Hooters Ashleigh Is Dialed In For A Huge Month Of Sports, If Wrigley Field Had A Roof & Spring Break Boxing!
Do you tip your mechanics?
As many of you know, very little gets my blood boiling like the state of the tipping industry – and travel ball panhandling – and how the credit card companies have figured out a way to get more money out of you by hiding behind the tip screen when you make a purchase.
I want my Screencaps readers to take a pledge:
I will not leave a tip on a credit card machine for any service outside of the restaurant industry, so help me God.
I will throw the guy a $20 bill, if I'm pleased with the work, but I will not feel obligated. I am strong. I will not be shamed into falling for the trap being set by financial companies who are preying on the kindness of Americans.
So help me God.
Slow down and read that pledge again. I'm not saying you shouldn't throw the tree trimmer a few bones to go get a draft beer and play $5 in a Keno machine at the bar after work. I'm saying screw the financial institutions who are clearly making money via processing fees.
Do you tip your mechanic via the credit card machine?
Email: joekinsey@gmail.com
Have you officially hit your financial breaking point with fast-casual food?
Last night, I went to Costco and grabbed the pre-made taco bar package they sell in the coolers next to the rotisserie chickens. I believe the taco bar was $15.80 or so. It will easily feed a family of four, including two boys aged 11 & 7.
Aren't the chickens like $6?
Meanwhile, Five Guys is charging $24 for a burger, fries and drink.
Has America officially hit its breaking point with fast-casual prices? Let's take the pulse.
Email: joekinsey@gmail.com
Boy, Dean in Monroe, GA fired up the base with his take on stories of husbands who got Gisele'd (cheated on, allegedly, like how Gisele did Tom Brady)
Let's go back to remember what Dean wrote Tuesday about the heartbreaking stories that have been shared over the last week.
"Good god joe! A man does not tell the world his sad little experience of his wife cheating on him! When did this become acceptable?" Dean in Monroe, GA wrote. "I know, I'm a grumpy old man, " Get off my lawn". Eat the pain and shut the f--k up! When u tell your story, other men lower their opinion of you. Buncha pussies."
Whew, Dean didn't get cheated in that email. He brought it and Screencaps readers instantly responded.
• Hallmark Christmas movie script writer Steve B. in Grand Junction, CO says:
Dean in Georgia is way off base unloading on them. I've had two close buddies divorced because of their wife's affairs. The men didn't do anything wrong, (stable work, family men, loyal, etc.), but they had to take a gut punch through no fault of their own. Trust me, it was not (as Dean says,), a "sad little experience." It was devastating for the guys and their kids. (I'll bet it was devasting to the cheating women, too).
Both guys gave their wives a second chance, and both ended up regretting it, eventually getting divorced. Years later, they're in much better spots, whereas the cheating exes have bounced around relationships, (go figure). And trust me when I say the kids eventually figure out who the good guys and villains are.
LAD and BFC will get through this, and we have their back.
• Stonewaller from West Texas writes:
Regarding Dean's blunt reaction to BFC's misery: Dean, BFC is probably more like you than you think. He's probably kept this bottled up and talked to no one locally because of his pride. He can remain anonymous and still seek advice from us, who are also anonymous. This guy needs some help and it's more important than what kind of fertilizer to use on his yard. BFC would not have poured his heart out in an email to Joe (& us) if he didn't really need to or if he has others to talk to.
I divorced my husband 21 years ago because of his infidelity. I was miserable and embarrassed because everyone in our little town knew. I felt so stupid. Halfway thru the divorce, he came back asking me to cancel the whole thing. I decided to finish the divorce, thinking that if this was really meant to be, we could always remarry later. It was the right decision. He was not sincere and just wanted to avoid the financial repercussions of the bad decisions he had made (and I don't mean alimony, he owed my parents money & owed credit card debt). One day during all this, I was alone in my office and was sniffling with snot bubbles at my desk. The UPS man came by with a delivery for my company and I apologized for not being professional, crying at my desk. He gave me good advice: "I've been thru this myself and I promise you that you will feel better after some time goes by. You won't be sorry." He was right.
There are some marriages that can go on after infidelity and some that can't. There's no shame in admitting that it's time for a divorce. Like I said, if it's meant to be, you can always remarry. While you do need to consider the children of course, there is life after children grow up. You need to think about that, too. I hope this helps.
P.S. Go to youtube and find that old Gordan Lightfoot song called "The Circle is Small" and you will hear the misery of a cheating spouse. Song as old as time, unfortunately.
• Mark in Lincoln, NE wants in on Dean:
Joe: I too am a grumpy old man and totally understand where Dean is coming from…many people today are "look at me" types.
BUT…Dean, if anyone of us can help someone from something we have been through, we should. Experience: in doing lawns, fixing a chainsaw, changing oil, fixing a ceiling fan, or going through life (alcohol, drug abuse, spouse cheating) We old farts need to help where we can. I agree, this is not "Dear Abbey" but if someone can do some good by extending a hand, the world will be better. There does come a time when the whining must end and we need to move on, but help where we can and if Joe can put people in touch, I get it.
