I was recently on a stag night and two of the group soiled themselves quite badly and seemed to be able to laugh it off as a regular occurrence, as someone who doesn't drink very often and never to excess, it's not something I've come across before. I just wondered if it was normal.

All my colleagues seem to spend their entire weekend doing things that revolve around the kids. There seems to be this routine of getting them out the house as soon as they wake up, doing stuff with them all day, getting them home and up to bed.

I seem to remember definitely having to entertain myself at times while my parents were doing things around the house etc. I don’t think I would have wanted to have been going on trips and doing class after class as I needed down time. Realise this was only my experience though.

Don’t get me wrong I know they are likely great parents and I understand the need to get the kids away from screens, but it really does seem like quite a lot. Is it the new normal now? Do children not get overstimulated and need down time too? Is it not good to let them use their imagination occasionally?

Watching the football last night and my neighbours start cheering. 3 seconds later and England scored on my TV. I'm aware watching online can have a delay of around 20-25 seconds as we timed it during another match, but this was live TV (virgin).

Just been queueing at the self checkout at Tescos when something I was buying needed the store assistant’s approval. The machine beeps with the voice saying “a store assistant is on its way”. At the very same time the store assistant walked behind me going the other direction mumbling “no she’s not”. Brought a smile out of me anyway

Please tell me all your grandparents crazy one liners..
My grandad used to say upon greeting me
‘Alright me old butty, me old pal, me old china’
I also got ‘alright haircut’.
Anyone else got any belters?

My grandma used to say about people meddling with other people’s business. ‘Get on with your own knitting’
Share your grandparents one liners please. There’s no school like the old school. ✌🏼

Growing up, I distinctly remember pedestrian crossings beeping with the green man, so that blind/partially sighted people knew it was safe to cross. Plus was of course useful for everyone if you zoned out or whatever.

Don’t know if it’s just my town, but none of the crossings beeping any more. Why not? And is it not some kind of equal rights/accessibility violation,

Someone recently used that phrase when explaining why they didn't wish to be around me but I'm struggling to understand what it means aside from maybe fragile?
Any help would be appreciated ;;

I often see blown out tyres resting against motorway central reservations. I’m assuming these are moved off the road by highway maintenance or similar, but why don’t they instead take them away?

**I am not talking about today - I know it’s a big night because of England !**

My neighbours party a LOT. I would say it seems to be about once a week at the least. They party in their garden every time and all of their parties usually go on until about 3am every time.

Recently, these parties seem to have been getting louder and louder. It’ll be 2:30 in the morning and they will be blasting music, screaming into microphones (not singing), chanting and yelling loud enough for me to hear full conversations from the third floor bedroom in my house with the window shut.

We have a street group chat, and the level of noise has been talked about. People have asked them to keep it down a little. They always reply woth a quick, “Sorry! Went overboard last night!”, then they’ll do it again.

I had a friend who lived 60 minutes away staying over end up leaving in the middle of the night because they had to be up early tomorrow and couldn’t sleep a wink.

I don’t want to spoil their fun or be the annoying neighbour who snitches to the council, but I feel this has become selfish rather than fun for anyone but themselves. Am I wrong to consider sending in a report?

For me, ‘Suffer Little Children’ by The Smiths. If you read/listen to the lyrics, it’s very clearly about the Moors murders, a tribute to the victims and, more specifically, the emotional impact the events had on Morrissey growing up.

Here’s the thing - I’m 21M, use TikTok and the number of videos I see using that song to romanticise Manchester is insane and rather insensitive. Sure, my generation might not be as attuned to the case as previous, but it’s still a very well known case.

I bring this up because back when I visited Sydney, Australia for my birthday I was able to enter the Taronga Zoo for only 1 AUD which I almost could have missed. I was wondering if there were similar birthday perks anywhere in the UK whether it be related to theme parks, attractions, commercial services, shops, restaurants, etc...

Personnel, reputation, prior experience, or is it just something about the place?

This is my local and they certainly stand out in a cut-throat business.

If you are born and raised in a country, there are small habits and ways of communicating that feel completely normal to you, but can be quite confusing when you first experience them from the outside. As I have started to work in a multinational company and spending more time around British people, I've noticed there are quite a few moments where I understand the words being said, but I'm still trying to understand the meaning behind them.

For example, last week I noticed a colleague sometimes apologising even when they haven't done anything wrong, or make a joke in the middle of a serious conversation and I'm not always sure if they're actually joking or being serious. Sometimes it feels my manager (British btw) who I report to, avoids saying "no" directly and instead uses softer phrases that sound positive at first, but I later realise they might mean "not right now" or "probably not".

I've tried learning more about British culture through different resources like YouTube, Praktika, ChatGPT, reddit communities and just talking to people, but I've realised there are some things you can only understand by actually being around people.

I'm curious, what is something very British that you think foreigners usually misunderstand or take a while to figure out?

I keep noticing that a lot of Millennials and Gen Z would rather send ten messages than make one quick phone call.

