Month: May 2024

Remember when we were kids and we’d get asked the question: What do you want to be when you grow up?

So often the responses would be fairly glamorous jobs—doctors, marine biologists, firefighters, performers, etc.—all based on simplistic ideas of what the job might be like versus what the job actually entails.

Recently, user stiengineer asked the Reddit community, “What’s a misconception about your profession that you’re tired of hearing?” And the responses—from graphic designers to vegetable farmers and everywhere in between—just go to show that unless you’ve actually worked in an occupation, you’re probably making a few assumptions about it. (Spoiler: no job is without its fair amount of work.)

Check out what some professionals wrote about their often misunderstood jobs that prove the grass isn’t always greener in the workplace.

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1. “I’m a librarian, and people think we just read books all day. In reality, we manage databases, assist with research, and conduct community programs.”

Another librarian added:

“The cardigans are 100% fact, though. The back room and the stacks are two wildly different temperatures all the time.”

2. “I drove a taxi. We don’t meet a lot of famous people. Not all passengers are unhinged lunatics.”

3. “As an electrician, the misconception that it’s not a skilled profession is frustrating. It requires rigorous training and adherence to safety standards.”

4. “Vegetable farmer. We get so many applicants wanting to ‘connect to the soil,’ yet have never touched a shovel before. So many people don’t seem to understand that farming is manual labor with long hours and hardship every day. And It’s all just to limp by. We aren’t making much money.”

5. “I run an animal rescue and I get a lot of people who think they’re just gonna cuddle animals. A shocking number of people are very upset there’s poop and manual labor involved.”

6. “Fire Sprinkler Designer here: Fire Sprinkler water IS NOT clean and clear like the movies depict…That water more than likely has been in those pipes for decades and is filled with corrosion and cutting oil. As soon as a sprinkler goes off, you are getting doused with black tar water…”

via GIPHY

One person commented:

“Oh so that’s why I’ve seen so many people complain that their furniture got ruined by fire sprinklers going off! It’s quite obvious now that you pointed it out, but I always thought it was weird so many things could get so badly damaged ‘just by getting wet.’”

Yep, we all learned something today.

7. “As a software developer, I’m tired of hearing that we’re all just nerdy guys who code in dark rooms all day. It’s actually highly collaborative.”

8. “I’m a graphic designer, and no, I can’t just whip up a complex project in an hour. Good design takes time and thought.”

This prompted a few graphic designers to chime in.

One wrote:

“Most of the time I’m trying to protect the client from making really bad decisions because they feel they could ‘do it themselves if they could just draw a little better.’”

While another added:

“I had a client one time who didn’t like a color we chose. I asked her what color she would prefer and her answer was ‘I saw this real pretty purple one time. I want something like that.’ When asked what shade of purple it was or what the item was so we could get an idea, she scoffed and said ‘you’re the artist, you should know.’”

9. “Lawyer here. Just because you fail to understand a nuance doesn’t mean it’s a ‘loophole.’”

via GIPHY

Another lawyer shared:

“The one that gets me is the idea that we’re unethical tricksters just trying to run up our fees. First, there are some slimy lawyers out there, but I think as a whole we’re probably more ethical than the general population. Our entire career depends on having a license that can be taken away for minor ethical lapses.”

10. “I’m a long time caregiver to mother who lives with dementia. For some reason, people don’t consider it ‘work.’ That includes doctors. I’m on call 24/7. I can’t leave for long periods of time. My own health went to shit. Geriatric care costs are astronomical. Yet, all people hear is ‘you’re not working.’”

11. “People think being a chef is glamorous thanks to cooking shows, but the reality is long hours in a high-stress environment.”

via GIPHY

One chef lamented:

‘”’You must eat so well!’ I eat cold pizza while crying, actually.”

And last but not least…

12. “I’m a locksmith, and people often think it’s just about cutting keys. It involves complex problem solving and security expertise.”

South Asian women across the country are finding social support in a thriving Facebook group devoted to them.

The Little Brown Diary has over 40,000 members, primarily between the ages of 20 and 40, and 100 subgroups devoted to niche topics. Some of these include mental health, entrepreneurship, career advice, and more.

Members of the group can discuss their experiences as South Asians, inner conflicts they face, and even bond over their favorite hobbies. The Facebook group has become a safe place for many of its members to find support in the most transformative periods of their lives. These include:

• Supporting women in domestic violence and sexual assault circumstances
• Sharing mental health and suicide resources
• Connecting members to support each other through grief and loss
• Helping members find the strength to get a divorce or defend their decision to be childfree
• Helping them navigate career changes
• Helping to find friends in a new city
• Finding a community of other neurodivergent people in their shoes

“I joined the online community because I was looking for that sense of belonging and connection with others who shared similar experiences and backgrounds,” expressed Sandhya Simhan, one of the group admins.

