
Here's an example of how I perceived something incorrectly based on social media.
All the posts I saw were about how "MS13" was photoshopped on his hand - as if to suggest they were actual tattoos.
Apparently, what I've only just now inferred from watching this video, the overlayed text shown in the photo is a label for each of the real tattoos.
So, on one hand (no pun intended), you have a story about Trump believing photoshopped letters are real tattoos and on the other hand you have a story about whether the interpretation of the tattoos is correct to be MS13 related.
This reporter did a shit job. Trump offered to get the picture out and he blew the chance to get the facts straight on this hot topic - do you believe the letters "MS13" are actually tattooed on his hand or are you saying they're the interpretation of the tattoos below them.
EDIT: rewatching the video and caught the moron saying "he had MS as clear as you can be. Not interpreted." I mean... ya know, I honestly worry that we will ever come out of this in a good shape. Will we ever again have respect for the office of the presidency? Can we ever again elect someone who represents the best of us?

I’d be interested to hear from the youngest generation (15-20 YO) to hear if they care about this at all.
I’m approaching 50 years old and had been an early adopter most of my adult life. Growing up from the 1980s through 2000s, there was a near-mainstream narrative that we were living in a unique era of emerging technologies. It was exciting and we were anxious for anything new.
It seems to me that nothing is really new and there is nothing exciting, if not interesting, about technology today.
I’ve actually been stripping down the technology from my life as it’s become too distracting to get things done and has prevented personal growth and the formation of memories. For one example, I recently subscribed to a print magazine because I prefer a tangible object that I can associate with in and of itself (and choose to own and collect).
Looking at analog trends like vinyl records and film photography and cassette tapes, it seems like people are at least trying to incorporate tangible objects into a modern lifestyle. Then you have the trend of the dumb phones which indicate people are becoming more aware of the detriments caused by an always connected lifestyle. Thankfully, some car manufacturers are returning buttons to their cars in response to owner feedback about everything being a touch screen.
I mean, I’m not a multi-trillion dollar organization with different departments studying the feasibility of future products but I do wonder if something like AR glasses are already more of our past than our future.
I think there’s a more than reasonable desire for a device to help you through your day - especially in foreign countries. But do you think you want that to be glasses or something else?
Lastly, this reminds me of the prediction from Michio Kaku in Physics of the Future about augmented reality contact lenses. Should we at least accept AR glasses as first step towards contact lenses? Do you think society would accept these 20-40 years in the future?


The only people who should be worried about this conversation are therapists and philosophers.
Our culture is fucking with people's heads by making them have to question shit like this. Words are made up (you should look up some definitions). Our emotions are not. No one should be judging anyone for whom they find attractive and no one should feel shame or pride for having a preference.
So why would people who are attracted to cis people (of a particular sex) and not trans people (of the opposite sex-assigned-at-birth to the sex they’re attracted to) necessarily be transphobes.
This is not a thing. At all. Just because I prefer red apples over green apples does not instill a phobia or hatred of green apples.
The LGBT movement, as with nearly all movements, is about education. It seems you may have skipped over the prerequisites jumped right to LGBT 201.
Yes, "It’s obviously a nuanced subject, and human sexuality is complex" and the point is that no one should be casting societal assumptions upon or judging anyone. The point is to mind your own business and support government legislation that protects marginalized groups from the ignorant and those who lack empathy. "Do no harm" shouldn't be regulated to practicing doctors. We've all lost sight of the "treat others as you want to be treated" Golden Rule. So, mind your own business and treat others with the same respect you believe you deserve.
If you are personally struggling with your own sexuality, I would strongly suggest you seek guidance from a professional rather than pondering aloud on the internet and expecting validation. If you are struggling to understand the sexuality of others, I would suggest you stop trying and embrace the uniquenesses found in every corner of this planet.

Gotcha. I probably could have phrased that better.

