No more “bises” (kisses on the cheek) at work! I hate that women are expected to do it because it is considered rude not to (it depends on the industry but it is becoming increasingly common), with every coworker every day, urrrgh.
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If nothing else it gives people an appreciation for what goes into the price of food.
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I’ll add some:
-preparedness to a certain level is a good thing, and you shouldn’t have to immediately preface statements around preparedness by saying you’re not “one of those doomsday preppers”
-financial preparedness. I know below a certain income living beneath your means is impossible depending on area COL but IMO lower middle class and higher people should be much more financially resilient than they are if debt wasn’t so normalized and status signaling so important.
-will +1 growing food AND changing laws around home food production as well as low-dollar selling of excess. This is something (no surprise) I am very passionate about especially for neighborhoods of population density similar to my own or lower. We could produce an amazing amount of food if more people were into it but also laws around small livestock were sensibly rewritten.
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That’s been a hard habit for me to break, because I spent so much time in commissioned retail sales where handshakes were just automatic.
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We didn’t do these at the atelier I worked in in Paris but I was always glad (at least in this particular case!) to have my american-ness to fall back on when I didn’t want to do this with someone in any other case while I was living there. Sometimes I could tell it was expected in the situation but I could just be like “oh sorry we don’t do those ooops…” and let the moment pass
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I hope my department allows us to use DocuSign or some other type of electronic signature app. It saves a lot of time time and paper/ink compared to printing out a document, signing, then scanning and saving it. I know this is small, but it makes my life easier.
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Yeah, that’s fair. Until now I always kept VERY little food or supplies in the house. Mainly because I was trying to avoid the initial outlay of money to stock up (like, if I buy an extra pack of TP this trip even though I don’t really need it right now, what do I NOT buy that I DO need so that I still stay on budget?) And also because if it’s not in the house, I can’t overeat it. My diet plan for years was “don’t have anything in the house that you actually like to eat.”
Interestingly, I’m eating less now because I am trying to ration what we have. I’m not really tempted to gorge myself the way I was before.
So, after this is over I’ll have to rethink my shopping habits. That’s complicated by the fact that until Boyfriend finds work, we need to slash our grocery spending. I am not really certain how to do that now though under these circumstances, since we’re limited by what’s available (which might be an expensive brand we don’t normally buy or a huge package because there are no small ones) and because people here are STILL hoarding so I might grab 2 of something instead of just one in case this is my last change.
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Ahah, this is a good way of dodging it 
It is such a weird custom…
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One boss of mine married a Greek man and they do 3 kisses. We had a super friendly business relationship and when we’d meet at their home (which was often since it was a startup) her husband would make us so much food and be so sweet but I could never get used to the 3 kisses and it was always awkward because if you don’t go for the 3rd kiss then the person who does ends up almost kissing your lips 
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I completely agree, and I do hope folks start to take it seriously and at least have their 2 week supply of food and water.
My great-uncle was talking the other day about “What are they going to do when the big one [earthquake overdue in the PNW] hits?! They’re not even going to have electricity!” He’s not a prepper by any means, just a wise old woodsman. And he has a good point, so many folks would be absolutely screwed.
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In France, the number of kisses (2, 4, sometimes 3) and the side on which you start varies depending on the region!
Where I grew up, you start on the right side but where I live now, you start on the left side… You have to be careful to avoid kisses on the lips 
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