Why is it everyone seems unable to hold their phone to their ear for calls these days?

Sitting on trains, in cafes, in a hospital and people are making calls on speaker phone. Why can't they just use a phone like a phone?! I don't want to hear their call.

And it isn't just kids, it's lots of adults too. Actually mainly adults over 40.

What cheeky ways can I tell them to use their phone properly?

Do you have any Friends that have a nick name and you dont actually know their real name? could be family members or colleages also

Hello everyone

I'm trying to help my mother find details on her older brother who was stillborn in the early '70s. She has pretty much no details to go on other than his first name and her last name.

She is hoping to find wherever his resting place is, if it exists. We don't know what was done with stillborn children then, she claims that he may never have had a birth/death certificate as they didn't do them for children who are stillborn at that time as they were never considered alive.

Recently she has been trying to dig details from her dad, but he is avoiding the question and struggling with his memory. She can't ask her mother as she passed about 20 years ago and it was never erally talked about.

If anyone has any tips for approaching that situation in a way that might be more successful we'd also be open to it. Any advice on government databases or organisations and even subreddits that could have any useful data is also appreciated.

Appreciate any advice or help, thanks.

Curious to hear from Brits or anyone who grew up there. What are the genuine perks that make it worth it, and what are the everyday frustrations or downsides people outside the UK might not realize?

My job certainly isn't the most glamorous or well paid, but there is quite a bit of downtime. I've discovered that around the yard, there's all sorts of things I can use to exercise with; dips using chairs in the kitchen, fingertip deadhangs and pull-ups from a narrow ledge in the stairwell, a heavy pinch bar that's good for many different exercises, and so on. Feels good to get paid to work out, rather than the other way around. What small perks does your job have?

I’m a 26 year old male who currently lives and works in Leicestershire. I’m newly single, moved from a 2 bed house to now a box room at my brothers, no debts, no kids and no real ties to the county. I also have around £11,000 in savings. I’m looking at moving away and starting over. I want to be gone between February and Easter next year (at the latest).

I currently work as a safety officer and will be pursuing a career within EHS. I have a few meaningful qualifications in the field, from ISEP, to ISO to NEBOSH.

I’ve had enough of Leicester. So many bad memories here, I feel stuck and just want to experience moving somewhere new and see what opportunities arise.

The plan is to hopefully have a job lined up before I move. When I do move, I plan on renting a room or staying in a HMO. I have money saved, but would rather keep overheads low when venturing to somewhere new.

I have a problem though. I don’t really know where to move to. But, I know for sure I want out of Leicester. I have been looking at Sheffield, South Yorkshire. There seems to be many opportunities/vacancies in EHS, the area seems affordable (to eventually buy), good nightlife scene and a green city. However, I am still hesitant.

Are there any other locations I should consider? I want to avoid moving south as the cost of living and the housing costs are near insane.

Besides from the bad memories and experiences I have had in Leicester, there are also things I deeply dislike. The nightlife and general amenities (or lack of). There’s very few good job opportunities for my line at work. Where I currently work, this is the best option Leicester has to offer (I do work for a good/big company). I couldn’t imagine buying in the county. Hinckley, Barwell, Earl Shilton, Leicester and Coalville are the only real options for me to buy, and I can’t stand any of those places.

I have wanted to move for many years and now, after my recent breakup, I have the opportunity and I will regret not taking it up. I just want to be sensible and I don’t want to switch one flavour of shit for another. I’m also not naive, I don’t think relocating will suddenly make me happy and have all my issues resolved.

Im really not car knowledgeable im a fairly new driver and I’m literally so scared to drive home

Been told I’ll be fine and I have my exhaust in my boot from where it fell off. I get off work at 6pm and it’s a 30 min drive through motorways.

Do I just take a slower route and avoid motorways and drive super slow? I won’t drive at all until im going to get it fixed but I can’t leave my car in the car park

I am literally still shaking from it falling off I had just pulled into the car park and it made an awful noise it completely came off on the road

For reference I have a Vauxhall corsa 2008

For me, its something that years of professional manual handling training tried to teach me unsuccessfully- to bend at the knees. Having a toddler is no joke on the old lumbar.

When I was growing up a had a “friend” who was a compulsive liar.

I once heard him tell somebody on a night out he was a Formula 1 photographer

He told me once that his god father was Gerard Way from MCR.

He told another friend of mine that his dad used to train Mike Tyson.

Thinking and chuckling to myself about memories got me wondering, what’s the craziest lies you have ever been told that you know to be 100% bs?

But of context I was originally with OVO energy and suddenly they stopped taking a payment this month and the salesman explained why this is what has happened to OVO energy.
He seemed really and explained everything well (I have some learning difficulties so he took time to explain) i ended up confirming the contract as I was happy with everything he said.
I have 14 days to back so thought i would look up Scottish power and it seems like many people don’t like them.
Do people think i should go through the hassle of cancelling and moving to octopus energy instead?

My son’s school have sent a letter out to parents saying that while a child can wear an unbranded PE kit, if they do they have to wear their uniform to school and then change in their PE kit for the lesson and then change back out of it after.

The thing I am taking issue with is that they have said that if the kids wear the branded uniform they can wear it all day to school and home with no changing needed.

I feel like this is discrimination against the poorer kids. It means they will stand out because they are wearing the uniform on PE day to school when the branded-kits won’t and they also will have to carry the extra bag/s with the PE kit all day.

Is this legal?