I stopped going because they lock everything I want to buy behind a window.
I know that's not explicitly related to this article but it pisses me the fuck off because I am literally an eight minute walk to a Target and would go there all the time if they weren't so dead set on making the experience the worst ever.
It's evident that they're pushing people to make online purchases (where they can show you ads and get your info from an app) to pick up in store or have delivered.
They're also pushing customers to use the self check out system. This costs them less money than employing a person. Well, when the self check out machine breaks or people are buying a lot of stuff or when it's a busy holiday or weekend, the line is stupid long and there's no choice other than to walk out of the store (which I have done three times).
Target needs to hire more people and to pay them a fair wage. This will reduce theft due to staff walking the aisles and increase the sense of shopping on a planet that's inhabited by human beings. The place is a shit hole ghost town that feels like a dystopian nightmare.
I mean, this has been an issue for four years. At first, I had assumed that they were intentionally trying to devalue their brand. Now with this DEI thing, I am convinced.
Fuck you, Target.
Also fuck self check outs. They were novel at first but they fucking suck cock. I will not go to a store that doesn't have the option to engage with a human. The last time I gave it a shot, the very first item I scanned was rejected. I put all my shit back in my cart and the one person there to "help" asked what was wrong and I said never again will I ever use self check out. It's a failed system. It threatens people's jobs. It doesn't help you do anything. It doesn't save time.
Sorry. Downvote me. I just really hate today's retail environment.

Not worrying about how others perceive you and having something interesting to share with others is not contradictory.
I don’t have to like you or agree with you to listen to something you feel passionate about to share. Have you heard of YouTube?
If you’re weird and you have nothing interesting to share, if you lack the confidence to speak with others, then I’m not very likely to give you much attention.
Learning something “so others will like you” is exactly what I’m suggest you do not do. You should learn something so that you have personal confidence in something. The more you become proficient in something, the more confident you’ll become overall. Accomplishing goals and overcoming obstacles breeds confidence. It may help your social interactions if that thing is less niche and more universal but not exclusively.
This is why people ask others what they do for a living. They want to hear you speak about something they presume you’re passionate about. There’s a hope to engage in a conversation or to learn something from you. If you have some niche hobby or job and you’re good at it, people will listen to you. You may even find people come up to you at a party to hear more about what you feel so strongly about.
Don’t ever do something solely because you think it will make others like you more. If you’re not doing it for yourself, you’re not able to put all of yourself into it. You’ll never own that thing. You’ll just be renting it for others.

There is no inherent arbiter of good or truth.
If the trust in expertise is tarnished, reshaping reality is left to the uninformed.

Work first on being a good human.
That will make you a good (and attractive) man or woman.
The archaic concept of masculinity or femininity itself is wretched.
People worry far too much about what others think of them and what mold they should fit into. Be yourself. Be a good, caring, empathetic person with convictions and passions and hobbies. Become proficient in one or more things so others find you interesting. Learn how to do things without the aid of technology. Read books. Travel as far as you can. Give a shit about yourself and your community.
If you’re struggling to fit a mold that society is telling you you should fit into, you’re already lost. That doesn’t mean you can’t find yourself. It means that mold probably isn’t right for you. And there is nothing wrong with that. If others have a problem with you not being what they expect, that’s their issue to resolve. The sooner you’re able to let go of societal concepts, the more free you’ll be to be the best version of you.
Don’t confuse being a good man and being a good person. It’s the same thing. There is nothing you can do to become more of a man that won’t make you more of a person.

How does this cause you harm or prevent you from praising your god?
Perhaps more curious, why the fuck would you become a doctor if you're opposed to science and helping people? Don't doctors have to swear (presumably to god) to do no harm? This guy should have his license revoked.

What I've done for home videos and recorded programming is to use the VHS/DVD combo to transfer the video to DVD then rip the DVD to my computer using Handbrake (MacOS). The quality of the transfer is as good as I can hope for.
It's an easy, almost enjoyable process. I get the option to watch the VHS or I just let it go overnight or while I'm otherwise occupied (doesn't tie up my computer in realtime). I get an additional, smaller, hard copy of the media. Once I get a handful of DVDs, I can let my computer rip them to my NAS to watch using Plex.
Plenty of sub-$100 VHS/DVD combos on eBay.
Caveat: Purchased movies may have copyright protections. I have the original Star Wars VHS tapes but couldn't transfer them.
Back in the early 2000s I used (I think) an El Gato EyeTV Video to Firewire peripheral to rip to my Power Mac G5. I was never super crazy about the quality of the transfer. The video always looked like, "I used my computer to transfer this". I have to assume things are better these days. I feel like this process depends more on your computer and your software where as the VHS > DVD method is a bit more "aligned". I could be wrong. I mean, the adapters are like $10-$20. They seem too cheap to be trust worthy.

