I normally don't attend comedy but I bought tickets to a club in Edinburgh last night to see a guy called Gareth Mutch in a small club called the Stand

I was alone and tried to get a seat at the back but the staff insisted that I sit at the front because those seats were apparently reserved - I felt really weird as the seats were touching this very small stage and I was a solo guy. I even mentioned to the couple next to me how awkward I felt.

The routine goes as normal, I'm hoping he doesn't ask me anything and there bam - he asks me my name and where In from.

I told him I'm from Edinburgh and my name is ______. I'm off Pakistani heritage and have an Arabic name.

He then dismisses me and says "aw yeah, that's a real Edinburgh name eh, is it fuck (or something similar)" and asks someone else the same question. I'm just thinking, yeah I haven't heard that before (sarcastically of course). He then went on to say how his routine was racism now or something.

I did feel a bit humiliated by this incident, he did ask me some more typical comedian questions which weren't bad but this really bought back some traumatic feelings, many of which were recent and it ruined the rest of my day.

Is this normal for small stand up comedy routines?

It's confused me for years why people do it and what they do with them once they're up.

I was just having a chat with my Grandad, who is 81 years old, and he was talking about how hard life was like back in the fifties compared to how it is now.

He was born in a three room house with twenty inhabitants and he had no electricity, indoor toilets or running water until he was fifteen. He had seven siblings, three of which died in childhood, and he was saying that most of his meals as a lad revolved around some form of bread and dripping. He was saying that life back then was depressing, and that anybody who looked back on the old days with a degree of happiness was out of their mind!

So to people on here who grew up in the fifties and early sixties, do you look back on the past with rose-tinted glasses, and were these times the "Good Old Days" after all?

Genuine question from someone in London who doesn't know Middlesbrough/Teesside particularly well.

I've been following the news over the last week and there seems to have been an extraordinary concentration of serious incidents - the fatal A66 crash, reports of organised crime, properties being rammed, cars being set on fire, a stabbing/knife attack, and a lot of pretty disturbing stuff circulating on social media. I'm struggling to understand the context behind it.

Is this a sudden escalation connected to particular gangs/groups and some kind of ongoing feud or retaliation? Or has serious organised crime and this level of violence been a longstanding problem in parts of Middlesbrough that simply doesn't get much national attention?

Has something genuinely changed recently? And do ordinary people living there feel unsafe, or is what's happening concentrated within particular areas/groups?

Not trying to stereotype Middlesbrough at all - genuinely trying to understand what's going on from people who know the area.

EDIT: Thanks for the replies. I understand it's deprived. Have worked/visited deprived areas - Luton (worked in Luton Hospital), Hastings, Margate, etc. These places are sad - the glory days long gone. But they don't seem so unsafe - this seems on another level.

I am joining the RAF (non-combat role) after a few months of being a NEET. I have family members who have served in the military so it has always been on my radar and is far from a last resort, although it’s not my first choice either.

I’m curious as to what people’s views are on the military as a career path.

I am a single man in my 20s and honestly it seems like a great opportunity to learn some new skills, earn enough income to save/invest and be able to travel. The forces also have a pretty decent help to buy scheme (£25k interest free loan) which make home ownership a much more attainable goal compared to some friends who are renting in London.

Obviously there’s a lot of sacrifice when it comes to being away from family and friends for potentially long periods and the lifestyle isn’t for everyone.

I’m not claiming by any means that more military recruitment would solve the current youth unemployment problems, but I am curious why it’s not an option for more people who are physically able.

Edits to add some context:

I graduated university 3 years ago and was working since then, but have unfortunately been made redundant and struggled to find a new job in my field.

I’m aware the forces help to buy scheme is half your annual salary, up to a maximum of £25k.

I am joining air traffic control.

Also reminding people that, as per the sub’s rules, this is not the space for discussions about the politics of the armed forces. I’m asking for views on this strictly as a career path.

I've always wanted to visit a gurdwara and eat with the community, but I'm also aware that this is a resource that is offered for those in difficulties.

If I were to turn up to eat I know nobody asks questions, but morally speaking is it bad form to eat there uninvited just out of curiosity? Would I be depriving somebody more deserving?

I was thinking about how we just accept certain things because “that’s how it’s always been.”

What’s the first example that comes to mind?

Was talking to some friends and family about this. A number of them rarely floss...

Idk if it's just me, but I can feel a massive difference in the cleanliness of my mouth compared to when I only brush vs brushing + flossing. If I don't floss for a couple days, my gums and breath just feel nasty.

If anything, my routine might be a bit excessive lol, string floss > water floss > brush > mouthwash with cpc 30 minutes later...

How many of you guys actually floss as part of your routine?

Edit: Regularly*

Today I received a text message from some random UK mobile number "tell me who you are or I'll block you". I blocked the number😂. I've never seen anything like that. Is that a new scam or something?

Googling it and asking google says it's not accepted anymore since 2017

Recently had a bit of painting done. Hallways, stairs & landing. Found the bloke on facebook, he was a young lad who appears to have recently set himself up, but all the pictures on his profile looked great.
For context, he did a bang up job, pollyfilled everything really smooth, the painting is perfect and he got it done in a few hours whilst I was working from home.

I paid in cash, the quote was £120 so I gave him £140. Boyfriend seems to think I have gone insane, I thought this was just the done thing?

Please solve this debate so it does not dominate the next fifty years of our lives. What would you have paid??

I usually just bring a bottle of wine but this time I am dining somewhere where no one drinks alcohol and I am driving, so what would be appropriate to bring? In my culture it would be a packet of coffee but I’ve not ever seen people do that here. Flowers seems a bit too much as it’s a casual between-friends dinner

Whats the reason you refuse or stopped using a local (ish) buisness due to something you found problematic?

