"Why Americans Suddenly Stopped Hanging Out"

You lookin at me?

Well after the pandemic people were afraid to gather and somewhat learned to live without it. Combine that with mass shootings and well publicized crime in major cities- gathering doesn't look so hot.

R2 There has always been violence, crime and upheaval in society (such as the 60s), but everyone still socialized and didn't allow it to 'silo' them.

We had the internet 20 years ago, I'm tired of the "technology is to blame" argument for everything.

R4 is an idiot. The smartphone is completely different than dial up AOL.

So last week, I was a contestant on a game show (it's a new show that hasn't aired yet, so I can't share details). When we all walked into the studio before the taping started, the first thing they did was take away our phones.

Suddenly, there we all were without that extra appendage. We had no choice but to talk to each other. I have to tell you, it felt so nice to be free from that damn machine and actually converse face-to-face with other people, learn about them, and share stories. I had the best time that day.

While technology has certainly improved our lives in many ways, it's also robbed us of so much.

We had the internet 20 years ago, but teenagers today have never been without smartphones.

Older millennials who wanted to view porn online had to do so on the family computer. And they still were somewhat forced to interact socially. Online dating was a refuge for weirdos.

[quote] While technology has certainly improved our lives in many ways, it's also robbed us of so much.

We wuz robbed.

Technology does have some blame for this. But it's also a larger cultural shift with the decline of community. People just aren't interacting with each other as much since it's not necessary.

It's not technology, it's that people are largely assholes. We just see that more clearly now thanks to technology.

It goes back further than phones. People think that their Facebook "friends" are really friends.

I don’t quite believe this. I don’t have kids but every kid I know plays some kind of sport and from middle school on are very involved in extracurriculars.

I’ve never known anyone who hung out with church /temple people. You’d put your hour a week in and go home.

I haven’t socialized with neighbors since I was a kid in the 70s. Our parents were friendly but didn’t socialize.

I think people have always mostly kept to themselves and curated their own social groups.

Do you know the first names of your neighbors? I don’t and i have lived in this apartment four years.

Do you know the names of any small shop owners/workers that you see every week? I don’t.

Perhaps baby steps.

Maybe we never really liked “hanging out” and now we don’t have to.

I'm sure that if you could compare data from the 1940s vs the 1960s, you'd see a decline as well. Suburbanization, fewer people going to church, car centered society, perceived crime...there are many, many societal factors that have been at play for decades driving Americans to be more and more individualistic.

Hustle culture/working oneself to an early grave is now a popular and expected virtue. There’s no time for hanging out.

There’s so much good stuff to watch on TV. I would rather stay home.

I met up with friends for lunch yesterday because I felt like I had to. Spent 90 minutes catching up and $23 on an ok sandwich.

I thrived during Covid.

Some of the socializing occurred during Happy Hour when people were in the office and in a position to go out to a local bar or restaurant. I only go into the office 1 or 2 days a week and neither of those is a Friday. I'm not going to drive 30 minutes to hang out with people who only want to talk about work! COVID changed this for a lot of people.

I know alot of coworkers whose kids are in after school activities/weekend sports. They have little to no time to socialize since they have to rush home, feed the kids, and then get to practice or the game. After doing that even 2x a week, the last thing they want to do is go out again. They want to put on mismatched sweats and watch a streaming service.

Lastly, as my sister says, I pay alot of money to live in my house. I'm going to stay home and enjoy it!

[quote]I’ve never known anyone who hung out with church /temple people. You’d put your hour a week in and go home.

Up until about a decade ago, my Catholic church used to have members get together to organize different community events throughout the year: Christmas Bazar, 'Spaghetti Dinners', Wednesday Night Bingo, Parish Feast (in honor of the patron saint), and sponsored a Little League Team, a youth basketball team and a Bowling team, not to mention Golf tournaments. There was also a thrift shop across the street, run by volunteers of all ages. You didn't have to be a parishioner to attend any of this, you didn't even have to be Catholic - everyone was invited to participate and 'meet new people'. It made the city neighborhood feel safe, welcoming and friendly for neighbors of all ages.

In the past ten years, each of these have come to an end. The reason the church gave was not enough interest from volunteers to put these together and the ones which were still active were not attracting enough people. It really took a hit during the pandemic when the Little League, Basketball, Bowling and Golf had a huge drop-off in new memberships. Every family retreated to their silos.

