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Health insurance in America is just paying $400 a month for the privilege of paying $5,000 for a doctor to tell you that your stress-related illness is caused by worrying about how to pay for the doctor.

Employer health insurance is a corporate moat around American workers. Leaving a job means risking doctors, deductibles, and coverage during transition. Businesses call it a benefit because calling it dependency would expose the bargain.

My flight got delayed and I spent four hours with a stranger who gave me unsolicited life advice that was annoyingly accurate. Gate B7. 11pm. No updates. He sat down next to me. Him: Flight to Denver? Me: Yeah. Him: You look stressed. Me: I'm fine. Him: Your leg's been bouncing for ten minutes. Me: That's not stress. Him: What is it? Me: (pause) Energy. Him: Nervous energy. Me: Maybe. Him: What are you nervous about? Me: I'm not nervous. Him: Then why are you going to Denver? Me: Work meeting. Him: Important? Me: Big presentation. Him: And you're prepared? Me: Mostly. Him: Mostly means no. Me: Mostly means mostly. Him: Which slide worries you? Me: (staring at him) How do you know there's a slide? Him: Everyone has one slide that's thin. Me: Slide seven. Him: What's on it? Me: Projections. Him: Are they accurate? Me: (long pause) Aspirational. Him: So no. Me: Educated guesses. Him: Sell them like facts or admit they're guesses. Pick one. Me: What if they ask? Him: They will. Me: Then what? Him: Then you say "these are projections based on available data and I'm confident in the methodology." Me: That's very specific. Him: I've given bad presentations. Me: What do you do? Him: Retired now. Used to be in sales. Me: What kind? Him: Pharmaceutical. Me: So you lied professionally. Him: I presented aspirationally. Me: Same thing. Him: (smiling) Exactly. Flight got called at 2am. He gave me his card. Said call if the presentation went badly. Presentation went fine. Slide seven got one question. Used his exact words. They moved on. Never called him. Still have the card.

Tech Support: "Have you tried restarting your computer?" Caller: "Yes." Tech Support: "And the problem persists?" Caller: "Yes." Tech Support: "Okay, let me remote in and wait, I'm seeing you haven't restarted in 847 days." Caller: "Right." Tech Support: "But you said you restarted it." Caller: "I did. I turned the monitor off and back on." Tech Support: "That's not restarting the computer." Caller: "The screen went black and came back." Tech Support: "Sir, that's the monitor." Caller: "Aren't they the same thing?" Tech Support: "I need a minute.”

My wife's GPS voice has caused three arguments this month and I'm starting to think she programmed it that way. It started on a road trip. We were driving to her sister's house. I had the GPS on, everything was fine. Then the GPS said, "In 500 feet, turn left." I turned left. GPS: Recalculating. Wife: You turned too early. Me: The GPS said turn left. Wife: It said 500 feet. That was 300 feet. Me: How do you know? Wife: I was counting. Me: WHO COUNTS FEET? GPS: Make a U-turn. Wife: See? Me: The GPS is wrong. Wife: The GPS is never wrong. Me: It's wrong right now. GPS: Make a U-turn. Wife: It's telling you to fix your mistake. Me: I DIDN'T MAKE A MISTAKE. I made the U-turn. The GPS recalculated. GPS: Continue for two miles. Wife: Two miles. Because of your shortcut. Me: IT WASN'T A SHORTCUT. I FOLLOWED DIRECTIONS. Wife: You followed them poorly. This went on for twenty minutes. The second argument happened a week later. We were going to dinner. GPS: In one mile, merge onto the highway. I merged. GPS: Use the right lane. I was in the left lane. Wife: It said right lane. Me: I know what lane I'm in. Wife: The wrong lane. Me: I'll merge over. Wife: The exit is in half a mile. Me: I know. Wife: You're not merging. Me: I'm waiting for an opening. Wife: There's no opening. Me: There will be. GPS: Exit in 1000 feet. Wife: Paul. GPS: Exit in 500 feet. Wife: PAUL. GPS: Recalculating. Wife: You missed it. Me: I DIDN'T MISS IT. Wife: We're on the highway going the wrong direction. Me: The GPS will recalculate. Wife: THE GPS WANTED YOU TO EXIT. Me: THE GPS DOESN'T KNOW TRAFFIC. GPS: Make a U-turn. Wife: Even the GPS knows you messed up. Me: THE GPS IS CONSPIRING AGAINST ME. Wife: The GPS is trying to help. Me: IT'S NOT HELPING. The third argument was yesterday. We weren't even in the car. We were at home. Talking about the GPS. Me: I think we should use a different navigation app. Wife: Why? Me: The current one causes problems. Wife: YOU cause problems. Me: The GPS gives confusing directions. Wife: The GPS gives perfect directions. You just don't follow them. Me: The voice is aggressive. Wife: The voice is neutral. Me: It says "recalculating" with judgment. Wife: GPS voices don't have judgment. Me: THIS ONE DOES. Wife: You're paranoid. Me: I'm observant. Wife: You're a bad driver. Me: I'VE BEEN DRIVING FOR 35 YEARS. Wife: And you've been lost for most of them. Me: THAT'S NOT FAIR. Wife: We missed a wedding once. Me: ONCE. Wife: In 2019. Me: I THOUGHT IT WAS A DIFFERENT CHURCH. Wife: There was only one church. Me: There were two churches. Wife: One was a bakery. Me: IT LOOKED LIKE A CHURCH. She left the room. I sat there. Thinking about the GPS. I swear the voice has gotten more passive-aggressive over time. It used to say "recalculating" neutrally. Now it says it like I've disappointed it. Like it expected better. My wife says I'm imagining things. But I know. The GPS knows. And we're not done fighting. Not by a long shot.

invested in the background character?" "Y'all ever get so high you forget you're watching a movie and just start staring at the TV like it's watching you?"

Health insurance in America is just paying $400 a month for the privilege of paying $5,000 for a doctor to tell you that your stress-related illness is caused by worrying about how to pay for the doctor.

My retirement plan is basically just hoping that by the year 2060, the economy has been replaced by a bartering system based on bottle caps and vintage memes.

We are the first generation that has to choose between "saving for a house" and "having a social life." Apparently, the price of a backyard is 30 years of total isolation and a diet of strictly ramen.

I’m tired of being told to "invest in myself." I’ve invested in myself. I’m fully stocked. What I need now is for the price of eggs to stop fluctuating like a volatile cryptocurrency.

Funny how "we’re all in this together" only applies when the company is losing money and needs you to take a pay cut, but never when they’re hitting record profits and distributing dividends.

If a job requires a "Rockstar Personality," it just means they want someone who will perform under extreme pressure, work grueling hours, and won't complain when the "tour bus" has a flat tire and no heater.

The "Open Office" plan wasn't designed for collaboration. It was designed so your manager could see your screen from 40 feet away to make sure you aren't accidentally experiencing a moment of joy on company time.

There is no such thing as "quiet quitting." There is only "doing exactly what you are paid for." The fact that doing your job description is now seen as a rebellion shows how much free labor companies have been stealing for decades.