Yeah, that's tougher. Cruising through "thoughtful gift card territory" on that one.

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HAhA now I asked my husband what people should get me and he said a stripper pole.

Woooooooooooooo hooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!

Spaulding: Not gonna happen, dumb ass.

Beardown: Oh.

How much you looking to spend? Is he into sports?

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Proud member of the white guy grievance committee

It aint the six minutes. Its what happens in those six minutes.

Or take him to a strip club

Says who?

Do they golf? A gift certificate to a local course that has a driving range or a dozen golf balls is always welcome for me. If its a course they don't happen to play, they can always go there and hit a bucket of balls for practice or get a hat or something in the pro shop

If they frequent a certain bar or restaurant you can get a gift card there

If they are coffee drinkers, try and find out what their favorite brew is at home and get them a pound of that or a pack of Kcups. Same thing if they are drinkers. Find out what beer/hard stuff they like and pick them up a 12pack or a bottle.

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A cemetery plot and a Saturday Night Special.

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Power is always in the hands of the masses of men. What oppresses the masses is their own ignorance, their own short-sighted selfishness.
- Henry George

You are getting gifts for friends who you are only friends with because you have children in school together?

I'm sure a night out at Olive Garden would satisfy all of your suburban sensibilities.

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

Make sure to start it off with a glass of their fantastic house wine...

Fuckin Dolphin.

And there is a location in Downers Grove.

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I'm not even specifically poking fun at Spaulding. I'm there in life as well. There is just something so ungenuine about the friends made with kids as the only real nexus...and it seems like the people you would objectively judge as sociopaths are the ones who flourish socially during these years. Olive Garden in a nondescript suburban mall is absolutely the best ground in which to grow these relationships.

_________________
O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

Agreed.

My daughter's friends mom is real piece of work. I would never speak to her otherwise.

I know what you are saying.

And I think the response was funny too.

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I dunno. We've known them for about 7 years and I think we'd have been friends if our kids weren't in school together and we met at college or work or something. We've gone on vacations together and help out with each others kids quite a bit. They have great parties and the husband is turning 40. Maybe your the sociopath.

I have yet to find a set of parents that I don't think are complete weirdos. Then, they are sucking my wife and me into their dramas. Every time I make an attempt to befriend these folks, I'm immediately in the middle of an episode of Days of Our Lives. No thanks. I can't get out the door too quickly. But, then, I'm kind of a jerky antisocial type who thinks Jay Cutler is misunderstood.

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You know me like that.

You're married to pittmike?

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Power is always in the hands of the masses of men. What oppresses the masses is their own ignorance, their own short-sighted selfishness.
- Henry George

No. She's pittmike's girlfriend.

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I may be but I find that description of life depressing.

If your kid suddenly has a problem with their kid the whole loosely bonded relationship falls apart. If you have problems in your marriage, they will collectively ostracize one of you in favor of the other. I've seen way too many people disappointed when the incredibly thin veneer of this kind of friendship is damaged by just the slightest bit of adversity.

I'm not antisocial. I hang out with neighborhood people. I occasionally enjoy their company. I still consider those relationships to be on the same level as a work friend. I'd never confuse it with a real friend who has been through the wars of life with me.

_________________
O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

_________________

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Proud member of the white guy grievance committee

It aint the six minutes. Its what happens in those six minutes.

Why do I have a feeling that Panther is the busybody mom is his circle of school parents.

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Wait ... which one if Filipino?

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Power is always in the hands of the masses of men. What oppresses the masses is their own ignorance, their own short-sighted selfishness.
- Henry George

It is what it is, I find yours nice but kinda odd in a way. Women's relationships are different too.

I suppose it is more important for a stay at home mom to develop those relationships. I always think the men who do reek of desperation. They are the kind of guys that were president of their fraternity.

_________________
O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

This is exactly how I feel about my neighbors. I wave when I drive by their house. I stop and say hello, if I see them, or they see me walking with the kids, or getting the mail. But, I don't have any interest in trying to build friendships. I have plenty of friends from high school, or even farther back, and it's hard enough to maintain these relationships as we get older, have kids, move away, etc.. I don't have time for new ones.

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Good people drink good beer - Hunter S. Thompson

<º)))><

Waiting for the time when I can finally say
That this has all been wonderful, but now I'm on my way

The problem is almost everyone is some kind of an asshole. We just put up with our friends because we have dealt with the asshole behavior for so long that we dont notice it or we grow to like it. I dont want to have to deal with a whole new set of weirdness from new people. I have a close knit group of friends and an array of secondary characters. That's more than enough for me.

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You guys are weird.

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spent NYE with a person I have been friends with for over 30 years, spent NYD with friends of over 25

_________________
O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

A lot of times people just move on. When you have friends from school, after graduation life takes you in different directions. Friends from the neighborhood might move away. Sometimes things just end, w/ nothing said.