“At the time, I was pregnant and eager to find other desi moms who could offer support, advice, and friendship during this significant life transition,” she says.

Another group admin, Henna Wadhwa, who works in Diversity and Inclusion in Washington, D.C., even uses the group to inspire new areas of research, including a study on ethnic-racial identity at work.

“I was surprised and excited for a group that brought together South Asian/brown women. I wanted to meet other women with similar research interests and who wanted to conduct academic research on South Asian American women,” Wadhwa says.

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While social media isn’t always the best place to spend our time, studies show that the sense of community people get from joining online groups can be valuable to our mental health.

“The presence of LBD has allowed so many South Asian women to truly feel safe in their identity. The community we have built encourages each person to authentically and freely be themselves. It is a powerful sight to witness these South Asian women be vulnerable, break barriers, and support each other in their journeys,” says Wadhwa.

Hena and Neesha

According to an article in Psychology Today, a study on college students looked at whether social media could serve as a source of social support in times of stress. Turns out, these students were more likely to turn to their social media network rather than parents or mental health professionals for connection. The anonymity of virtual communities was also seen as appealing to those experiencing depression.

“The social support received in the online group promotes a sense of well-being and was associated with positive relationships and personal growth,” the article states.

This is why finding a community of like-minded individuals online can have such a positive impact in your life.

“There are almost half a million women in our target audience (millennial South Asians in North America) and about 10% of them are part of LBD. It’s been a game-changer for our community. LBD is all about embracing your true self and living your most authentic life. It’s amazing to see how the members support, relate, learn, and lift each other,” says Wadhwa and Simhan.

I never thought it was possible for me to forget my child in the car—until the day I did.

I was a super conscientious mom, reading all the parenting books, cautious about health and safety, 100% committed to my children’s well-being. I held my babies close, figuratively and literally, wearing them in slings and wraps much of the time and taking them everywhere. They were like physical extensions of me–how could I possibly forget them?

Here’s how. My oldest was nearly 4 years old when I had my second child. One day, when the baby was a few weeks old, our family was out running errands. Everyone was hungry, but I needed to grab something from Michaels craft store, so I dropped my husband and 4-year-old at home first to start dinner. The baby was sleeping in her car seat and I decided to take her with me in case she woke up and needed to breastfeed.

Somewhere between our driveway and Michaels, I completely blanked that I had a baby in the car.

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I hadn’t been in a car with a child for several years without any sound—my oldest was always talking or singing or something. It was never quiet in the car unless I was alone, so my sleep-deprived brain interpreted the silence of my sleeping baby in the car as me being alone.

I got to the Michaels’ parking lot, got out of the car, locked the door and went inside. I grabbed a shopping cart and headed to the back of the store to pick up whatever I needed. When I flipped down the plastic seat on the cart where you put a kid, it triggered the awareness that I didn’t have a child with me and everything stopped. Even 19 years later, I can perfectly picture the moment it dawned on me what I’d done when the world went into slow-motion as I ran through the store and out to my car.

There she was, blissfully snoozing away in her car seat, totally unaware of my panic. It was a cool evening and she was only in there for 5 minutes, tops, but it was an eye-opening and humbling moment. If a brain blip like that could happen to me, it could happen to anyone.

That’s the idea behind a new heatstroke prevention PSA from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the Ad Council called “Never Happens.” The message is powerful, as there are so many things we swear we would never do as parents that we end up doing. Some of those things are conscious choices as we realize parenting is far more complex than we thought, but some are a result of being fallible humans with imperfect human brains. The key is recognizing that fact so you don’t fall into the trap of “I would never.”

Watch:

Pediatric vehicular heatstroke is the leading cause of non-crash, vehicle-related fatalities for children 14 and younger. No parent thinks they could possibly forget their child in a car, but that’s how more than half of car heatstroke deaths in children occur. According to the NHTSA, heatstroke statistics can be split into three main scenarios:

– 52.7% of hot car deaths happened because a child was forgotten in a hot car

– 25.8% of deaths happened because a child gained access to an unlocked car and became trapped

– 20.1% of deaths happened because a child was left behind in a vehicle, and the parent/caregiver did not realize how quickly internal car temperatures can rise.

A child’s body temperature rises three to five times faster than an adult’s, so we can’t use ourselves as a gauge of how long is too long to be in an enclosed car.

