Nataly

When I was 15 I spent a year in Sweden as an exchange student. It was a great experience. 1 week in Paris seems perfectly fine to me, assuming you and your friends share similar views on looking after a teenager... ETA: The world is getting smaller... 1 week in Paris seems unlikely to be a "once in a lifetime opportunity"!! "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

Agree with everything you said... Perhaps "harder" is not quite the right word... Just meant that I seem to hang out less and less with men... A big part of that is that I simply have less time... Less time because I work; less time because I hang out with my man; less time because they hang out with their girlfriends... Just find that I naturally have fewer guy friends these days. "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

Like Shroppy said - it's more to do with respect (and IMO maturity) and that is not something tht necessarily comes with age... What's up with the age thing is that in my university days I had lots of friends (male and female) but I have personally found that being "just friends" becomes harder in time when people are married and/or in committed relationships... I have also personally found that as I've grown older I have become more aware of "hidden agendas" (and hidden feelings)... And finally, I keep surprising myself with having less rigid (and more down-to-earth) notions of "right and wrong" as I've gotten older... So I do think age/experience/maturity are factors to be considered in answering the question... "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

I love you means whatever you want it to... Throw it around like "hello" and it means nothing... Say it when you feel it with all your body/heart/soul and it means everything. "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

I like this answer. I don't know if "strictly platonic" is really possible (ie: no sexual tension AT ALL), but trust and maturity certainly is. "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

I mean beyond teens and early 20's - I'm talking strictly platonic for both parties. "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

It's likely you will come up against obstacles when it comes to things you can only know from experience... You may know and she may *think* she knows but neither of you can anticipate how things will turn out when both of you mature and develop further... She probably has a longer way to go in terms of really getting to know herself, but that is not necessarily a bad thing if you are supportive and encourage her to be her. As Quade said... Statistically, most relationships end in tears anyway!! "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

God bless men like you, John

What an *excellent* post

Well, I haven't watched the show, but it seems pretty realistic that a size 8 is too big to be a model. It's not PC to say so but it's still true. "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

OH GOD I'M FUCKED! If Aussie sizes are like UK sizes, a 12 to 14 is much smaller than in American sizes. I think most people would agree that a 10-12 in UK sizes is slim, and at size 14 you wouldn't exactly be considered FAT... "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

Not as lame as your excuses for not tipping. They did not hold a gun to your head and make you sit in the corner under a drippy air conditioner...that is your fault...you could've moved. It is not her fault the poutine was disgusting. (as if it's such a delicacy to begin with...[rolls eyes] It's not her fault that you would actually pay $12 for that crap. (unbelivable) The waitress is just taking the brunt of punishement for a bad cook, bad management and your bad decisions. The only thing that I agree with is that the waitress should not have complained to you in public about not receiving a tip...that is just as tacky and tasteless as not tipping. Oh...I also agree with your other comment about you calling yourself a twat... Nope - you quoted a lot of things but not my reasons for not tipping. The waitress' service was bad. The waitress put me at the only small table. This makes sense because the restaurant was relatively full - but it's still her responsibility to wait on all her tables. Everyone else got waited on and not me - I got forgotten. I don't call that good service - do you? She was snappy and never offered an apology for repeatedly making me wait (when no one else was waiting). Is that good service? I smiled at her when she first came over to the table, thinking perhaps she was overworked - she didn't return the smile. Is that good service? From where I was sitting, things seemed to be running pretty smoothly - lots of waiters per table, speedy service, smiles all-round, but not my waitress... Is that good service? So where the hell does she go off demanding a tip???! Her job is to take my order, bring my food, give me the bill and take the payment. Those are the bare minimums. Tips, in my view, are for doing those tasks well. She did them badly. Yes, it could have been worse, and then I would have complained to the manager and asked for a refund. Edit: spelling "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

I for one was merely responding to all the lame excuses for why I should have tipped the waitress. Waiters should not expect a tip from me if they don't do a good job. End of. "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

Ill be over there shortly to fuck over your hard working baby making wait staff as well

Well, it certainly tasted like she did!! "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

I see your bicycle incident has not impared your ability to come up with just the right hillarious tidbit of comic genius!! "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

Bien, et toi ? "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

Yeah. Hypocritical bastards. "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

I know what you mean about travelling with the rig... I've been to Empuria many times, but I don't feel like I've ever been to Spain It's all good... Sometimes ya need to jump; sometimes ya need something else. Just try to do what makes you happy

Yes, that's true, and a good way of looking at it. Reminds me of the first time I heard the various Arabic greetings... "Go in peace / peace be with you" etc. They told me that in the same way, they don't really think about what they are saying and it has mostly lost it's meaning so that it's the same as just saying "hello" "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

"There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

"There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

Yes, actually that is *exactly* what they did! I was put in a corner next to/behind a pillar and forgotten. I kept fighting to get the waitress' attention. People who arrived after me finished their meal before I even got mine. And that is totally beside the point. I don't care about the waitress' 10 illegitimate kids - should salary be adjusted to fit needs? Mine isn't. I don't care if they work their asses off - should we reward effort and not results? I worked for 3 months as a Recruitment Consultant - I didn't bring in the cash despite working like a maniac. I got sacked. Are the circumstances beyond her control? No. She can do *her* job well, and if she doesn't like her job she can get another one. And if I don't feel like giving a tip, she can suck it up and bitch about it later. "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

I'm a little bit like this but I still tend to veer towards the easier "I'm fine" answer. "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

Yeah yeah - it's completely hypothetical