ValiantDust

I’m not exactly young anymore and things have sure changed a lot since I learned my way around a computer. But here are the things I remember being fun for me back then:

• Drawing around in paint (you already have that covered)

• Creating presentations. Maybe like: Make a presentation about your favourite topic. This might involve collecting pictures either from the internet or getting them from a camera / phone on the laptop.

• Playing some games (in my case pinball, but that’s definitely not very up to date). You can learn quite a bit about clicking through menus etc from playing games.

Something else that would be important to learn early is created folders and keeping some sort of system with your files. I struggle to come up with a fun way to teach that though. Maybe someone else has a good idea?

Well, “misery still delights to trace its semblance in another’s case.”

I know that I grew up in a very privileged bubble and I get that not everyone is in a position to financially support their children through university (the inadequate support through Bafög, mentioned in other comments here, in Germany is a whole other topic).

My point is more that almost every family I know, even the less privileged ones, did what they could to help their children. Even if there is not much you can give that’s the complete opposite of cutting them off as soon as they finish school.

Agreed, I don’t know what the other commenter is talking about. Apparently we live in completely different bubbles. In my experience, it’s the norm to receive at least some support by the parents through university or young adulthood. Not only that, parents are legally required to support their children until they have finished their education, which includes university or vocational training (it’s a bit more complicated than that, age plays a role and whether you drop out and start again, but the point still stands).

Many people I know lived with their parents, temporarily or completely, well after 20. Some got cars from their family, some got furniture or appliances.

I was going to say I have picked up wasp-swarmed fruit (pears, apples, plums) for 25 years and have only been stung by a wasp once – when I stepped on it barefoot. But I realised wasps are probably not the same wasps everywhere and I live on another continent than OP and maybe you.

Hard no on the food, but I’m with you on Never Gonna Give You Up. I sometimes klick obvious rickrolling links just to listen to it.

I also unironically like Wonderwall.

Lesbian relationships on TV and in other media are often portrayed with a male gaze and/or fetishising. Do you think that that might play a role in making you feel uncomfortable?

It’s very hard to tell from the outside what’s the cause of the way you’re feeling. But I guess the best thing you can do is to try to improve and to keep investigating your emotions.

I sometimes also use Netzteil.

(Literally: Net thing. The net is the power grid)

I think you would benefit from having a progressive community around you IRL, not just online. People who accept you as you are and understand your fears.

I’m guessing moving somewhere progressive to go to college isn’t an option. But you said you live close to a city. Is there maybe some group you could join there? Maybe an LGBTQ+ adjacent group? I know you are straight and cis, but some of the people there probably have experienced similar problems and allies are often welcome. Having a working support network makes things a lot less scary.

Yeah, that’s what I meant. I always felt appreciated, deeply loved and supported.

I suspect we might not actually disagree but just have a different way of expressing what we mean, since we apparently come from different cultural backgrounds. I’m from Germany and I’m told the way we talk about our feelings can sometimes seem dispassionate and cold to others.

I don’t really have many memory of my grandparents. One of my grandfathers I never met because he too was an old father and died years before I was born. My other grandparents died rather young when I was still little. All of this likely adds to my bias.

I don’t really agree. My mom has pretty much told me she felt similar before having children. She would have been fine not having any. But she’s still a great mom who loves me and my siblings a lot and never regretted having us. I never felt rejected or unloved because of it.
People shouldn’t have children if they don’t want to have any but to me that’s not the same as being fine with both.

In my opinion over 50 is too old. I don’t have a hard cutoff but I think I would place it somewhere around early 40s.

Some of my reasons are very subjective. My best memories of my childhood with my parents are of active stuff – camping trips, exploring rivers, kayaking. My parents are still very active in their late 60s but I can’t imagine them doing a lot of the stuff we did back then. At least not in the same way.

Also I hate seeing my parents age. It was fine until their early 60s, they were also still very healthy and energetic in their 50s. But now I am often reminded that our time together is limited. I would have hated to deal with that as a child or teenager.

I know it’s very possible for a child to have a happy life with an older parent, possibly happier than many other children. But I personally would hate to have one and think it’s a bit selfish to consciously choose it.

Well, you got me there.

^(Actually the ratio can’t be calculated, since #a/#consonants = 1/0 and you can’t divide by 0 ^and ^that’s ^totally ^why ^I ^didn’t ^mention ^it…)

Wikipedia says so, so it must be true!

I guess we are entering the philosophical level of “what is an English word?” now. I don’t think I’m the right person to judge since I’m neither a native speaker nor a linguist. I’m fine with disqualifying ara.

Ara has twice as many As per consonant. Am and at have the same ratio as banana. But I’ll admit that two letter words is cheating.

People also wore clothes made out of natural fibres which stink a lot less than artificial fibres. Let a slightly smelly woollen shirt air outside overnight and it’s as good as new the next day.

Also, undergarments with full body coverage were not just for modesty, they wicked away the sweat from the body and kept the outer garments clean for longer.

Yes, I can disable it. But I’m actually using the feature. Which probably contributes to the problem, because muscle memory makes me double press too fast.

You can also use a backslash instead of two spaces. For example, if your phone keyboard converts double space-presses to a period and you are too impatient to do them more slowly (definitely not me).

Just add a backslash\
for a new line

results in:

Just add a backslash
for a new line

Funnily enough, the word umbrella derives from the Latin word umbra, meaning shadow. An Umbrella was originally for protection against the sun. I know it now usually is used for the thing protecting you from rain (at least in English), I just thought it was funny that people did walk around with what they called an umbrella when it’s bright and sunny for a few hundred years.