Today, there's nothing left - and it's sad. The younger new parishioners who have joined with their younger families lament the loss, yet have zero interest in restarting any of these again (though they recall when we had these, and they used to come with their parents and grandparents).

R4 Agree . You are tired Sylvia.

That is why I will always have a soft spot for Catholics R19. The only homeless shelter in my entire county is Catholic and anyone who is homeless is allowed as long as they aren’t drinking or taking drugs.

Of all the churches around here, they are the only one who will finance a homeless shelter.

Much of my face to face "socializing" was with my office crowd of coworkers. Work from home killed that.

I think something that hasn’t been mentioned is the lack of free places to hang out. Everything costs money now.

Corporate Greed is the answer, as many are alluding to here. Everything costs more, we have to hustle more, and nobody has time.

People are also much more likely to be crazy, let's face it, and then came trump and all hell broke loose. There's no stability anymore, and there won't be, until we have violence, just saying.

In smaller towns or rural areas people are more involved in the social activities of their churches.

Well, sure, R13.

Micki and Bill, next door, shared their basil with me when it was in season last year, and invited me to their kid’s home for the Super Bowl,, and Hannah, Zane, and Daniel, who work the front desk at my gym, always take time to talk a bit.

12 foot ladder (the site) will remove the paywall.

All good answers on this thread. People are tired from the hustle of work, and, yes, concerts, sporting events and theater are too pricey in this day and age.

I do try to combat this trend, by making coffee/dinner dates with friends, and talking with neighbors I see.

Also, I manage a team of folks who all work remotely. We meet quarterly at the Headquarters, and spend a week together working with each other and the rest of the company, and have fun at night together, of course all paid for by the company. This helps us all stay connected on a professional level, and it's the only chance that some of these folks get away from their families for a few days for a break.

R23 The places which were free 30 years ago are probably still free today. I have a friend who lives in another neighborhood, in a senior apartment building. She grew so frustrated over the past few years of new residents moving in and not introducing themselves, or socializing and being 'neighborly'. She finally took the initiative to meet the newbies on her floor - she posted a sign on each door (I believe there were 6 in the past year) and invited them to meet her for coffee and a donut at Dunkin' on a late morning about a month ago; she was paying for everyone. All six showed up - and they had a great time. Now they actually greet each other in the halls, and she has taken the initiative to introduce them to some of the other residents on her floor who have been there a while. As she said the other day, 'now my floor is neighborly and friendly like it used to be when I first moved in years ago'. She has plans of doing this on the floor up from her in a few more months - get everyone to be friendly.

Social interaction is important to our overall and long-term mental and physical health and well being.

Paying for a coffee and donut for six other residents is not what I call free but I commend her for making the effort.

R29 If you try community theater (especially college productions), concerts (again, college) and local sport events, you will still have a good time with friends and save money. Also, check your local colleges for art shows, visiting authors, film-makers and guest lecturers. Most are at a minimal cost. Great way to become part of the community once again.

It’s true socializing is important for mental health. You can see it on DL, people who obviously don’t interact with other people and man are they angry hateful individuals.

R33 She planned it well - her local Dunkin offers a substantial 'senior discount' at a certain time of day, so she took advantage of that since they were all seniors. It didn't cost her much. Don't know if they all do - but it worked in her favor.

A couple of years ago, I lost 40 lbs., mostly by eating very little and lots of exercise. I wanted to keep the weight off while starting to eat normally again, so I started walking every day. The filth and trash on both sides of the main road through my neighborhood was ridiculous to the point where I couldn't stand looking at it anymore, so I started picking it up, later using a "grabber" and plastic grocery bags.

I know I mentioned this here before, but I belong to a national organization of women (generally older than I) that encourages community service. They like when you do service projects, so I "adopted" that road. I went to the county and signed up and they made signs that said my road had been adopted by my organization (even though I'm the only one doing it). And in the 2 1/2 years I've been picking up trash, I've made friends with almost everyone on that road. Plus, people driving by honk and wave at me, "strangers" at the grocery store exclaim, "Hey! You're the lady who picks up the trash! How are you!" (while I think to myself, "Who the hell is this?"), and I have accumulated a wealth of folks who, if I need help with anything, will be happy to help me. I never thought keeping a road clean could be so personally rewarding.

Yes, this is Deplorable Haven, and yes, I still hate living here, but as I said to my bff back home, this is the very definition of "community."

