#social-norms

#social-norms

After spending six years in New York for school and then work, I started to worry that if I didn't make a hop across the pond soon, it might never happen at all. So, when a close friend who had just moved to Berlin started encouraging me to do the same, I knew that my opportunity for life in Europe had finally arrived. There was just one hitch in my plan: Other than what I'd learned in history classes,

That's the point of Halloween, isn't it? It's spooky season, after all. But where other kids seemed to delight in this, like passengers on a roller coaster feeling exhilarated by the terror, for me, it was distinctly unpleasant, and the weirdness of feeling out of step with everyone else was a second, ancillary unpleasantness, one that blossomed in particular in my twenties as going out on Halloween became a de rigueur social event.

Forcing kids to hug and kiss relatives and family friends teaches them their physical boundaries don't matter and that they don't have autonomy over their bodies.

I had dinner in Paris recently with a photographer friend, who said something that shocked me. We ate at a noisy and delicious brasserie called Le Vaudeville, where my friend shared stories from his front-line reporting in places like Ukraine, Gaza, and Afghanistan. Then he told me he hasn't used soap in years. How did this come up? He was telling me about a business opportunity he entertained.

Playgrounds are not peripheral spaces of leisure; they are political constructs shaped by specific ideologies about what childhood is and how it should unfold.

Opening birthday presents at parties fosters excitement and connection among friends. The act is a celebration, not a chore, bringing joy to both the giver and recipient.

Tipping today evokes a range of motivations, including feelings of self-improvement, impressing others, or compensating for low service staff wages.

As remote work matures, so do the rules that shape it—from flexible visas to café laptop bans.

I can't remember who or where but I once heard someone say "Non-professional massages are for people who are about to have sex."

I wore a fake engagement ring for a week while traveling and was surprised at how emotionally resonant the experience was, reflecting my readiness for marriage.

"One is that your friend is simply very bad at math. Venmo has a function for managing the mathematically inept, allowing you to request payment directly."

Boys are taught that acting on anger is acceptable. We have normalised it.

Making an adult child pay rent in their parents' home. They're not contributing to the total rent of a rented house or towards bills, which would be reasonable if they have a job, etc., but are paying rent on an owned property. I'll never understand that.

Overindulging as a consequence of following the crowd in social situations is extremely common. It can be a person's nemesis when it comes to wanting to stick to a healthy diet.