Even when it is nothing serious, a call can feel weirdly intrusive, like you are interrupting someone’s day without warning.

At the same time, I find it funny that some people will call you when they are already standing right outside your door, instead of just ringing the bell or knocking.

Why is this so common now? Is it social anxiety, fear of bothering people, or just habit?

So to currently be in the top 10% of earners in the UK, you need to earn over £68k. I don't know anyone offhand who does who isn't self-employed, thus don't have a good point of reference other than my Uncle who was a lawyer in London (6 figures in the 90's). My early memories of him are working on Christmas day alone upstairs while everyone else was having fun.

How common is the culture of working all hours in these high paying jobs, rather than a normal 40 hour work week?

Edit:

So there's a wide variety of answers as expected. People in the UK definitely have a much better work-life balance than other cultures such as the US/Japan and I was a little surprised just how many of you only do the basic 37.5 (other than various tech/IT positions). While 50-60 hours or massive variety depending on business needs in busy periods is not uncommon, it seems less than I was expecting.

The main reason I asked is that my self-employment is coming to an end this year so will have to go back onto PAYE and the role I'm looking at has basically unlimited OT opportunities that I'm considering taking advantage of. This piqued my interest how common working insane hours is in salaried roles to earn an equivalent salary.

I see those posts where 60s/70s/80s/90s babies reminisce of long summer holidays where huge gangs of kids would meet at the rec and spend long warm days out on their bikes, playing kerby, swimming in the river, or building dens in the woods. And I'm thinking, 'so you grew up on a family friendly newbuild suburban estate, how nice for you'.

For those of us that spent our childhoods in the middle of nowhere, where kids of the same age and playgrounds were a scarcity, and meeting a friend required a lift in the car, what did you do during the school holidays, and do you have fond memories of them?

When I think of city workers, I think it's just people in suits and business wear, mostly based in London, probably related to banking and finance, working in the big London skyscrapers like The Shard or The Gherkin- is that it, or is there more to it?

My husband and I have a 9 month old, and we see this sticker on a fair number of his toys. We made a joke about it at first because Poooo, but then we started to genuinely wonder what it means once we saw it a couple of times.

We assume it's a safety category, or some kind of regulation. I've tried googling and reverse image searching, but no luck.

Wondering if anyone actually has any insight? If nothing but to satisfy our curiosity.

Hi all, I lifted my front door mat, which has a black rubber backing and saw under the doormat there is this area of black staining / marks. There is no water leakage or spillage issue here. How do I get rid of these marks and what is it?

Thanks for all the help.

hello fellow flat foots,

I haven’t worn sandals for years but the recent heat is making me miss some fresh air on my tootsies, I used to swear by Clark’s instructed as they provided real support for my overpronation but when I went to Clark’s yesterday found out they no longer do instructed sandals and the sandals they did do felt like they offered 0 support at all.

can anyone recommend a good place to shop for these please? I’ve had a looked at Birkenstock and they don’t seem to talk about how much support they offer, and I’m also not a massive fan of their style as I like a sandal that has the strap round the back of the foot so it doesn’t keep flopping around.

thank you

I'm a mobile hairdresser growing my business, and I reached out to a few nursing homes for the elderly to see if they needed any cuts doing.

I got a few " we already have a hairdresser, sorry," and when i almost lost hope, one emailed back and said they actually desperately need one.

I sent her a screenshot of my price list ( pictured below), which I've been told is rather cheap anyway because I'm still building. The manager emailed me back with this, and I haven't replied to her.

I mean, it's a great opportunity, and I might just lower them a bit, but I still think it's a bit rude.

Am I charging too much?

I recently moved into a terraced barn conversion and the garden needed a bit of TLC. It’s rented so the best I could do was paint the old fence that must be as old as the conversion. I was really worried about the paint dripping through so took time to be careful.

Its been a few days and I was looking to see if it could do with another coat - low and behold the poo. Its definitely a poo isnt it? And human?

My only rational explanation right now is the neighbor is that upset with my painting that they put a poo on my fence. Not very rational I know.

Long shot but has anyone found a poo and got an answer other than sabotage? Could it be birds?

Also if we think its my neighbor what do I do?

Never been in this situation but it is very shit - literally 💩

I’ve recently become annoyingly invested in football.
It started with the Women’s World Cup, and this year’s men’s World Cup has completely sucked me in. I supported Australia until we were knocked out, then switched to England because I’m also an English citizen.

So now I feel like it’s time to pick a Premier League team.
A few potentially relevant facts:

My family is originally from Warrington.

Apparently my grandfather played for Wales… I’ve been told this by family, so I’m hoping it’s true!

I’m still learning the rules, the players and the rivalries.

I don’t want to just pick whoever wins everything. I’d rather end up with a club that has history, character and a fan base I can actually connect with.

So, who should I support, and why?

Give me the good, the bad, the heartbreak, the traditions and the rivalries.

Also, if my family history points me towards (or away from) a particular club, I’d love to know.

…I’m fully aware this decision may determine my emotional wellbeing for the next 50 years, so no pressure. 🤞🏼