Fashionistas you have arrived 3-25-03 - 10-3-03

[robustpuppy]

Originally posted by greatwhitenorthchick
People get married for a zillion different reasons - why they do it is not for anyone to judge.

I hope it's clear that I'm not judging anybody.

[Replaced_Texan]

Originally posted by greatwhitenorthchick
I've never had a bad plane-kid experience either - that is, kids have kicked my seat and the parent apologizes and it stops. I've flown a ton and actually never had a bad passenger experience at all. Most people next to me just read their books/magazines and that's it. All your experiences are kind of making me feel like I live in a parallel universe.

Same here. Kids on planes don't bother me at all. Kids don't add or subtract to the plane riding experience, and i can't think of a single incident where I felt like throwing a child off the plane. I can't say the same for adults.

[greatwhitenorthchick]

Originally posted by ThrashersFan
What with many companies offering benefits to "significant others" now or else both people working and eligible for their own benefits it seems like the only reason to get married without children is the joint tenancy with right of survivorship rules some states have for homes. That, and I guess the passing of certain other property without taxation. Short of that, you can end up getting screwed on taxes. If you own a home you aren't likely taking ths standard deduction so the governments effort to do away with the marriage penalty is no benefit. I earn a lot more than my hubby but then he gets sucked into my tax bracket when we file (I tried the married filing separate thing but got no relief either). What the government should do is have one form and let each person file as an individual with the same rates whether you are married or single and you don't get sucked into your spouse's tax bracket. But for that marriage certificate, I could file alone with all of the itemized deductions and hubby could file alone with a standard deduction so why should we be penalized for taking the vows?

fine. Just don't judge others that don't see things quite the same way you do.

[notcasesensitive]

Originally posted by Not Bob
Oh, for shame, people. Do I need to pull Rodney King out from deep within the drawer?

You are both right. Parents should be aware of where they are bringing their young children, and should make an effort to prevent them from disturbing other people.

Unfortunately, "make an effort" doesn't always mean that a parent is successful. Like everyone else who has posted today, I have had a 3-14 year old kick the back of my seat on an airplane. Unlike everyone else, I have *NEVER* felt like the parent wasn't doing their best to prevent it. I have had mothers apologize to me, fathers threaten little Billy with a painful death if he did it again, and even had a kid tell me that he didn't mean to kick me when he reached for a magazine in his backpack.

I get more pissed about adults who rush onto the plane to use the overhead compartment above my seat so that they don't have to check the 800 pound garment bag on wheels that they bought from SkyMall magazine. Bastards.

Yeah, that is what I find so eggregious about str8's story. The mom was not doing that kid any favors by making it seem like "the princess" was being unreasonable not wanting her seat back kicked. Most parents would try to stop the kid and apologize (in which case, I'm ok with just an occasional look back when the kid isn't in compliance), but if you are going to teach your kid that people aren't right to be annoyed when their seats are kicked, you aren't raising your kids to be functioning members of our society.

[ThrashersFan]

Originally posted by greatwhitenorthchick
fine. Just don't judge others that don't see things quite the same way you do.

Hey now, I was just jumping in to note that many of the non-emotional benefits for marriage seem to have disappeared and used it as a launching pad for my tax rant. I got accused of judging on the ass-fucking thing and don't want to get sucked into being accused of judging. I married twice for different reasons and would never ever judge people for that or any other reason. Historically, people got married because women didn't work, it was not acceptable for people to "live in sin," married people generally had children, etc. but now that all of that has changed it just seems to me that married people are punished from a tax standpoint and the old basis for that (you legally benefit by being married) is gone so why should married people still be expected to give a little bit more?

[notcasesensitive]

Originally posted by Replaced_Texan
Same here. Kids on planes don't bother me at all. Kids don't add or subtract to the plane riding experience, and i can't think of a single incident where I felt like throwing a child off the plane. I can't say the same for adults.

My only real problems with kids have been the sobbing baby sorts of experiences. And once it was my own niece, so I understand completely the helplessness that parents feel with small kids (but that doesn't make the crying less irritating). The issue for me has been resolved with super sound-deflecting in-ear headphones. Also good for if you get seated next to the engines in the back of the plane.

[tmdiva]

Originally posted by ThrashersFan
edited to note that I am no expert on estates and trusts and such but I vaguely recall there being a benefit to being married in that regard. It does not seem, however, that there are any other "legal" benefits over shacking up together.