“The inside of a vehicle is never a safe place for a child to play or be left alone, because hot cars can be deadly for children in a matter of minutes,” Sophie Shulman, NHTSA’s Deputy Administrator, tells Upworthy. “No one wants to think they could forget their child, but the facts show it can happen to anyone. Our ‘Stop. Look. Lock.’ campaign educates and empowers parents and caregivers to make simple changes to prevent unimaginable tragedies.”

Some of those simple changes might include putting your purse or wallet in the back seat, keeping an item like a teddy bear in the backseat and placing it in the front seat whenever you have a child in the car with you. Both of those simple visual cues could be life-saving. And always lock your vehicle after getting everyone out of it so a child can’t get in.

Never think it could never happen. Then, take proactive steps to ensure that it never does.

Back in February, Calvin Harris insinuated that he was looking into a career change. Fortunately for his fans, though, he was only referring to the part of his DJ gig that requires him to play live sets around the world into the wee hours of the morning. He’s still all for producing the music that other DJs can play at clubs — and today, he teased his next song, which will be perfect for doing just that.

The new song — a collaboration with Miley Cyrus — will be perfect for day and beach parties, as he demonstrated with the video teaser he posted to social media. The video captures a peaceful afternoon on the shore, with Miley’s sunny vocals cruising along a mellow, house-oriented beat. Miley sings, “We were dancing, we were wild in the ocean,” making the clip a fitting companion for the song snippet. And while the snippet is seeing significant pickup from fan pages across the social media spectrum, Harris hasn’t given any indication of just when the song will be dropping.

The upbeat and summery vibe of the song has led to speculation that Harris’ next project could be a continuation of his Funk Wav Bounces series, which has lain dormant since Vol. 2 in 2022. If it is, it’ll certainly enter a more accepting climate for the nu-disco, deep house sort of production that marks the Funk Wav albums than its predecessor. Thanks to Beyoncé and a handful of dance-centric rappers like Drake and Channel Tres, music listeners are better primed for its pop-EDM leanings than they were coming out of a global pandemic. Meanwhile, such a collaboration is a great way to start; Cyrus is white-hot after her country collab with Beyoncé and enlisting Pharrell to produce on her next project.

Stay tuned for more info on the eventual release of Harris and Miley’s latest collab.

The Sandman series was worth the (decades-long) wait for Neil Gaiman, who famously sabotaged a film adaptation by leaking a script that was absolutely terrible. Now, he has the perfect Morpheus/Dream in Tom Sturridge, who never dreamed it possible that some of his co-stars hopped away to film cameos in the new spin off series, Dead Boy Detectives, on Netflix.

After less than two weeks, the ghostly show is sitting at #2 on the Netflix Top 10 for TV (behind Baby Reindeer), and although there’s been no confirmation on a second season yet, The Sandman is currently filming its sophomore round of episodes. Will there be any more crossover cameos between the two projects? Well, it was news to Sturridge that any of them existed at all. As Entertainment Weekly reveals, he was surprised to hear that Kirby Howell-Baptiste made a Dead Boy Detectives appearance as Death:

“I didn’t know you did this,” a shocked Sturridge tells Howell-Baptiste after EW asks her a question about her cameo appearance in the Dead Boy Detectives premiere.

“Yeah, I snuck off to Canada,” Howell-Baptiste says impishly. “I shot on a different show!”

“How long were you there?”

“One day. I mean, I flew in, I shot, and I left the next day. It’s been a family secret!”

“It feels…kinda weird,” Sturridge says.

Somebody sounds like he’d like to make a cameo? Surely, co-creator Steve Yockey would not turn down that opportunity. Along with Death, Despair (Donna Preston) has already made an appearance on the spin off, and Yockey revealed that he’d also love to see Desire (Mason Alexander Park) if the show returns. Let’s get Morpheus in there as well. Give him the 1300s Oasis-brothers hairstyle, too.

The first season of Dead Boy Detectives can be binged on Netflix.

(Via Entertainment Weekly)

Grandparents are often stereotyped as doting and eager to be a big part of their grandchildren’s lives. In movies and TV, we often see parents of child-free women begging them to have kids so they can be grandparents.

However, that’s not always the case. Many grandparents are unable to help raise their grandkids because of their location or health. There are also far too many who aren’t that eager to do the work.

For many parents, the presence of grandparents who actively participate in raising their kids can be a game-changer. The support they provide, whether it’s watching the kids on a Friday night or picking them up from school, can significantly ease the juggling act of modern parenting.

