3/30/23 - Do they not know how many germs are on hands?
China News Weekly posts a poll asking opinions on whether trees should be planted in deserts. A Ningxia forester rented 3000 acres of land to plant trees and fight desertification and has gone viral with his posts begging for water. According to the forester, he still has 800 acres of land to plant. He’s only managed to reclaim 2200 acres of land, and there’s still 800 acres of desert that he’d like to claim back. But he is fighting over water sources with a nearby coal mine. Many internet comments are arguing over whether people even should plant trees in deserts to reclaim the terrain and what kind of trees are best suited for this task.
Some people say that growing trees in desert could cause underground water levels to fall even lower, causing the original indigenous plant life to become unable to survive, so reclaiming deserts is something that should only be attempted after investigating the local water situation. And that even if you were to go ahead with reclaiming deserts, plants native to the desert biome should be used first.
Comments say, “Every video I’ve watched on reclaiming deserts plants grass first in little grids, to lock in the sand, and then they plant drought-resistant shrubs. Why start right off the bat by growing arbour trees? It’s sort of like sticking water pumps right into a desert and expecting the situation to get better.”
A submission to a relationship blogger. “Do all daycare teachers touch children’s faces? I really, really hate daycare teaching touching my kid’s face. And almost all of them do it to all the kids. Can I just tell them directly I want them to stop? I’m honestly so angry I could explode.”
“Do they not know how many germs are on hands? Do they think it’s intimate behaviour to touch the kids’ faces? I don’t think so. There’s a lot of cool stuff I want to touch too, but I don’t do it. Last time we were eating out, it happened too. Some waitress saw my daughter crying and just reached out and wiped away her tears. I stopped her right away and she had the gall to get mad at me. She was all like, ‘What, are you implying I’m dirty?’ Like she doesn’t know what all hands have germs? I would never touch a kid’s face without washing my hands first.”
“I just saw another parent bring their kid to the daycare, and the teacher immediately reached out to touch the kid’s head. The kid’s clearly surprised and went to hide behind mommy’s legs. I’ve decided, I’m gonna tell the teacher today that I don’t want them touching my kid’s face.”
“Update: I ended up going to a different daycare now. Sorry, I just can’t accept frequent face-touching. It’s too unsanitary.”
Comments say, “God, I feel bad for your daughter. This is the reason kids have worse and worse immune systems these days.”
Man wants to get back with his ex-wife after being divorced for several years. She requires that he carry her from her house to his house. The total distance is over 100 kilometres.
Comments ask, “She doesn’t feel bad for him?” Others reply, “Feeling bad for a man will bring a lifetime of bad luck.”
An askreddit, “What does it feel like to discover a long-kept secret?” The top-voted reply is, “I used to live with my maternal grandma and grandpa when I was little. They had a standalone little house, and we never locked any rooms except the front door.”
“I was in first grade and still slept with my grandma and grandpa. They were both asleep, and I was still awake thinking about the cartoons I’d watched that day, when I heard the door open and someone walking around.”
“I thought my uncle had come back and wanted to sneak out to play with him. But when I got to the bedroom door, I suddenly realised that couldn’t be the case. If my uncle was coming back, he would certainly call ahead and ask me what snacks he should bring over for me.”
“So I didn’t go out and locked our bedroom door. As soon as I snuck back into bed, I heard someone try to twist the bedroom door. When he couldn’t get it open, he knocked on the door.”
“He knocked really gently, like he was supposed to be there. But I heard footsteps while he was knocking. Even though I was only in first grade, I still noticed right away that most people would stand still to knock the door. So there was definitely more than one person out there.”
“I was a total scaredy cat and just pretended to be asleep and didn’t move. My grandma and grandpa heard the knock and got up to open the door. They’re really sweet and naive and must’ve missed the footsteps and didn’t think anything of it.”
“I didn’t dare to say anything, afraid whoever’s outside would hear me, so I gripped grandma’s hand and kept shaking my head. There were tears in my eyes.”
“Grandpa seemed to get it, and sent off a text to my uncle and my mom. I finally relaxed and fell asleep crying.”
“The next morning, the house was neat and straight, like nothing had happened. I mentioned what had happened last night, and my mom said, ‘Nah, it must’ve been a nightmare.’ Grandma, grandpa, and my uncle all said that I’d fallen asleep early that night and must’ve had a nightmare.”
“Oh! Okay! And tiny little me stopped being afraid, and ran off to play.”
“Ten years later, when I was going to high school, I talked to the neighbour’s kid at the time and she said, ‘I heard your place got robbed once?’”
“I was shocked and checked in with my mom. And my mom said, ‘Oh yeah. By the time your uncle and I made it over there with the police, the house had gotten turned upside down. Especially the kitchen—they’d taken all the knives. Two of the big meat cleavers were discarded right outside your grandma’s bedroom. Your grandma and grandpa were so scared, they started crying, saying you’d saved everyone’s lives. You were too little and we were worried you’d get traumatised, so we decided to hide it from you.’”
“I felt like I was so lucky. If I’d gone to bed early that night; if I thought it was my uncle; if I didn’t stop my grandma and grandpa from opening the door, would I still be around in this world? But I grew up happily, thinking it was just a childhood nightmare, with no trauma. I protected my grandma and grandpa, and the whole family protected me.”
“But every time I think about how grandma picked up the knife the burglars left outside her bedroom to make breakfast for me, I tear up a little.”
A video of a man caught beating his daughter in the middle of the street. She begs the video filming for help calling the police, that he abuses her all the time. He says he’s just disciplining her for being out late at night. The blogger comments that, “See, and she even has the face to ask passers-by for help. This is why people say it’s harder to have girls than boys, because it’s so much harder to keep them in line.”
Comments say, “She’s not bad-looking—could easily become the village bicycle. Her behaviour is one thing, what about her health at the end of the day? What about the reputation of her parents? She needs to get beaten.”
Another submission to a relationship blogger, “Help! My coworker keeps asking for my food! Every time I eat, she wants a bite. Every time I refuse, she asks again and again. Like she has no shame at all!!”
“A real example, I ordered a hamburger this afternoon, and she begged whether she can take a bite of the patty. I said no, so she asked if she can take a bite of the burger bun. I said no again, that this was my dinner. And she said across from me and stared at me the whole time I ate, it was so fucking awkward. When I started in on my drumstick, her eyes light up and she was all like, “You have drumsticks too!? Can I have some?” I honestly didn’t know what to say. I was surrounded by other coworkers and just felt too embarrassed to refuse her a third time, so I gave her a piece of chicken skin.”
“I made a bowl of oatmeal for dinner, and when she saw me open it up, she looked all delighted and was like, “Wow! Can I have some?” I told her I’d already started in and it’s got my saliva all over it, but she insisted she was fine with it. So I had to give her a few spoonfuls. A couple more bites into my oatmeal, I complained that it’s not very good, and she instantly said, “If you don’t want it, I’ll finish it.” And I had to insist again that this was my dinner. The only way I’d give it to her is if she ordered a hamburger, and then I’d swap with her. She refused and said she didn’t want to spend any money. And I said but I spent money on my food. And she fell quiet.”
“Another example—some other coworkers had bought bubble tea together, and they’d already started drinking, and she went over with a cup and started whining at them and asking for a sip. She literally went down the line and begged for a sip from every single person. The soy milk that I’d half-finished drinking for breakfast too—she’d come over with a cup and ask for some.”
Comments suggest, “Tell her if she’s really that bad off, she could try starting a gofundme.”