Was it “sudden?”

Last week I called my dr office to make an appointment for my 3 month medication renewal. I know my last name shows up on their office phone when I call. I’d tried calling maybe 2 times in the past month and got a long winded voicemail and “please leave a message.” I didn’t bother leaving a message because no doctor’s office I’ve called in the past few years has ever, ever called me back after leaving a message.

So I got the longwinded message and hung up. An hour later I called again. Someone picks up the phone and I hear, “I’m transferring her call to you, you lucky girl.”

I hung up in shock. If anything, I’ve always gone out of my way to be almost overly polite at that office because …it’s my doctors office. You don’t want anyone in a doctor’s office to get pissed off at you, because it could affect your health if someone takes a dislike to you or feels insulted.

So I’m racking my brain…what did I do? What did I say? How did I bother them? Do I smell or something? I don’t dress fashionably - I’m almost 70 and don’t give a fuck about fashion. I wear leisure clothes and sneakers because - as they well know - I have back, neck and shoulder pain from work injuries.

Is it because I prefer not to leave a message nobody is going to listen to? I’m running out of medication but I don’t want to call back. I don’t want to see my doctor anymore. People seem so angry and spiteful these days. What do they want from other people? I just don’t know. I wish I knew what I did to bother them.

Towards the end of the lockdown, I woold see some senior ciitizens sitting in beach chairs in the parking lot ot my local Panera. They were the ones who would meet inside and have coffer and breakfast. They just took it outside when inside seating was closed. On nice days, they still do it.

R39 Are you sure they were talking about you ? It sounds like it's a busy office, and she may have been referring to another caller who was holding on another line. It sounds like they didn't even say 'hello' to you - or you didn't give them a chance, since you hung up.

It could very well be that receptionist was picking up the phone to answer your call, but was already engaged in another conversation with her co-worker, talking about another call she may have put on hold...and you overheard it.

I think you jumped to conclusions - and the very wrong one. I would have stayed on the line, and talked to someone, no matter if they were indeed referring to you or not. Only you lost out on this one.

Yeah, R41, R39 sounds like a drama queen to me.

I DETEST the fetish for introversion the past five years or so. Fuck all of you cunts

R43 Most of my family are extroverts are they hate people who are “quiet and weird” in social gatherings because it makes them uncomfortable and they feel the need to fill the silence with more noise and chaos.

R43 demonstrates exactly why some of us don't love being around other people.

R39, sorry to hear. That wasn’t your fault. People are just negative and bitchy. I work in an office and there are a handful of people who just have a negative and unpleasant approach to everything.

Derek likes to pretend he is the originator of ideas that are long incubating before he got out of grade school.

Not sure if this link will work. Seems to be the full article.

Our addiction to our devices and the pandemic only accelerated trends that led to aloneness. Those trends began c. 1970 according to the article. One of those trends was the decline of church attendance and volunteering. R19, your experience in your parish confirms what the article argues.

For gay men, the decline of places like gay bars where we could gather is also a factor.

Smartphones and other devices have had the biggest impact on teenagers, exasperating problems already associated with adolescence...lack of self-confidence and what not.

R48 Thank you for this !

I stopped hanging out with others because of Covid, and just never got back into the habit.

For me, getting together with friends for dinner is a giant hassle. Driving, paying for parking, paying ridiculously for your meal and then driving home again - it’s really only special occasion for me. Before Covid I ate out all the time.

Cute guy alert, OP?

He looked older and cuter on MJ - has since grown a mustache. Very cute guy this morning !

All of these commenters subscribe to the Washington Post??

Only 2 posters, not even the asshole OP, bothered to add free links to the article--(12ft ladder doesn't work anymore btw)

Everyone else just wanted to get their pathetic takes on something they haven't even read.

Nope, R55. If there's a paywall, many folks probably just back out & still comment here.

If you have a take after reading the article (or not), please share; there's lots of room left in the thread. It's seems like a pretty popular topic.

I'm an introverted so I love being alone. I get together with friends a few times a month but I enjoy solitude. The pandemic didn't really affect me.

R55 WTF does the Washington Post have to do with anything ?

R58 Shit, I meant the Atlantic. I imagine even fewer DLers subscribe to that neoliberal rag.

R57 This morning, the author did discuss on MJ the difference of 'being alone' and 'being lonely'. Seems more and more people have suffered depression from 'being lonely' over the past 20 years, and it's getting worse. He points out there's nothing wrong with 'being alone', so long as you enjoy it and you're not feeling 'lonely' and have become depressed. You seem fine.