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Kelsey, a popular TikTok and Instagram mother of two, recently celebrated the joy of having “voluntarily involved” grandparents, calling them the biggest “parenting flex.” Of course, the subtext of the post is that, unfortunately, many grandparents are uninvolved with their grandchildren’s lives and their families could use their help.

Warning: Strong language.

@kelsey_p90

Top tier 🙌🏻🙌🏻 #fyp #foryourpage #foryou #momtok #mom #moms #momlife #momsbelike #momsoftiktok #sahm #grandparents #grandparentsoftiktok #grandma #grandpa #parenting #parentsoftiktok

“Without question, the biggest parenting flex isn’t the mom car, not how much you make a year. It’s not how well-behaved your kids are,” Kelsey starts her video. “Biggest flex is having involved grandparents. Voluntarily involved. Holy f***, having that midday struggle with my children and then getting that text from grandma: ‘Hey, can I pick so and so up for a sleepover tonight?’ Ha ha ha, funny, you should say that! Her bag has been packed. Never unpacked it. She’s ready.”

She noted that “voluntarily involved” grandparents aren’t just doing the bare minimum. They’re stepping up and taking charge of their role in the family.

“Ones that you can text like, ‘Hey, can you fly up this weekend? We need your help.’ ‘Sure, no problem!’ I don’t know what kind of reaction that was. But it came within the depths. Nothing beats it. Nothing beats a grandparent that wants to do more than required to get that yearly Facebook Happy Birthday Grandma post,” Kelsey continued.

Unfortunately, many moms and dads don’t have parents they can rely on to help them raise their kids and it’s a big loss. “A lot of the times, people don’t have help, and I am sorry,” Kelsey said. That f****** blows. We know it’s their loss. We know. Who doesn’t want to be involved with their grandchildren?”

Many commenters shared why raising kids without grandparents is so hard.

“I recently read a quote that said ‘uninvolved grandparents never intended to be parents themselves’ everything made sense,” Isabel Cardenas wrote. “You definitely got that right. That is the biggest flex of all time. There’s not enough money in the world that would take the jealousy I have for people who receive that type of love freely,” Katy Alltop added.

Kelsey shared her thoughts on why some grandparents aren’t voluntarily involved with their grandkids.

“I think a lot of times grandparents have the point of view like ‘I did my time, I raised my children, now it’s my time to do whatever I want.’ They don’t want to be tied down with babysitting and other commitments,” she told Upworthy. “Which I don’t think is necessarily a bad thing! They deserve a fun retirement. I would never want to force a grandparent (or anyone really) to be a part of my children’s lives. But it is so nice to see so many grandparents who go out of their way to foster relationships with their grandkids and who want to spend quality time with them (not just to give mom and dad a break).”

In conjunction with Star Wars Day, a.k.a. May the 4th Be With You, The Phantom Menace is being re-released into theaters nationwide this weekend. It’s about time kids got to see Watto the way he was intended to be seen: in horrifying resolution on the big screen. But if that’s not enough Star Wars for you, an Austin, Texas-based location of the Alamo Drafthouse is screening the complete the Skywalker Saga and the two stand-alone films from May until July.

“In December 1977, the original Star Wars opened at the Village 4 in glorious Dolby Stereo,” said John Smith, Senior Film Programmer for Alamo Drafthouse. “Forty-seven years later, we’re finishing the story and sharing the complete saga with Austin audiences.”

All the Star Wars films — minus Caravan of Courage: An Ewok Adventure and Ewoks: The Battle for Endor, unfortunately — will play at the Village location in Austin only. You can see the screening information below:

Opening Dates at Alamo Drafthouse Village

May 3: Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace
May 10: Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones
May 17: Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith
May 24: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and Solo: A Star Wars Story
May 31: Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope
June 7: Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back
June 14: Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker
June 28: Star Wars: The Force Awakens
July 5: Star Wars: The Last Jedi

There’s also the opportunity to watch an entire trilogy back-to-back-to-back.

June 22 and July 19: Star Wars: The Prequel Trilogy
June 23 and July 20: Star Wars: The Original Trilogy
July 21: Star Wars: The Sequel Trilogy

I hope I’m not the only one who finds it funny that The Rise of Skywalker has to share a date with another movie. Here’s an idea: instead of sitting through Episode XI again, just imagine Babu Frik hanging out with Salacious B. Crumb in Return of the Jedi. Those two would have a great time!

You can find ticket information here.

Emily In Paris cannot be (much like the Cyberdyne Systems Model 101 in The Terminator) “bargained with” or “reasoned with” in terms of how inexplicably addictive each season has turned out to be. The Netflix show will continue to captivate viewers despite having very little substance and a pretty forgettable ongoing plot. It’s essentially an incredibly cheery little soap opera, which agains proves that creator Darren Star does not miss.

