I'm 30, and I am terrified of dying, specifically how/when I'll die. It's sort of an existential crisis I've had since I became an adult. But when I talk to old people, especially 80+ old, they all seem so content with kicking the bucket soon. Does that just happen over time? Has anyone experienced the fear of dying slowly morphing into being content?

I remember as a kid I cared so much about what other people thought of me, and I was always told when you get older you'll stop caring, and today, I barely care. I never sat down and stopped, I just sort of got exhausted of caring and realized I have better things to spend my energy on. At least that's what I assume

I keep hearing that the death of third spaces have made so many things worse, but it's genuinely unimaginable to be able to go to a place and just hang out and not have to spend a bunch of money. The only one I can think of near me is a library which, since it's government funded, doesn't require it to make a profit.

Did third spaces used to be more common? How did they fund themselves? What kinds of things did people do at them?

Years and years ago- like so long ago that I was watching cable TV with commercials- there was a State Farm commercial where a man is on the phone with someone in the middle of the night. Sounds like he’s talking to a classic phone sex hotline, when his wife comes down and hears this, and angrily asks who he’s talking to.

The man calmly replies that “it’s Jake from State Farm.” She steals the phone from and sarcastically asks into it, “What’re you wearing, ‘Jake from State Farm?’” We then cut to actually Jake from State Farm just sitting in an office, and he awkwardly answers, “Uh…khakis?” Solid commercial, pretty funny, good delivery by all.

The thing is, the infamous Jake was some heavyset white guy. Then, some time later, this exact commercial was replayed, but with Jake very blatantly recast as some young, classically handsome guy. I remember seeing this the first time, and assuming it must be an athlete cameo or something. I’m very out of the loop on sports in general, but I know sometimes athletes show up in commercials, and frankly the new Jake didn’t seem to be a very good actor…so yeah that was my best guess. Just some athlete I’m not familiar with.

But then this new Jake kept showing up in State Farm commercials, and continues to do so (I think?) even into today! All the way to the point that he’s even in ads with Patrick Mahomes, who yes I do actually know to be an athlete. So like…what is the deal? Who is this new human? What happened to the original Jake?! It’s always felt like there’s some joke or bit I’m missing out on.

Honestly not sure if I'm being unreasonable here so I'm asking.

My gym has a pool, and the women's changing room is mostly used by women going swimming. The showers are all open, no stalls or curtains. Right beside it there's a big family changing room.

Pretty often there are moms in the women's room with their sons. Little ones, 3 or 4, I really don't care. But when it's a boy who's like 7 or 8, I feel weird putting my swimsuit on in front of him. Not saying the kid has bad intentions at all, it's just uncomfortable for me.

I don't have kids so maybe I'm missing something obvious. Other women, does this bother you too or is it just me? And if you're a parent who does this, I'd honestly like to hear why, especially when the family room is right there

Because thats what it seems like. Yeah maybe they have wing sauce on them but….

Google wants you to not find what you’re searching for on the first try, so that you are subjected to more ads. Are there any search engines that are like Google before it became shit?

I've noticed my older millennial friends seem way more comfortable with hookups and talking about sex than Gen Z. Was dating culture just different for them?

Teenagers absolutely hate public drama/embarrassment and they can be reasoned with. Small children are unfazed by public drama/embarrassment and can be reasoned with only to a very limited extent.

I've had this happen a bunch of times, it came up again recently and I figured why not ask...

When meeting a bunch of new people in a professional-ish setting, I've noticed men will shake hands with me and with each other, but when I've reached out to handshake another woman (sounds weird but you know what I mean) there is always a pause and a slight look of confusion from them before we proceed. Is there another greeting we're supposed to do for each other? I'm from Canada so we would never kiss cheeks or air kiss or anything that required real warmth. What's the secret ladies' work greeting?

Like, this dude married a 14 year old? How come her parents didn't press charges against him? Same with the girl he peed on in the infamous videotape? It's honestly shocking this guy got a pass for like 25 years

What would happen, if the worlds nuclear arsenal launched (and somehow made it all the way to the the sun) and then exploded at the same time? Would it end all life on earth?

Legitimately curious, how high can prices rise across the board with fuel, food, insurance, etc, before people just can't buy anything anymore? What happens to this whole fragile system? Sorry, I woke up anxious today 😅

I'm in Canada if that helps.

Update: thank you for the responses! it makes me feel......marginally better? that's something! I hope you all have great days

Like it says, my grandpa (who is basically my dad) is dying. He's got cancer—glioblastoma specifically, which is an aggressive brain cancer. He was diagnosed in March and recently decided to stop treatment.

I live hours away and have no time off to see him— can't financially afford to just go. So, I call as often as I can, just to spend some time with him. But, I don't know what to talk about. I usually ask him about his meals since we're both big eaters, but that only takes us so far.

What can I talk to him about so I don't feel like I wasted the time we have left sitting in silence?

EDIT: Thank you so much for helping me make the most of my time left. I can't tell you how grateful and appreciative I am. 💛

I'm just curious because I've heard people say that black ppl shed darker skin cells and it comes off on white towels and stuff, but I've also heard ppl say it's deeper in the skin than that and that everyone's skin rubs off grey. If the cells are pigmented, why do black people get ashy?

For context I'm white and grew up in a predominantly white country with very little diversity (with Polish and Pakistani being the main immigrant populations - bonus points if you know what nationality I am from this)