I hardly ever get spam calls. Today, I got a call from a government robocaller and a call asking for someone else whom I’m pretty sure had my number over five years before me. I thought these were legit but now, reading the comments, I’m not so sure.
People are way too willing to give out their phone numbers. So many apps and websites require a phone before ever signing in. I will not use any service that requires a phone number.
Because so many things rely on phone numbers now, when I got my new number in 2020 I lost access to a number of things.
2FA SMS verification can be spoofed so it’s not a secure method.
The only spam calls or messages I get are from government reps. Apparently “for government use” is not illegal and it’s practically impossible to get taken off the list. If anyone has a tip for this, please let me know.

Hence, “Trannis” /s

Wow. Only took 26 years.

Category View introduces a simple way to organize emails by type
It wouldn't be possible for me to overstate how much I dislike this feature. It's one thing I can't stand about Gmail and from what I've observed, iCloud has this now too. I'm wondering if people actually find this more useful than a hindrance. I mean, I have spent days with several email addresses creating my own filters so I get not everyone can do that. But the way this is typically implemented just seems like another spam mailbox that no one's going to check.
I assume they will but if Proton doesn't have a way to disable this, I am out.
Manage newsletter subscriptions
What would actually be cool is a dedicated newsletter app. I use BigNews as an RSS reader and newsletter reader. They give me an email address just for newsletters. It's fantastic.

This Mother Jones article really made things more clear.
Trump, a president who rules like a mob boss while claiming vast new powers, is transforming the government into a tool of reward and punishment.
Permanently Deleted

Excuse me? Are you trying to say that side-loaded apps are more free of ads than those in app stores? What motivates a developer to release an ad-free side loaded app while refusing to submit it to (or failing to get it approved in) an app store?
How is this specifically an iPad issue and not an app developer issue?
I'd like to know, because I don't have a Google device or account, how the Google Play Store is superior to the Apple App Store when it comes to ad or subscription supported software.
Permanently Deleted

I've owned many iPads. To claim you can't use it without a subscription service is ridiculous. Yes, you need an Apple ID to download apps from the App Store but that doesn't cost anything (just like a Google account).
You're comparing two electronic devices that are ten years apart from each other. Of fucking course the new one is going to be better. If you think a Galaxy tablet is great, you should really try a new iPad.
I mean, you're just coming off sounding like an Apple-hater and someone who hasn't ever actually owned an iPad. Maybe even a bot.

I use a combination of flickr, ente.io, glass.photo, portraitmode.io.

The Truth About Trump’s Greenland Campaign
Excerpts:
When the president talks about security in the Arctic, he’s talking about climate change.
Their aim, the vice president said in a video on X, is to check up on Greenland’s security, because unnamed other countries could “use its territories and its waterways to threaten the United States.” And these are real concerns for the United States, rooted in climate change: As polar ice melts away, superpowers are vying for newly open shipping routes in the Arctic Ocean and largely unexplored mineral and fossil-fuel reserves. Arctic warming could pose a direct threat to America’s security interests too: Alaska could have new vulnerabilities to both China and Russia; changes in ocean salinity and temperature might interfere with submarine detection systems; the extremes of climate change, including permafrost thaw in Russia, could drive economic instability, social unrest, and territorial claims.
So far this term, Trump has acted as if climate change does not matter: He h

Are you purchasing digital music? (and where?)
I've just been archiving about 75 of my deceased uncle's CD-Rs which, I'm assuming, he had archived from his EMusic account. The labeling of the CDs (ex., 13/08/23) and the order of tracks is completely wacked but I really appreciate that I have "hard copies".
Last year, I gave my 16 year old nephew a classic (refurbed) iPod full of about 10,000 songs. Don't think he really appreciated it (and the months it took me to curate it). Kid was touching the screen and had no idea what a click wheel was.
I'm an avid record (500) and CD (100) collector but I have close to 100,000 tracks in my digital library. This music was acquired in a number of ways but only about a quarter of it was ever paid for by me. I know how to get music for free. I'm sure most of this sub knows too.
I've mostly resorted to buying physical media for the albums I really like and sourcing digital music with abandon for background music, playlists, and iPod playback.
For a wide variety of reasons, I do not use

