I was 10 with connections (Europe to US and back again). The airline took really good care of me. Without connections I would say about 8. But as always with the caveat that it depends on the child in question.

The short answer is I read the Bible. I just could not believe after that.

This is the rationale here. I am in two minds about it actually. Part of me feels like many in this thread, equal pay for equal work. At the same time teens and young adults were having issues finding jobs because they had no experience of work and with rising unemployment employers were more willing to hire older workers with references from earlier jobs. Young adults were not getting the experience needed. Like PPs son it was drummed into me that you work hard you move up in the company and that is what happened to me. However I see students daily who don't have that from home. Students who,seem to lack an understanding of what the real world is like. For these students getting the lower paying job at McDs might be a step in the right direction. As I said, I'm still mulling on this one.

I don't know about Australia but that is the way it works here in Sweden. There is a lower minimum wage for those under 18. I think the social security contributions that employers have to make are also lower for those under 18. We still have high youth unemployment figures, although some of that has to do with how they count. It still seems better in my part of the country than it is in rural areas in the states. I can't enter a retail establishment in my town without encountering at least one former student. ETA anyone under 18 also has restrictions on what they can do and what hours they can work. In addition between the ages 16 and 20 if you are in full time education and work part time you get a grant except in July and August when you can work full time.

I love mine. Well worth the money. And I have a friend who swears by them.

I've also boiled an egg dry (back when I could still eat eggs *sniff*

Toms are sized big so I would go with a 7.5. I'm usually a 7.5/8 but my Toms are 7

Well we have subsidized/free daycare where kids get two meals and two snacks every day. School aged children up to the age of 12 get subsidized before and after school care where they get breakfast. School lunches are free for all. So kids get food in other places than home. I am not saying our system is perfect. Not by a long shot. I support an organization that helps families that for various reasons fall through the cracks (it still takes time for benefits to kick in, unexpected bills etc.) but I do prefer our system (it is one of the reasons I choose to not live in the US even though I am a US citizen, I do feel that the safety nets are better here).

:grouphug: :grouphug: To all you with aging parents. I have an electric kettle. Without it I would probably have home insurance that was through the roof :lol: I am currently reading Common Threads which I am sure someone here recommended a while back. Quite interesting so far. Although this line "...and observers complained about the 'erratic Irish-born priests' being a problem" made me think of these Irish Catholic Priests (warning NSFW and NSFC and please please I am in no way trying to insult Catholics, the Catholic Church or Priests)

Actually I think that the best way to remove the judgement is to remove any way of ANYONE to see where the money has come from and rules about what it can be use for. Why can't we let other adults themselves decide what they and their family eat? I don't live in the US. Here we just put the benefits into the recipients bank account or they get a cheque to cash and then they can spend that money as they see fit. It is no business of mine what anyone else puts in their grocery cart or how they pay for it. The fact that the US STILL insists on special cards or cheques is an indication that the poor shaming is institutionalized.

It is grown everywhere in Europe :)

It could be rapeseed. That looks neon yellow

Tangent My friend and I once had a discussion with a TSA agent about goats cheese spread. It ended when the supervisor came over and glared at the agent. It was a small airport, I think the agent was bored.

Cupcakes were the subject of a major controversy here. I think we can turn anything into a controversy :D

It was mid 70s today, now it is probably low 70s (evening in Europe). Down from mid 80s from last week, which is very hot here in the land of no AC.

Ugh I know rules need to be in place but sometimes I wish that the rules were more flexible. For reasons that I can't post here because it wasn't me, in the past year I've had my eyes opened to the inflexibility of the system and it makes me a little mad actually.

I was mostly thinking out loud because reading this thread and seeing the episode right after each other made me think about the fact that using cute words might not always be the best. I don't think that anyone should parent with the idea that kids might be molested, and I love the cute words kids come up for different things (the toaster was hilarious) but I am also a bit of a language freak and I prefer using the correct word. That said I would never correct a kid who said tallywacker and say that no we must call it penis. Am I making sense :) It is getting late here :)

Not picking on you but I've been thinking about this post for the last hour :) The problem with names like this is that most people wouldn't know what the kid meant if they used tallywackers. If little Johnny comes to me and says that MommysPervyBoyfriend or UnclePerve has been playing with my tallywacker, I could just as easily think that they meant something else (for the record I would probably investigate a bit more but you know...). I was thinking about it because I have been binge watching one of those 911 shows and one of the elderly patients told the EMT that he needed something (can't remember the word now) and both the EMT and I went huh :confused1: . Turned out that he needed to go to the bathroom, but I certainly wouldn't have guessed that. Just a thought.

Cool little article from my university about one of the alumnae who turned 100 this year. She was a doctor who treated soldiers returning from the D-Day landings. Thought history students might find this interesting http://www.ed.ac.uk/alumni/services/news/news/fleming

I'll put it on my list. Quick books are good :) Thanks

Aww man did you have to remind me of that just before bed!!! They were bad! I still think the angels were worse though. The flying monkeys are in 2nd place

But not the episodes with the angels. They are the scariest bad guys ever!!!!

http://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2014/07/08/this-is-what-happened-when-i-drove-my-mercedes-to-pick-up-food-stamps/?tid=trending_strip_1 This is another interesting article on the same topic

You do realize that comments like this is why people feel shame at receiving food stamps, right? People like you judging what they buy.

When I was in HS in the US in the late 90s my home room said it, but I know not all of them did.