Bad Boys: Ride or Die FULL REVIEW COMING SOON   WOKE ELEMENTS Systemic Racism and Equal Opportunity Villains Not every white guy is a villain, nor is every villain a white guy, but white villains be trippin’. All of the top villains are white guys, and even the convenience store robber is a white guy. These racist villains, with their race-based glass ceiling, have no problem with “tough” gals in their paramilitary outfit. The ladies are all background noise. One has a couple of lines. It just looks silly.

Being a mom is often a thankless job but it's also one that feels nearly impossible to do while still maintaining balance in other aspects of life. This is especially true for moms that also work outside the home. They're somehow fitting in 40+ hours a week at an 8 to 5 while also keeping up with appointments, activities, special events, groceries and housekeeping. Then there's the matter of fitting in time with your partner if you have one while also finding time for your friends and yourself. There just simply don't seem to be enough hours in the day for working moms to do all that is expected of them. But many working moms grew up with working moms who somehow seemed to have this work-life balance thing all figured out. One mom took to the internet to demand to know the secret that moms from the 80s and 90s are keeping around this common struggle. The mom uploaded a video to her account, FamPhiji to express her confusion on how her own mother was able to do everything while never appearing stressed. "Am I the only mom that's actually confused at how her own mom was able to do this? How are you able to wake up, get yourself dressed, get me ready, take me to daycare or school, go to work, work a full shift," Phiji asks. "Get off, pick me up, take me home, make sure I was fed, make sure I was bathed, put me to bed, wake up and do it all again?"Other moms shared Phiji's confusion on how their working moms were able to keep up with everything while maintaining their sanity. "They had a different batch of 24 hours," one woman claims."They had real coke in their coke, energy drinks [keep] me standing," another mom jokes."Air quality was different," someone says. @_phiji I’m tired. #momtok #momsoftiktok #toddlermom #toddlertok #millenialmom #momlife #momstruggles #fyp Others were more serious with their answers as they lamented about what moms in the 80s and 90s went through."Honey, it took me til adulthood to realize my mom was depressed," a commenter reveals."I don't think they had time for themselves. I think they just kept moving and never even stopped to think about how exhausted and miserable they were," someone assumes. A mom from that older generation chimed in to confirm the suspicion of others, "there was no balance. We just kept moving cause we knew what had to be done," she reveals.So maybe it wasn't magic or a super secret extra set of hours. Maybe it was the more likely scenario where they absolutely were overwhelmed and exhausted but we didn't notice because we were children. One day our own children will be asking how we made it all work and that's your time to tell them the truth–balance is a lie. It takes equal partnership to make a household run smoothly and something will always get put down. It's up to you to prioritize what you need to hold, what you can delegate, and what you can set aside for another day. This article originally appeared on 1.12.24

Studies show that in opposite-sex couples, fewer younger women are choosing to take their husbands’ last names. According to Pew Research, 20% of women ages 18 to 49 say they kept their last name, compared with 9% of those ages 50 and older.A TikTok user named Angie proposed a new approach to married names in a world where men and women are becoming more equal. She suggests that couples choose the “cooler” name.A user named Kristen responded with a unique dilemma. She’s getting married next year and although her husband’s name is cooler, it doesn’t work with her first name. @kdent27 #stitch with @angie or is it 10x cooler?? "So, I'm getting married next year, and my current last name is Dent,” Kristen says in the video with over 6 million views. “Which I think is a fine last name. Like, no complaints. My fiancé's last name is McCuistion, which I think is cooler than Dent. The problem is my first name is Kristen, so I will be Kristen McCuistion. And I don't think that's quite as cool."It’s hard to say Kristen McCuistion without smiling, but it makes you sound slightly like Elmer Fudd when you say it. "It's witawally fine," MissLaurenTaylor jokes in the comments. "I think you just go by Kwisten," Goldendoodlehater added.Some people thought the name was amazing."Please PLEASE go by Kristen McQuisten. It will bring me so much joy to know that name exists somewhere out in the world," Lady Katherine wrote.Ultimately, Kristen says she wants to embrace her unique luck in the marriage lottery because the name brings a smile to people’s faces. "Our families have always had fun with my future name, so I always just accepted taking his last name,” Kristen told Newsweek. “I used to worry about having to introduce myself to people and being laughed at, but now I see it as a good icebreaker and laugh for new people that I meet."