Apple TV alternatives for Plex?
Given the previews of the new Plex experience, I think I'm going to need an alternative media player.
Here's my background.
• My media is stored on a QNAP NAS. All my devices are made by Apple.
• My library is a decent size. About 1,500 movies, 50 TV series, 75,000 songs, plus 2,000 classical pieces (would love a better way to manage classical music).
• I use PlexAmp on my computer to listen to music all day. If I were to listen to music outside the house, PlexAmp is my only music app.
• I use Plex on Apple TV to watch my movie and TV library. To a lesser degree, I watch home movies, music videos, and various media obtained from archive.org - I call this my VHS library. I also listen to music and look at my photo library from my Apple TV.
• The Plex UX for VOD is bad so I instead use Pluto and Tubi (not that they're much better).
• I'll never watch content on my iPhone. I may watch on my iPad but not often.
• I share my library with family so we can watch home mo

Trump orders US exit from the World Health Organization

Trump cancels sanctions on Israeli settlers in West Bank

"The spread of H5N1 bird flu among animals and the growing possibility of a pandemic"

The developing avian influenza panzootic and the growing possibility of a pandemic bring to the fore the existential questions for humanity of climate change and the destruction of public health, both of which must be stopped in order to control the growing threats.

Importantly, scientists have determined that the genetic changes in the bird flu’s genome, that have accelerated the development of the panzootic, have been driven by climate change. A comment by wildlife ecologist Diann Prosser at the Eastern Ecological Science Center located in Maryland Laurel US and her team, published in Nature Microbiology in November 2023, titled, “Climate change impacts on bird migration and highly pathogenic avian influenza,” stated that “Climate change patterns appear to parallel an unprecedented global spread of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI).”
The current outbreak in US dairy cows poses an enormous threat to human populations. This threat is being expanded by the US ruling elites’ program of trashing basic public health measures in the interests of big business with the continuing SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. “Forever COVID” is being expanded to avian influenza, but with even more lethal consequences if it becomes a pandemic.
President elect

Megalopolis is one of the best films in years, IMO.
I can understand people looking at the cast and the budget and the trailers and going into the film expecting one thing and getting something entirely different. I, however, thought this movie was incredible. And terrifying.
I'm not really one to watch movie trailers anymore. They're too long and tell too much of the story while too often setting up misguided expectations. But they're also difficult to avoid.
I went into this movie knowing little more than some visuals from the trailer, it's Coppola with Driver, and it's been poorly reviewed.
After watching the film on the comfort of my couch, I was gassed. This movie is a warning. It's warning us about greed and capitalism and nationalism and rejecting our humanity. There have been countless works of fiction warning us about the consequences of merely being human. It's evident that too few of us have been heeding these warnings.
Having little knowledge of the stories this is based on (see: Catilinarian conspiracy), I s

Grocery store food prices increased 1.3% from September 2023 to September 2024, and increased 11% from 2021 to 2022 – the largest annual increase in 40 years.


Why are grocery prices so high?
Several factors affect food prices, such as:
- Supply chain challenges, including those related to COVID-19 and global relations such as the war in Ukraine.
- Inflation.
- Higher labor and transportation costs.
- Animal disease, such as the avian flu in 2022 which impacted egg and chicken prices.
- Extreme weather events which damage crops and affect animals.
The USDA expects grocery store prices to increase 1.2% in 2024 compared to 2023. Although the federal government can take indirect action to help manage grocery prices, it does not have a direct say in controlling price increases.

R.F.K. Jr. Lays Out Possible Public Health Changes Under Trump
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who President-elect Donald J. Trump has suggested would have a “big role” in his second administration, wasted no time laying out potential public health measures he would oversee if given the chance.
Mr. Kennedy, an environmental lawyer who has no medical or public health degrees and has promoted anti-vaccine conspiracies for years, told NBC News on Wednesday that he would not “take away anybody’s vaccines,” but that he wanted Americans to be informed with the “best information” available so they “can make individual assessments about whether that product is going to be good for them.”
“People ought to have choice,” he said, adding that he has “never been anti-vaccine.”
Mr. Kennedy has been a prominent critic of the childhood vaccination schedule and has frequently linked some vaccines to autism and other health issues. Studies have long shown no such connection.
On the topic of adding fluoride to drinking water, which helps to protect teeth, Mr. Kennedy sai