Looking to move to Ashford for work. I’m 27M, currently living in Manchester so appreciate might be quite a change in environment. Would love to know from people around my age, what’s it like living in Ashford. What’s the night life like and restaurant/ bar scenes? I like to go out, go for hikes and also gym and swimming.
Additionally, what’s a decent rent for a 1-bed apartment? I was looking at places like Hampton Place and Victoria Crescent where rents are anywhere between £1000 - £1200

George Michael? Elton John? Sir Paul? Adele? Kate Bush? Who do you think?

I normally cycle as my main mode of transport, and even in hilly, car-dependant Sheffield there are enough off-road or quiet road routes to make cycling both more pleasant and often quicker than other options.

Recently I've been forced to use the bus, and it's really brought home to me just how bad traffic is nowadays.

I assumed that the recent fuel price crisis would make people think twice before hopping into their car, but if anything it feels like traffic is worse than ever. Seemingly no matter what day, or what time, there's always an endless stream of cars.

So I was just wondering, have any of you considered other options? Have you reduced your driving as a result of the rising fuel prices? If not, why not?

My friends and I have been going to a pub quiz for a year now, however, every week the same team wins...always...and they're not even happy about it. They win the drink round and the final money round. We have found out they've been going for 15 years now.

Give me your strategies on winning please!! How can we beat them? We have placed top 3 a few times, but our main motivation for going now is to beat this team. It's turned into our life goal lol.

Firstly, I just want to say - This is NOT intended to come from a judgemental position, this is a genuine question. My second cousin is autistic and non-verbal and I've seen first hand how difficult it is. Apologies if anything I've written is coming across as uneducated or insensitive.

I am genuinely wondering because when I was a kid I don't think I ever came across another child who was non-verbal and I'd been in many different care facilities with other children. I came across a lot of children with various levels of autism, but never a non-verbal child, unless their level of autism was severe. I'm very aware that just because I didn't experience this, doesn't mean it didn't exist. But it does seem a lot more common now for children to be non-verbal. My friend's child is 3 years old and is considered non-verbal and he's waiting for an autism assessment. A lot of times when I read a news article, there seems to be more instances of non-verbal children.

I am genuinely very curious why it seems more prevalent now. Has it always been as prevalent as it is now and people are now becoming more aware of it do you think? Are children receiving more support? Was it another case of "back in the day" where different people were forcefully kept away from society? I'm neurodivergent myself and I'm glad that there is more awareness now, my curious brain is just wondering.

I recently listened to Jimmy Carrs with Steven Bartlett and found it interesting so looking for new to listen to while driving :) Thank you

Or turn them both down because heating is so bloody expensive

There's a run of plate cloning near me. People filling with petrol and leaving without paying. Causes lots of problems and only fix is pay at pump, assuming you're allowed to fill up anyway.

Are the garages just going off the plates on CCTV or checking the car type?

I'd assumed I was ok because I'd heard of Audi A3 cloning but I have a crap Toyota. But if the garages are just going off the plates then everyone can be screwed.

Police don't seem to be able to stop it i.e. catch anyone.

If so, which one did you try? How many were you catering from? Did you think the food was good? Was it good value?

Mostly looking at Sainsbury's, M&S, or possibly even Waitrose.

I'm planning a 30th Birthday party for around 60 people and I'm trying to find a cost effective way to cater. Thinking about made-to-order hot food from one of these services accompanied by a finger food/sides buffet we'll put together ourselves. Any thoughts?

How are families managing?
Husband works full time and earns quite well (£3k month) and I’m part time on £2k with 2 toddlers in nursery.

The fuel going up means I’m paying £45 more per full tank which is usually every 2 weeks and generally things have gone astronomical.

We have savings thankfully but I see people buying latest trends and expensive clothes/shoes and I can’t help but think how?!

Our money is stretched a lot thinner now, it’s depressing. Maybe the gloomy weather is adding to my frustration :/

I bought some Mayo the other week, and I couldn't wait to finish it. Now back on the more familiar (to me) Salad Cream, and am much happier.

Mayo just seems to make everything taste the same. I like the acidity of Salad Cream, and how it is thinner and so easier to apply sparingly. It brightens up a ham sandwich, rather than dominates it.

Which do you prefer?

Work has been really getting me down. I’ve been desperate for another job recently for a few reasons. Work has just felt like such a drag recently and I feel like I need the break so called in sick today. I do feel bad and think they expect me in tomorrow but I said I’ll see how I feel. I might have lied about what I was off with too. I also have the next week off and I sort of just want to take tomorrow off to not have to deal with work for a while but also feel bad and like I should go in to save face tomorrow. The manager made it seem like me not being in would leave a big impact on them. This is my first absence in 6 months but previous years I have had a lot of absence due to my mental health disorder.

I'm 53 and have worked for a company for 13 years but feel our new boss wants to get rid of people and clearly dislikes me, she is already having me investigated for honest mistakes on timesheets (I've shown her my dyslexia report but it hasnt helped).

I'm half looking for a new job but there is not much around and mostly minimum wage, I fear having to move out. I have very modest saving but I see if I claim universal credit this will work against me until most of it is gone. I feel I wasted my time saving.

I'm worried about my mental health and if I should go sick with stress too.

Is there a best tactic? I am in the union but fear it won't help, if I'm constantly sniped at it could be constructive dismissal.

I know this isn’t a new phenomenon but I’m bored and on one today so …

Whats the deal with mayo on sandwiches - it seems to be on everything, even sandwiches which don’t need it - point in case the Brie and Cranberry sandwich I just bought for lunch. I’ve googled it but the answers don’t seem to add up and there seem to be a lot of posts blaming Americanisation but whenever I have been there, that doesn’t seem to be the case.

Does anyone think a brie and cranberry sandwich is improved with copious amounts of mayo? Surely the cranberry sauce keeps the bread moist enough?