R56 Why did you encourage this asshole to 'share' his thoughts ? He couldn't even get his bs correct - thinking our discussion is based on an article in The Washington Post.

R61 is the illiterate OP who hasn't even read the article. Why don't you link it non-paywall so we can read it asshole?

R61 Look here OP! Now you can read it for yourself!

It‘s sadly not just an American problem.

I also noticed how hard it is to make new friends after 30.

Going to a gay bar alone feels weird these days, didn’t feel like that when I started going out back in 2008. Everyone sticks to their own clique, nobody is socialising outside of their circle.

Because people have become behavioral, communicative, and driving assholes...there, fixed it for "The Atlantic"!

R64 A lot of things don't feel the same from what we remember when we were 15 years younger. Go out to a gay bar and enjoy yourself. Look around beyond the cliques - I'm sure you will find many other 'single' patrons there with you. Go have fun!

A retired woman I know lives in a hi rise condo, she just hosts a morning coffee for her friends on the floor. An hour or so every morning, very low key. It’s a nice way to start the day.

Me, I think the great shift to being homebodies happened in the 80s-90s with the advent of cable tv and vcrs. Now you didn’t have to go out to the theater to see movies. You could watch in the comfort of your home. The word “cocooning” became popular.

I want to second R64’s comments. There’s no shortage of gay bars where I live. (I’m in NYC.) But when I started going out to bars ages ago, they were filled with guys out on their own happy to strike up conversations with strangers. And there were no phones. I’m not too shy to go out on my own, but at a crowded gay bar it feels like 95% of the clientele are in groups.

There are two gay-ish bars walking distance from home. I sometimes go. The people working there are always nice to me. But the cliques are impenetrable — and typically less than half my age.

The weird thing is that when I go to the more-or-less straight bars in my neighborhood, strangers often initiate conversation with me and I’ve been surprised by how many guys in those bars have bought me drinks. I can’t remember that ever happening in a gay bar.

Too many people out there are batshit crazy today. Nobody's got time for hanging out with that shit.

People have always been batshit crazy - nothing new these days.

Well, we socialize here on DL instead. No alcohol limit and we don't have to *dress*.

I grew up in a big family and don’t think I was ever home alone until I was like 14 or 15 and I loved it. But then I got busy with school and work and a social life and I never had a chance to be home alone.

In my 20s and 30s I lived in small, shitty apartments with and without roommates. I really never wanted to be home. I was out at bars, clubs, restaurants and traveling, seeking hookups and potential relationships.

Now in my 50s, I have a beautiful home, a boyfriend, and practically anything I want is literally available at my fingertips. I love staying home. I do go out to socialize and see family and friends but I am happiest at home.

People are so fucking neurotic and easily offended anymore. Having to carefully navigate a convo so as not to stir up a Karen is exhausting. Socializing is too much work and money for too little return.

To R37... That is a "really nice" thing to do where you live.

Thanks for doing that, they would try to run me over.

Pre-COVID, my social circle was a local, two-story, sex club. Sure, there was sex involved, but also there was living room type area on the lower floor, as well as a patio area. Both the building being sold and COVID, changed this.

R66 How I wish you were right. But in the past 12 months, I HAVE gone to gay bars. And apart from the dear eldergay sitting (and waiting) all on his own, guys around my age are only going out in packs.

[quote]I don’t quite believe this. I don’t have kids but every kid I know plays some kind of sport and from middle school on are very involved in extracurriculars.

That's my experience, too, here in New England.

Especially kids from conservative households, who are very much into school spirit.

Frankly, I feel all these complaints about Gen Z are really about liberal teens/twentysomethings.

Conservative young people are generally gracious, industrious, conscientious, optimistic, etc.

Whereas liberal young people tend to be rude, pessimistic, suicidal, slackers, etc.

[quote]Do you know the first names of your neighbors? I don’t and i have lived in this apartment four years.

[quote]Do you know the names of any small shop owners/workers that you see every week? I don’t.

Absolutely, R13. Not the name of every shop clerk but owners of shops, yes, and neighbors in my building and many (far from all) others nearby, yes, and more neighbors that I will say hell to or share a few words with on the street whose names I may not know.