Although it is difficult to tell if there is a trend of Americans moving out of the country, rough estimates show that around 8 million currently live in other countries—double the 4.1 million living abroad in 1999.The most popular countries for Americans to move to are Mexico, Canada and the United Kingdom, in that order.A big reason why some are leaving the U.S. is that an increasing number of employers allow people to work abroad. Others are choosing to leave because of cost of living increases and “golden visa” programs. Golden visas offer the chance to get a foreign residency permit by purchasing a house or making a significant investment or donation.A couple is going viral on TikTok because they’ve decided to leave America and move to Spain. Luna Ashley Santel had wanted to move for a long time, but her husband wasn’t on board with the change until he had a lightbulb moment while visiting a Spanish café. The couple are parents of a 4-year-old daughter, and a big reason for their decision to leave is her safety. @lunagoestospain Here’s what shifted for him. I’m sure this’ll piss the right people off. No pun intended. #movingabroad #spaindigitalnomadvisa #movingabroadwithpets #movingtospainwithkids While spending time in Spain, the couple went to a crowded café, which would have made them uncomfortable back home in St. Louis, Missouri.“There's a ton of people walking around. Being from St. Louis, that's not a very comfortable place for me to be in,” the husband said. “And you turn to me and say, ‘Have you seen all these people?’” he recounted his wife saying.“And you're like, ‘None of them have guns,’” he continued.At this moment, he realized that living in America caused him to be on alert whenever he was out in public. A feeling he never got in Spain. “And I realized this weight that I had been carrying around my whole life wasn't necessary. Like what we think is normal is not normal,” he said.When it comes to firearm policy, Spain and Missouri couldn’t be more different. In Spain, owning a handgun for self-defense is allowed when you are in verifiable danger. In Missouri, there is no permit requirement to carry a firearm, whether it’s concealed or carried openly.In Spain, the gun death rate per 100,000 people in 2019 was 0.64. Whereas, in Missouri, the chance of being killed by a gun is more than 36 times greater, with 23.2 people per every 100,000 dying by gun in 2021.The video resonated with many Americans who feel uncomfortable living in a country that has become accustomed to mass shootings."There’s so much mental energy we dedicate to simply existing in the U.S.," Mintmage wrote. "As a father of two young boys, your husband’s explanation has me shook because I cannot disagree," Astrolo-G added."That is literally my main motivator for leaving the country. I am terrified for my son," Doula Faye wrote.Luna’s husband isn’t the only one in the family concerned about school safety in the U.S. Luna, a former teacher of 7 years, believes that sending her daughter to a school where they have “terrifying” intruder drills is unacceptable. “It's nothing that I want my 5-year-old child to have to accept or learn as normal,” she says in another TikTok post. @lunagoestospain Replying to @CholeraMeBadd a huge reason we are getting out. #gettingoutoftheusa #movingabroad #alicedrill #alicedrills #iquitteaching #ididntsignupforthishit #movingtospainwithkids This article originally appeared on 7.14.23

Imagine your 12-year-old son is helping take part in his school’s Valentine’s Day fundraiser. You’d probably be proud and encouraged at the way he’s getting involved and doing something good, right?Now imagine, as part of that effort, he decided to email the CEO of Costco, one of the most beloved big box retailers in the world. Well, that’s cute, right? But what if he told you the CEO not only wrote back but went out of his way to donate exactly what your son asked for?It may sound too good to be true, but that’s exactly what happened when Grant Cerwin sent an email to Costco CEO Craig Jelinek. The sixth grader emailed Jelinek asking if he would donate one of Costco’s famous 93-inch teddy bears to his middle school’s fundraiser in Los Angeles:“Hi Mr. Jelinek,My name is Grant Cerwin and I am 12 years old. I go to [removed] Middle School and am the 6th grade class rep. We want to raffle one of your giant bears as a Valentine’s Day fundraiser for our school. We are part of the Los Angeles Unified School District. Is there any chance Costco might donate one? My dad has a truck and we could come get it at the store. I would make sure everyone knew you gave it to us in our school newsletter, on social media and with a big sign by the bear. I know it is a long shot but I thought it couldn’t hurt to ask. We are also seeing how we might get enough money to buy one. Thanks for considering. Your friend, Grant.”Well, it turns out the long shot was perfectly timed. Jelinek not only saw the email but jumped into action, asking his colleague "Can we find him a teddy?" Then his lieutenant emailed their colleagues to quickly find a bear for Cerwin’s school, writing: “Do whatever it takes to find a Big Bear and set up pick up for Lesley. Keep me posted.”Grant then received the following message from Costco:“Good morning Grant. I am the Toy Supervisor at our Costco’s LA Regional office. I have good news, Costco will be donating a 93” Plush Bear to your school to use in your Valentine’s Day fundraiser! We could have it delivered to the school directly so your parents don’t have to worry about transporting it.”With time to spare, the Big Bear was delivered to Grant and his school was able to include it in their fundraiser. And while moments like this don’t happen every day, they are a great reminder that even the biggest companies are run by real people and those people often have big hearts. Big, as in 93” plush bear big. And let’s be honest, we’re not entirely shocked that this happened at Costco, a company that has built a well-earned reputation for treating both its customers and its employees with dignity and respect.“It speaks volumes about the leadership at Costco that Grant got the response he did,” Grant’s mother Lesley Cerwin told Upworthy. “He is a boundlessly optimistic child and as a parent you worry the world will chip away at that positivity. I’m grateful that the team at Costco reaffirmed my son’s belief that the world is full of good people.”“I couldn’t believe that they responded so fast and that so many people helped,” Grant told Upworthy. “They didn’t want anything, just to help our school.”Something as seemingly simple as a donated teddy bear might not sound like much, but it’s examples like this that show the power of bridge-building between companies and communities. An act of kindness in itself can go a long way. And when that is coupled with the impact it had not only on Grant and his mom, but on Grant’s classmates, you can start to see a real impact that all started with a single email.“My teachers and friends at school are excited,” Grant said. “We all can’t believe how big it is. It takes a bunch of us to move it around. Our ASB class is working on a thank you card.”Plus, let’s be honest, a personal touch from someone as high-profile as Craig Jelinek and his team isn’t a bad way to build customer loyalty either. As Lesley told us, “I’ve always liked Costco. Will I be even happier to shop there now? You bet. It is a great store and now I am acutely aware that it is run by amazing people.”This article originally appeared on 2.16.23

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