The totally off-topic thread

[ALH]

i don’t mind a 20 year old deciding she wants a sugar daddy (uncharitable view), or a father figure (kinder view), it is the barely legal 16 year old that everyone is slavering after that I find disturbing.......

I do mind the 20 year old (or older) deciding she wants a Sugar Daddy or father figure when they happen to already be married and the family gets hurt in the process. Which happens all too often.

.....and yes! I also find the thought of old men slavering over the 16 year old deeply disturbing. However I’m not naive enough to believe some of these young girls don’t know exactly what they are doing. Sometimes they’ve been trained by either their culture or their mothers.

 

[Flying mermaid]

.....and yes! I also find the thought of old men slavering over the 16 year old deeply disturbing. However I’m not naive enough to believe some of these young girls don’t know exactly what they are doing. Sometimes they’ve been trained by either their culture or their mothers.

Does a 16 year old know what they are doing? Going on my own kids (not a huge sample I agree), they made some pretty poor choices at 16 that they wouldn’t make at 20. I am not sure the brain and definitely not the maturity is fully formed by then....

 

[Quickstatus]

We have been going to Japan for over 30 years now, the Japanese take pride in doing their best, their work ethic is great, littering is practically non existent ! Japanese taxis are the cleanest in the world !

Except that the Japanese are monocultural and often quite racist but they would be too polite to be overt about it

 

[TomVexille]

Except that the Japanese are monocultural and often quite racist but they would be too polite to be overt about it

They just do it in Japanese assuming you don't understand

 

[ALH]

Does a 16 year old know what they are doing? Going on my own kids (not a huge sample I agree), they made some pretty poor choices at 16 that they wouldn’t make at 20. I am not sure the brain and definitely not the maturity is fully formed by then....

Some young ones now are very mature. Even though I left home at 16, I most definitely did not have a clue about what I was doing

 

[Flying mermaid]

Some young ones now are very mature. Even though I left home at 16, I most definitely did not have a clue about what I was doing

Well certainly they are more street wise than our generation - still not convinced that is the same as maturity. Apparently the prefrontal cortex only finishes developing in the 20s, so teenagers rely on the amygdala for making decisions and it is associated with emotions, impulses, aggression and instinctive behaviour, not rational thought processes.

I left home at 18 and thought I was pretty competent. I remember getting to 27 and realising I had been a bit of an idiot. Not so much with looking after myself, or financially, but certainly in most other directions.

 

[TomVexille]

I left home at 18 and thought I was pretty competent. I remember getting to 27 and realising I had been a bit of an idiot. Not so much with looking after myself, or financially, but certainly in most other directions.

That sounds rather familiar...

 

[kookaburra75]

Well certainly they are more street wise than our generation - still not convinced that is the same as maturity. Apparently the prefrontal cortex only finishes developing in the 20s, so teenagers rely on the amygdala for making decisions and it is associated with emotions, impulses, aggression and instinctive behaviour, not rational thought processes.

I left home at 18 and thought I was pretty competent. I remember getting to 27 and realising I had been a bit of an idiot. Not so much with looking after myself, or financially, but certainly in most other directions.

Having done the same, the fact that I survived to 27 still amazes me. But then as I move into the golden years - While Growing Old is Mandatory, Growing Up is Optional

 

[Denali]

in what culture are tips an offensive gesture?

20yrs ago, Vanuatu didn't accept tips but that's all gone to the dogs now. I've seen locals threaten violence over $1.

 

[LadyC]

.....and yes! I also find the thought of old men slavering over the 16 year old deeply disturbing. However I’m not naive enough to believe some of these young girls don’t know exactly what they are doing. Sometimes they’ve been trained by either their culture or their mothers.

But do they really understand at 16? If that is all that is presented to them, then that is how they behave. I think it says a lot about our culture rather than the individual.

 

[Denali]

But do they really understand at 16? If that is all that is presented to them, then that is how they behave. I think it says a lot about our culture rather than the individual.

I often say that a joy in being young and dumb is making stupid mistakes that hopefully they will learn from.

Just as one size does not fit all, you have some life experience dumb 16yrs and some savvy and calculating 16yrs. But minors are minors and old guys (or women) with any 16yr is just immoral.

 

[ALH]

Having done the same, the fact that I survived to 27 still amazes me. But then as I move into the golden years - While Growing Old is Mandatory, Growing Up is Optional

My brother and I are still amazed that we survived our childhood.

Even more constantly surprised that we have survived our adult adventures together

 

[mrs.dr.ron]

Yes, I was a very naïve 17 year old when I started nursing back in the 60s, boy that is a sharp learning curve and an eye opener

 

[Pushka]

20yrs ago, Vanuatu didn't accept tips but that's all gone to the dogs now. I've seen locals threaten violence over $1.

And they jack up the price of everything when a cruise ship arrives. Taxis x3. Even the cost of getting into the waterfall.

 

[Quickstatus]

And they jack up the price of everything when a cruise ship arrives. Taxis x3. Even the cost of getting into the waterfall.

Surge pricing. Just an exercise in the price elasticity of demand

=

((Q1-Q0)/(Q1+Q0)) / ((P1-P0)/(P1+P0))

 

[Quickstatus]

They just do it in Japanese assuming you don't understand

To Japanese, foreigners are just dumb “Gaijin” who are assumed to function at the level of children and therefore easily tolerated and forgiven. However, If you are Chinese or Koreans you are no longer children - maybe almost criminals and so the treatment if often overtly and aggressively discriminating and rude

 

[sjk]

To Japanese, foreigners are just dumb “Gaijin” who are assumed to function at the level of children and therefore easily tolerated and forgiven. However, If you are Chinese or Koreans you are no longer children - maybe almost criminals and so the treatment if often overtly and aggressively discriminating and rude

Were they doing a special on shallow stereotypes somewhere? As a a Zainichi Korean I can assure you that most people don't think that way at all, although perhaps if you're a dumb enough Gaijin you'll never find out.

 

[Quickstatus]

Were they doing a special on shallow stereotypes somewhere? As a a Zainichi Korean I can assure you that most people don't think that way at all, although perhaps if you're a dumb enough Gaijin you'll never find out.

Observations when I stayed with Aussie friend living in Japan who had Chinese neighbour in Japan

 

[juddles]

Hi there all from Rarotonga. Lovely (but short) family holiday. Was very interested to see that in the Cook Islands they charge a sugar tax - ie a can of Coke is $3 in the supermarket, but a can of diet Coke is $2. And a 1 litre botttle of "original" coke is $6 !! Wow!! As in many "indigenous" type cultures in affluent nations, the locals are suffering huge health problems, not through poverty, but the opposite.

 

[sjk]

Observations when I stayed with Aussie friend living in Japan who had Chinese neighbour in Japan

Gee, I guess "the Australians" like to extrapolate a lot from single experiences.