Why Economists Hate Trump's Tariff Plan | WSJ

YouTube Video
Click to view this content.
Tariffs are at the center of former President Donald Trump’s economic plan. He wants to put across-the-board 60% tariffs on everything from China and 10%-20% on everything else from the rest of the world. It’s an extreme trade policy that he wants to use to generate revenue to cut taxes. But how would they work?
Initial thoughts from ‘upgrading’ from an iPhone 12 Mini to an iPhone 16.
I upgraded only because the speakers on my 12 Mini were failing making it nearly impossible to have a phone call.
(1) This phone is too big, heavy, and slippery and uneasy to grasp with one hand.
(2) The camera bump is ridiculously large. It’s laughable how much it rocks on the counter as you type on it. Not in a good way.
(3) The Camera button is in the worst place (accidentally clicking it constantly) and too confusing so I disabled it forever.
(4) I also disabled the action button. This seems too easy to disable silent mode which I have enabled 99.9% of the time.
(5) The screen is noticeably worse and has a blue cast. It’s not as sharp and the contrast is dull.
(6) I love the material used on the back, even though it makes it difficult to hold.
I fully understand the hardware is significantly more advanced but the iPhone 16 genuinely feels like a downgrade from the iPhone 12 Mini. I’m not happy at all.
I’m going to stop by the Apple Store this weekend and


Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones accused Vice President Kamala Harris of having the ability to control hurricanes through so-called "weather weapons."Jones kicked off his Tuesday broadcast by promising to explain how he knew the government could control the weather."I'm going to be covering today, and...

Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones accused Vice President Kamala Harris of having the ability to control hurricanes through so-called "weather weapons."
Jones kicked off his Tuesday broadcast by promising to explain how he knew the government could control the weather.
"I'm going to be covering today, and I've sent the crew over 20 clips, and I've got over a hundred documents right here," he explained. "I'm gonna do a big presentation for everybody on what's really going on with weather weapons."
Jones claimed to have interviews and government documents that would prove his point.
"Then we have the bold headlines that I put up on X that the Kamala Harris, you know, the Biden-Harris administration is in control of this hurricane," he said of Hurricane Milton.
"So they have the power certified easily with just five or six big aircraft," he opined. "And that's the old technology, not the lasers that are all certified and the Doppler radar. They also have on ships and in large oil dril

What's up with financial sites refusing to delete your account?
I've been trying to delete as many online accounts as possible to reduce the threat of my personal information / duplicate passwords / my cell number getting out there. I know, it's probably not worth the effort but it does at least clean up my password manager and MFA app.
I've tried had trouble getting my personal information scrubbed and my account deleted at Robinhood and LendingTree. Both have policies that claim they're unable to delete user accounts due to federal regulations.
Here's the bit from Lending Tree: https://www.lendingclub.com/legal/privacy-policy
Data Retention: Due to the regulated nature of our industry, we are under legal requirements to retain data and are generally not able to delete consumer transactional data, credit or deposit account application data, or other financial information upon request. Certain regulations issued by state and/or federal government agencies may require us to maintain and report demographic information on the collective ac

Was it my imagination that most people believed in a 9/11 conspiracy?
It's a bit shocking to me when I see people online putting 9/11 conspiracies in the same box as "MAGA" conspiracies (for lack of a better term, sorry).
For reference, I was 24 in 2001 living in central NJ. Even without social media or fake news websites or what cable news has become today, I have vivid memories of people having the firm belief that there was something up with the attack on 9/11. Was this just my social circle?
Jet fuel melting steel beams was one of the more fringe and unfounded (and quickly debunked) ideas but the rest of everything on that day was questionable. Tower seven falling, the missing plane debris at the pentagon and central PA, the military / president not responding to known threats, if a person with limited flight time could hit a tower, the fact that Bush attacked a country that had nothing to do with the event, and so much more are still, I thought, reasonable questions - especially when looked at together.
This is not about rehashing each t

Feds in Philly disrupt Russian-backed propaganda effort aimed at influencing U.S. presidential vote
Federal authorities in Philadelphia announced on Wednesday the dismantling of a wide-ranging, Russian-backed misinformation network targeting voters in Pennsylvania and five other swing states ahead of the 2024 presidential election.
The network — known colloquially as “Doppelganger” and which prosecutors said was run by a top aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin — sought to dupe Americans in key demographics into believing Kremlin-produced propaganda it spread online had been produced by legitimate American news outlets.
The campaign also sought to enlist the aid of unwitting influencers in America and other countries to spread disinformation, sow social media discord, and advance the campaign of former President Donald Trump, whom the program’s backers viewed as more supportive of Russian interests.
The takedown of