There are tons--hence the drive for recognition of gay marriage, since trying to cover everything individually in a parallel setup is pretty complex. Unmarried couples, gay or married, don't have any problem as long as everything is good. It's when trouble happens that issues arise--equitable division of assets upon the end of the relationship, power to make decisions when the partner is incapacitated, inheritance, even hospital visitation. And that's just the tip of the iceberg.

tm

[tmdiva]

Originally posted by notcasesensitive
My only real problems with kids have been the sobbing baby sorts of experiences. And once it was my own niece, so I understand completely the helplessness that parents feel with small kids (but that doesn't make the crying less irritating). The issue for me has been resolved with super sound-deflecting in-ear headphones. Also good for if you get seated next to the engines in the back of the plane.

Just don't for one second think that parents are less bothered by the sound of their child crying than are unrelated persons. If my child's not happy, I'm not happy.

tm

[ThrashersFan]

Originally posted by tmdiva
There are tons--hence the drive for recognition of gay marriage, since trying to cover everything individually in a parallel setup is pretty complex. Unmarried couples, gay or married, don't have any problem as long as everything is good. It's when trouble happens that issues arise--equitable division of assets upon the end of the relationship, power to make decisions when the partner is incapacitated, inheritance, even hospital visitation. And that's just the tip of the iceberg.

tm

Hadn't totally considered that but I do know that there have been inroads made in regard to many of those areas. I think that gay marriage should be recognized and it is a damn shame that people have to go through so much to have their committment recognized when straight people can go to Vegas and get married without even knowing each other's names (I AM NOT JUDGING!!). All I am saying is that because society has come quite a distance from the days when people didn't "live in sin" we shouldn't punish people who choose to marry rather than live together -- and I am thinking only in terms of taxes here.


edited to state that I guess I am more pissed off about the 49% taken out of my bonus check last week than I was willing to admit at the time. Those fuckers.

[NotFromHere]

Originally posted by greatwhitenorthchick
I've never had a bad plane-kid experience either - that is, kids have kicked my seat and the parent apologizes and it stops. I've flown a ton and actually never had a bad passenger experience at all. Most people next to me just read their books/magazines and that's it. All your experiences are kind of making me feel like I live in a parallel universe.

Wow, you have been very very fortunate. You must tell us how to get to your parallel universe. I'm not saying that ALL kids must be banned from airplanes. As a matter of fact the worst passenger I ever sat next to was the smoking geezer who dumped a bloody mary on me. That said, I'm in total agreement with the others who have said "the kicking along with the lack of any sort of attempt to make it stop" is maddening. If a kid kicks your seat once or twice, no big deal. But if it continues and you've asked nicely for the parent to make it stop - only to get a weak smile and a lame excuse why you can't control your kid - that's unacceptable. There have been many many kids on flights who are well behaved and obey their parents when they're told. and then there's people like what's-his-fuck who let his kid scream because he couldn't sit next to mommy - that's inconsiderate.

[notcasesensitive]

Originally posted by tmdiva
There are tons--hence the drive for recognition of gay marriage, since trying to cover everything individually in a parallel setup is pretty complex. Unmarried couples, gay or married, don't have any problem as long as everything is good. It's when trouble happens that issues arise--equitable division of assets upon the end of the relationship, power to make decisions when the partner is incapacitated, inheritance, even hospital visitation. And that's just the tip of the iceberg.

tm

Also if there is any reason why government (or even some private) benefits are being handed out, like in the case of 9/11 (an extreme example, I know), cohabitators were not considered to be family. Just spouses. Not fiancees either.

I am neither pro- or anti- marriage. Been there once and it didn't work. Might try it again someday, who knows?

[Pretty Little Flower]

Originally posted by greatwhitenorthchick
fine. Just don't judge others that don't see things quite the same way you do.

Stop judging her judgmentalistic tendencies.

[Pretty Little Flower]

Originally posted by Pretty Little Flower
Stop judging her judgmentalistic tendencies.

I apologize. That came off as kind of judgmental. I want everyone to know that I am not judging anybody here.

Oops, now I seem like I am being self-judgmental.

[ThrashersFan]

Originally posted by Pretty Little Flower
Stop judging her judgmentalistic tendencies.

What the fuck. I was ranting about taxes, not marriage. I was not judging anyone. Well, maybe the IRS (the entity not the individuals). Ya'll are making me paranoid.

[robustpuppy]

I think that ThrashersFan is getting a bit of an unfair reaction here; is it possible Gwinky that you took my post as anti-marriage and hence judgmental, and attributed that judginess to TF?

TF seems pretty pro-marriage to me.