But I live in Spain where social life is very important, whereas I think in the US the parallel important aspect of daily life is maintaining one's privacy behind a veneer of friendliness. Here people do respect their privacy and that of others; crossing paths with other people in the street no one smiles and calls out "Hello!" and "How are you today?" to strangers as Americans do. The streets are too crowded with people and you would be all day offering chirpy greetings that are less inquisitive that meant to project one's own niceness. But there's a friendliness between shop owners and customers, with neighbors -- with neighbors it's a shared interest even if you don't always like all of them there's a value to being pleasant and helpful to them when you can. But daily life is rarely without some aspect of socializing, and typically involves at least some planned or coincidental meeting with friends, neighbors, acquaintances, and the act of stopping to take a drink together or have even a quick conversation. In the U.S., these coincidental encounters are quite often awkward, falling like a soufflé after the greeting part and recalling the tragi-comical definition of adult friendship in the US (two people saying "I haven't seen you in forever! We should really hang out more" over and over again until one of them dies.)

I think this has long been an aspect of American life but one that has incrementally grown stronger across many years or decades.

R21 No drinking or drugs! They probably have plenty of spare beds then. I live in SF and we would not have enough beds in our shelters IF all of our unhoused actually used them. Unfortunately, the no alcohol/no drugs rules makes many prefer living in the streets. Our homeless demographic may be different than other parts of the US though. Definitely substance abuse and the resulting mental illness is a very large part of the problem here.

R68, I’m in NYC and seconding what you’re saying. I still go out by myself to gay bars from time to time but it’s wild to me how cliquey the crowds have become. It’s like others have zero desire or interest in meeting / hooking up with someone new. They just stare and mingle amongst their own friends the entire time (even when I’m with other friends, you better bet I’m still scouting out the hotties). It’s truly mind boggling.

[quote]Conservative young people are generally gracious, industrious, conscientious, optimistic, etc.

What a load of horse shit. Way to gloss over that the whole root of "conservative" is "racist, sexist, misogynist, anti-LGBT+, conformist, religious, authoritarian"...

[quote] Conservative young people are generally gracious, industrious, conscientious, optimistic, etc.

Let's rephrase this.

"Conservative young people, much like their parents, lack empathy and are completely blind to the ills of the world, resulting in a misplaced sense of optimism and fake friendliness."

I'm friends with a 27 year old hottie who has started to come to terms with his sexuality (to a degree). He's comfortable going to gay bars by himself when he's away from home / his family as he travels for business in bigger cities. He's told me in these gay bars there are plenty of other good looking young guys - some by themselves, some with friends. Everyone 'checks each other out' but makes no further move to make more contact.

As he said, there was one guy at the bar that kept checking him out and he did the same to him. They did the 'slight head nod' and half smile to each other. When my friend finally tried to approach him to introduce himself (after about thirty minutes) the other guy 'suddenly got busy on his phone' and ended all eye contact. My friend ended up walking by him (he still had his head down looking at his phone) and then ended up leaving ; as he said, he felt rejected. He didn't feel welcome or comfortable at that point.

I asked him if this is any different from the straight bars he had been going to picking up girls. When he approached a girl, was it any different ? He admitted - NO. Same thing - suddenly their buried into their phones.

I assured him it's not him. He's a great looking guy with a hot body, and a great personality. I told him I suspect it's just his generation - NO ONE KNOWS HOW TO SOCIALIZE WITH OTHERS. (He does to an extent, because he works with mostly older people in their 40s and 50s). It's tough to approach someone and make conversation with them if the other person doesn't know how to engage. (He agreed). I encouraged him not to give up - or to go to gay bars where there's an older crowd who'd love to make conversation with him and let him feel welcome.

I kinda think our entrepreneurial American spirit results in real and perceived social stratification eg people are embarrassed to be poorer than others or arrogant about their wealth, so they don’t approach others for friendship or romance. For both sides, it might feel like a massive waste of time to even try when you don’t get immediate results.

It’s because I think 99% of people are stupid, and I don’t want to waste my time “hanging out” with them.

End of thread.

R82 That a gross over-generalization of conservatives. Those who have spend their lives in their siloed cocoons do fit that description, but those who have intermingled over the years with other parts of society do not. This "us vs them" view is just feeding into the political and social divisions that have ratcheted up over the last several years.

There is nothing to be found in 'conservatism' other than fear of the other... "conservatism" is founded on fear of change, and that includes being wedded to racism, sexism, homophobia, and more. You cannot separate them. If you're not homophobic, misogynist/sexist, or racist... you're not conservative.