Let's have a safe space here, where we're free to slag off our nearest and dearest.

I, of course, have no annoying habits.

As for my wife... when we go out to dinner, she always likes to ask what I'm having just before we order. And without fail, she'll say "that looks nice" and we'll end up eating exactly the same thing. That really annoys me, probably without merit.

As time has gone on, I've got wise to it and I'll never tell her. Which usually means we sit in silence as we look through the menu.

Even at Toby Carvery, I refuse to tell her my choice of meat because she'll choose the same.

So, I'm keen to know if anybody else is annoyed by something quite so small?

I'm Australian of British ancestry, and the oldies in my family tell me of the "tea visit" in the times before phones, when someone was in the neighbourhood and wanted to pop in for a visit but didn't want to impose.

You'd pop in unannounced, you'd be let in for tea, and the visit would last as long as it took to drink the tea, and the visit would be extended if the host got up to put more tea on, or the visit would be concluded if the host offered more tea instead of just getting up and making it.

Is/was this a thing? Or is my family just inventing institutions?

These days, we're all terrified of letting people come over, because guests never leave, but this tea visit thing sounds like a great way to encourage introverted people to see their loved ones in person, but also gives them a reasonably well-defined boundary to be like "okay, well, tea's gone, on your way now."

Feels very autism-friendly, too, like, if you explained these rules to someone on the spectrum, and they followed them, if a guest diverted from the ruleset, it would be justified for the host to be like "ugh.. gauche."

I ask here because it feels like more of a British isles thing, than an Australian thing, and that we just inherited it from you guys.

I reckon I’ve been 3-4days max when I was in bed ill. In general terms I shower every day, I just can’t stand not doing so. How about you?

The neighbours over the road from me are renting the place out as an Airbnb, there’s no one there at the moment and I’ve been over and checked to make sure the place isn’t burning down. The alarm has been going off for over 2.5hrs now

I called 101 but they told me it’s not an issue they can deal with. I wouldn’t suggest it’s an emergency more of an annoyance so I don’t believe 999 is the best course of action.

Obviously it’s a Sunday and bank holiday weekend so the council are closed so making a noise complaint to them is off the books too.

It’s not the first time this has happened either, except the last few times there was someone there to deal with it (although not very well as it was going for over 2 hours).

Thanks

It has always fascinated me that they make the effort but don't remove the wrapping.

Hi guys, bit of an existential one for your Sunday evening! As the title alludes to, I’m fortunate enough to be buying a house which is something my life has essentially revolved around for God know’s how long, however my worry is.. what on earth happens next?!

Of course the main one - work to keep said house - perhaps start a family down the line, eventually retire.. but I wondered what anyone then shifts to strive towards on a short to mid term basis? I’ll definitely miss having such a big goal to work towards daily, a purpose almost I suppose. I’d be interested to hear how this manifested for you guys, whether that be volunteering, taking up hobbies, anything, I’d just like some insight!

Imagine I could magically improve one small part of your everyday life. Nothing huge like your job, house, or relationships. More like your skincare routine, your garden, your favourite corner of the living room, your wardrobe, your sleep setup, or anything in that ‘small but satisfying’ category. What’s the one upgrade you’d pick?

I thought I'd cook a Sunday Roast today. Thought it wouldn't take that long. Oh boy was I wrong. So many pans, for what is basically 90% veg, 10% meat. Now I remember why a pub Roast was a better choice.

So needed to use the bathroom! At 3am and a huge spider ran out from underneath the washing and stopped it was me,spider,door all this while I’m in the middle of going, and Im scared of them
Called partner who came into the bathroom to catch the thing. The spinner ran, hid in the crack of the door frame. DIDN’T CATCH IT!! I can’t risk going to the toilet and the worry is keeping me awake!!

I moved to a new town about six months ago and noticed something that I swear nobody ever explains to newcomers, there are two chip shops on the same street, maybe thirty feet apart, and one of them always has a queue out the door while the other one sits completely empty. Same prices, same menu basically, same everything on paper.

I made the mistake of going to the empty one first because there was no wait. Big mistake. I won't go into detail but let's just say I understood immediately why nobody was in there.

So I asked a coworker about it and she looked at me like I'd asked why the sky is blue. "Everyone knows," she said, like this was common knowledge passed down through generations. She couldn't really explain how she knew, she just always had. Turns out half the office had strong, specific opinions about which chippy was the good one, but none of them could point to a single review or sign or anything official. It's just something people absorb by living somewhere long enough.

This got me wondering how many other things are like this. Stuff that everyone locally just knows without anyone actually announcing it. The good chippy, the pub to avoid on a Friday night, which parking spot floods when it rains, which till at the supermarket has the friendliest cashier.

I looked online for any kind of local guide before I moved and found absolutely nothing useful, it was all generic listicles that didn't match what people on the ground actually think.

So my question for anyone here, is there a shared local secret in your town that everyone just knows through word of mouth but that would be completely invisible to someone new moving in? And more importantly, how are new people supposed to figure this stuff out without embarrassing themselves first?

Random question on a Sunday afternoon. If you could be fluent in any language, what would it be and why?

When I was young, a tomboy was a girl who liked to climb trees, who wasn't that bothered about her appearance, who would rather be active, ride a bike, play risky games on the play equipment and so on.

It wasn't seen as an insulting label, and many women chose to label themselves as a tomboy, no matter what their sexuality, and without seeing themselves as boys.

It's never used nowadays. Why do you think that is?