Of course, the main question going into the third season is whether Hot Chef Gabriel‘s revelation of Camille’s pregnancy will deter his and Emily’s undeniable mutual crushing on each other. Perhaps the show will drag that out for a few more seasons, but what really matters is that Ashley Park recovered from her health woes and returned to filming as Mindy.

Also and as Variety relays, the show will actually be doing something different this season by moving beyond Paris after star Lily Collins revealed, “While Emily’s heart will always remain true to Paris, her life takes an unexpected twist this season. Don’t be surprised to find her on a Roman holiday.”

Hmm. Well, that’s probably for the best. There are only so many times that a character can act clever with a baguette. This also explains why Collins has been posting photos of herself and Park at the “Paris wrap party” before heading to Rome.

And yup, here are the requisite touristy photos near The Colosseum. When will Emily In Paris be back on Netflix? Clues are pointing toward late 2024.

(Via Variety)

The race is on to get involved in the NBA’s next media rights deal. In recent days, a report indicated that Turner could end up losing its place to NBC, which apparently has plans to make a monster bid to bring the league back to its airwaves.

There are a ton of balls in the air right now, so we’ll have to wait before we get clarity on where the league will air its games going forward. But if Turner loses its seat at the table, that would immediately spark questions about the future of the greatest studio television show of all time, Inside the NBA.

We fortunately did get one bit of good news on this front on Wednesday, when Charles Barkley went onto ESPN Cleveland’s The Really Big Show. Apparently, Barkley made it a point to make sure he could leave Turner in the event this very thing happened when he signed his most recent contract extension with the network.

“It’s a really big deal, obviously,” Barkley said. “But, you know, I covered my ass, to be honest with you … I just signed a 10-year deal two years ago, but one of the things that I did, I put an opt out after a couple years cause I wanted to make sure I covered my ass when it comes to this situation, if I wanted to go to Amazon or another — we thought it was gonna be Apple, to be honest with you.

“So, the one thing I did in my new contract, I’m two years into a 10-year deal,” Barkley continued. “And when I sit down, I said, ‘Wait a minute, now, if you guys lose the NBA, I wanna make sure that I can get out of here.’ So I am actually in a really great position.”

Barkley went on to explain that the team knew Amazon and Apple would get in on the race for TV rights, but they did not foresee that “NBC was gonna come out the woodwork.”

“I love TNT, they’ve been great to me, but if they lose the NBA, I wanted to make sure I had my I’s dotted and T’s crossed,” Barkley continued. “Something’s gonna happen, I hope that TNT, like I said, they’ve been great to me … I wanted to make sure if we lost the NBA in two years, I could be a free agent.”

When asked if he was open to joining whatever network ends up getting television rights, Barkley emphatically said, “hell yeah!” This is terrific news for everyone who loves watching Chuck do what he does on television, which is most people who are not from Galveston.

(h/t Awful Announcing)

This Friday, May 3, Willow Smith (known mononymous as Willow) will release her latest album, Empathogen. Billed by the second-gen singer as a “musical compilation” in a teaser prior to its official announcement, the project was recorded under drastically different conditions than its predecessor. “For this new album, I was sober for every single recording session,” she said. “I feel like my mind state was extremely different.”

She recently brought that new mind set to NPR Music’s offices for a passionate Tiny Desk Concert performance, which was released today. In addition to playing a pair of her catalog hits, she also introduced the crowd to three of the songs from the new project (“Symptom of Life,” “Run!” and “Big Feelings”) while backed by a new band including social media star Taylor “The Pocket Queen” Gordon on drums. The performance ranges from jazz-inflected soul to folksy, ’90s-esque alt-rock that would fit right in at Lilith Fair, with Willow putting on an absolute vocal masterclass. This show should be studied in schools.

Willow’s new musical direction won praise from no less an authority than Questlove, who wrote of the new album on Instagram, “Shout out to @willowsmith for allowing herself to evolve into this artist. Doing all the things artists over the years have told me they wanted to do but were too afraid to because we been told odd time signatures don’t work or @gentlegiantband level prog rock song structure (blink and you missed it codas & bridges coming outta nowhere) might be too much for the “average listener” to consume or to lyrically go to this vulnerable place that we might think will get us ridiculed. Once in an eclipse there is an artist out there that will just be like ‘fuhggggit….this is how I feel’ and the stars align.”

You can watch Willow’s Tiny Desk performance in full above.