So weird, I was posting on the Shogun thread, and it popped up here.

Anyway, remember when neighborhoods used to have block parties? It would be so exciting to shut the street down, have the firefighters unplug the fire hydrants. and if you had a kind firefighter, take a tour on the firetruck.

My neighborhood (gayborhood) tried resurrecting a neighborhood block party during the pandemic - to get everyone to come out of their house. Neighbors donated food, and essentials (grills, charcoal, paperplates, etc.) There were no open fire hydrants, but 'family games' were provided. Money donations were accepted to be split up with those who donated the food, etc. It was very impressive.

The first year ( Labor Day weekend 2020) was a hit, going by attendance. 2021 was about half the attendance. 2022 was about a third of 2020. 2023 it was 'postponed' due to weather, but never happened. No one is talking about it yet for this year (they were thinking of moving it up to Memorial Day weekend). I have a feeling it's over.

r89, hopeful, then sad.

R90 AS one of my friends said at Christmastime, no one likes any traditions any more - new or old. As our older family members died off, so has the traditions of that generation. The younger generations never really started traditions that stuck, for some reason.

I'll never forget hearing Lisa Ling saying that sometimes both she and her kids would rather stay home and look at dumb stuff on their phones instead of going out with friends. I thought that was a very honest comment to make because she doesn't strike me as that type of person--mainly because that's how I am and I didn't think anyone else felt like this.

My parents had an open door policy. Friends and neighbors would drop by to chat, drink coffee, or play cards. Nobody does anymore. I want to spend my time at home relaxing not entertaining guests.

Our parents/grandparents worked 9-5. There were plenty of coworkers to handle the work.

In the 1980s all of that started to change. “Right to work” laws and air conditioning sent jobs down to the “sun belt.” Millions of jobs were lost in the northern industrial states. Unions were broken.

Full-time jobs with benefits were turned into part time jobs without benefits. Work hours went from being the same time every day to being different hours on different days of the week.

Blue laws were struck down. Stores stayed open on weekends, then office jobs stayed open on weekends.

Layoffs started when the boys at McKinsey decided middle management needed to be destroyed. Regional offices closed. The more layoffs, the bigger the payoff to shareholders. Work crews became skeleton staffs. People who laughed, drank coffee, had “water cooler talk” about last nights tv shows in the office now had to do the jobs of 3 people without a raise in salary,

Media was allowed to become privatized and News became entertainment. Moguls could own unlimited numbers of newspapers, magazines, publishing houses, radio stations, cable tv channels.

Nobody wants to hang out anymore because they can’t. Their lives are too stressful. Real estate is too expensive and mortgages/rent are eating up salaries. There’s no stable future in sight. Pensions are gone. Government no longer subsidizes housing developments, middle income projects. Politicians now answer to donors, not voters. Corruption is rampant and “news” media lie to people about the cause.

There’s a reason why there are so many apocalyptic movies, tv shows, and book series. Society had already collapsed.

R94 Great post. A lot (if not all) of the changes you described were all part of Reaganomics in the 1980s.

I think this is a very one-dimensional analysis of the issue. I was a child in the 80s and no one now can understand the absolute solitude we experienced. You met people, of course, because being alone all the time is not what humans are made for. You hardly got to know new people who lived even a little away from you, I remember forms we could fill out in school to find writing pals abroad, and it never worked out - it mostly just didn't click.

I go out far less now than I did in my youth, true. I try to meet people face-to-face with whom this is feasible though. Nevertheless, I have more meaningful contact with others now than in my youth, and this is ONLY due to the Internet. Yes, I can very well do without smartphones (I haven't looked at mine since 12 hours ago) but I would have never found most of my friends if it wasn't for smartphones. There would also be no way to take part in my friends' lives the way I do with the technology we take for granted and vilify now.

I just find the world is exhausting. Work sucks the life out of me every day. By the time my partner and I get home from work, whoever is home first will cook dinner. By the time we are done eating and doing dishes, there is no energy left to do anything but go to bed for the next round. We like to go out for a drink every now and then, but the closest gay bars are 45 minutes away now. We now just go to the local bar in town. Everyone knows we are gay and treated no differently than anyone else. In fact, my partner and I met in a local bar and not in a gay bar.

R6, did you win?

How much did you bank??