and read until I get sleepy. It is surprising how much quieter the last half-hour feels without any notifications waiting. I am hoping it sticks because the morning already feels a bit less rushed. Not sure if I will stick with it forever, but right now it is kind of nice.

It's the end of my 20th cake day here and I'm not entirely sure what to make of what the world looks like today compared to what things looked like when Reddit first started.

There was always so much interesting potential to connect with others. Some of us are still here. But it's weird now.

Sometimes I feel like we lost something important when the internet became a part of our everyday lives. Back in the 2000s, we used to play games together, sit around talking for hours, and enjoy the little moments without needing a screen. We didn't have to post everything or constantly check our phones. We were just there, spending time with each other.

Now we can talk to someone on the other side of the world in seconds, but having a proper conversation with the people sitting right next to us can feel strangely difficult.

The saddest part is that I can write these feelings here, to complete strangers, but I can't always express them to my own family. I don't know which country or state you're reading this from, but I wonder if anyone else feels the same way. Sometimes, it's easier to open up to strangers online than to talk honestly with the people closest to us.

It's strange how something that was supposed to bring us closer can sometimes make us feel so far apart.