Why egg prices are becoming expensive again - Food Dive
Egg prices are back on the rise as a devastating bird flu outbreak and swelling consumer demand eats into supply.
Wholesale egg prices surpassed about $3 per dozen in August, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, up from the usual $1 to $2 range. Retail egg prices were up 19% in August compared to last year, according to the latest Consumer Price Index data, while the broader grocery category increased only 1%.
highly pathogenic avian influenza, or bird flu, has forced egg supplies to be “less robust than normal.” At the same time, U.S. sales have jumped to levels not seen since the pandemic.
Despite the price fluctuations, consumers continue to buy eggs — and more of them, as of the last few months. August egg sales were up more than 5% compared to 2023, and producers sold 237 million eggs in the most recent four-week period. “We haven’t seen that number since the first year of COVID,” he said, when sales soared as consumers stocked up on staples including egg
Is there some hack to get new recommendations?
Anytime I watch a video that's somewhat different to what I've previously watch, YT floods my recommended section with these video types. I don't mind some relevant recommendations but it's too much. There's only like six different types of 'genres' being recommended to me now and I've already watched most of these videos.
I know you can use the don't recommend this channel and not interested options. These don't really apply to what I want. I just want more other things.
YouTube is likely the world's largest and most interesting and unique collection of content and I'm seeing the same handful of shit day after day. I'm bored of it being boring. I mean, I like photography and would like more photography content - just not from the same dozen or so creators because I've already watched all their videos.
I'm not interested in the main menu items like trending, music, gaming, etc. I want quality stuff that's creative and informative. I will never click on thumbnails with surp

What app+hardware package is most comparable to iCloud Photos in regard to speed and features?
Is anyone self-hosting a genuinely snappy and robust media hosting service for themselves? What's your setup look like?
The best thing about Apple's Photos on my iDevices is the speed at which everything loads. Even videos (usually) load reasonably fast over LTE. The user interface is decent enough and has a high percentage of features I'd like to have on the go. The on-device AI is awesome (recognizing / organizing faces and objects and locations).
I'd like to get away from iCloud for numerous reasons: the subscription, the chance the UX gets worse, privacy, ease of data ownership and organization, OS independence, etc.
I currently have a QNAP TS-253A with 8GB RAM, Celeron N3160 1.6GHz 4 core, (2) Seagate IronWolf 8TB ST8000VN0022 at about 98% capacity, Raid 1 . I mostly use it for streaming music and videos at home but I also stream music outside the house without issue. Movies don't stream at HD immediately but once

How does one browser (Orion) know what I'm doing on another browser (Safari)?
I'm on MacOS and typically use Safari as my main browser. I have several other browsers installed on my computer which I use for different things or just to try out from time to time. Orion is one I haven't tried in a while.
I've launched Orion and found that when I previously used it I saved some tabs - one of them being Ebay. I am not signed into my Ebay account in Orion but when I open this tab I'm seeing "Your Recently Viewed Items" and it's very much showing me the items I viewed in Safari just moments earlier.
Orion promotes itself as a privacy focused web browser.
Privacy by design, like no other browser.
Orion has been engineered from ground up as a truly privacy-respecting browser. We did it by embracing a simple principle - Orion is a zero telemetry browser. Your private information will never leave Orion by default.
And to protect your privacy on the web, Orion comes with industry-leading anti-tracking technology as well as a powerful built-in ad-blocker.

How do you feel about shopping in stores?
In my experience, the retail shopping environment has been on an increasing rate of decline over the past decade+. Post-covid, it seems corporations have figured out how to maximize profit, in part, by reducing labor and tailoring towards online sales.
I grew up in a time when people would complain about salespeople pestering them by simply asking if they needed help with anything. Now, I would love to have someone help me with a purchase.
I recently bought some sneakers in a store and it turned out I probably bought the wrong ones for my needs. A knowledgable salesperson likely would have saved me from wasting my money on the wrong purchase. Most of the supermarkets in my area are self-check out only. These stupid things never work for me so it takes me forever to simply scan a few items. At some stores, items are locked up behind glass so I'm not even able to make a purchase - pushing me to buy from an online retailer instead.
I try to go out of my way to find st