• Mike C. writes:
Well Dean, of all the recent e-mailers in Screencaps, no one has lowered my opinion of them more than you. Congrats champ!
• Jim T. in Sandy Eggo writes:
I'm all for old-school masculinity - hunting and fishing, fixing stuff with your hands, etc. - but Dean's idea of masculinity has caused more men to become broken than any woke nonsense of the last 20 years. "Eat the pain"? How many of our fathers and grandfathers were distant and withdrawn trying to live up to that supposed ideal?
Had a fiancee cheat on me 40 years ago. Hurt worse than any thing else I've ever endured. Tried dealing with it Dean's way - it screwed up every subsequent relationship I've been in, including both my marriages - the first of which ended in divorce.
Your readers need to ignore Dean - talk stuff out. Don't get all emotional about it (think Norm on "Cheers", not something out of "Friends") but find a few trusted friends you can run stuff by.
The fact that so many of your male readers are reaching out to SC nation just points out how hard it is for men to sort through this stuff. We have John Wayne movies and now Dean telling them to just suck it down and ignore it, yet suicide rates and substance abuse rates for men have always been higher than for women.
And, no, Dean, other men don't look at a man differently when his wife cheats - we look at HER differently. Cheaters only reflect on themselves. Sometimes good men simply choose badly.
• BFC responds to Dean:
- I lost my house that was built and fully paid for by my brother's death at age 42 and his last gift to his brother and his niece and nephew that he loved so much because I was told I had to buy out her half, which the only way I could do it was cash in my retirement and take a huge tax hit and then get a mortgage for the rest, on a house I would not be living in and that would prevent me from me getting a mortgage on a house for me to live in, or to just quitclaim deed it over to her. What choice did I have?
- Regarding Dean in Monroe, GA, against just so you know, I wrote that because I never told anyone outside of my close friends and wanted to vent and I hope that a guy in the future does not miss all the signs that I did. I had zero idea she was banging someone else even though I wasn't getting any from her due to stupid excuses, and I actually believed her over my best friend in the world, a guy who has been there for me and with me through everything since my age was in single digits. if it wasn't for my kids, I would have posted all of her text messages on social media. They were unbelievable.
- The guy who went back to his wife because of the kids, I don't blame him and fully understand. I think I believed my wife over my friend even though it was obvious she was lying was for that very reason, I was in denial and I love my kids more than life itself. And if I am still being honest, I did not leave her because she cheated. I left her because of the cruelty of immediately and without hesitation trying to destroy the friendship that meant the most in the world to me. Joe was right there next to me in the room when my brother passed away in 2016. He was right there when my Mom died in 2007 and my Dad in 2009. He won't say it now, but he regrets telling me. I feel awful for him that he had that burden to begin with, but he did the right thing.
• Charlie T. has advice for LAD:
LAD, just leave and suck it up. You'll NEVER not trust her again and that's no way to live....life is too short and you never know when your time is up....divorce can be expensive...BECASUE IT'S WORTH IT........so just go. Kids are resilient, they'll adjust. People underestimate kids and think when they see tears, the kids will never forgive them, but kids cry over lost toys or dropped ice cream too.......
I got divorced when kids were at REALLY young age, and it was wife screwing around. Took her back first time, after 1st kid was about 2....but never really trusted her.....had another kid.....and it happened again a year or 2 later....if kids didn't look JUST like me, would have DNA'ed them......30 years later, and for many years since, it was the BEST thing that happened to me!
Raised the kids, had shared parenting but I was custodial for school.....I've now buried the hostility and am "cordially polite" but not doing the Modern Family bullshit and never have....always had separate birthday/christmas/etc....that cheating ho wasn't invited over for shit.....but we get along fine for the grandkids. My wife gets along with her, but again, no "socializing", but we do get along for the kids/grandkids..... Both kids are productive members of society and I wouldn't be where I am today (living on beach) if I had still been married to that dipshit. I actually thanked the ex many times over the years for screwing around me as my life wouldn't be what it ended up being, had I stayed.
Also, don't turn into that guy who either can't be in same room with EX or that guy who invites the EX over for holidays....dude, she let some other guy leave cum stains all over your pillowcases, so picture that when you think of inviting her over for Christmas or kids birthday party.....Man up!!!! get the hell out, and enjoy your time with the kids.
Oh, and also, it's ALL YOUR RULES AT YOUR HOUSE for the kids....Try to get an agreement on EVERYTHING and go through dis-allusionment (sp?) if offered in your state, as the attorneys will try to bleed you both dry. Luckily, we didn't have anything to split we were so poor back then.....
• G from Illinois says:
I see the kids holding marriages together all the time in my line of work (long time residential appraiser and value consultant).
I see it all the time with mortgage refi’s to get the spouses name off the deed or the actual divorce appraisal for asset distribution, when its painfully obvious that the kids just left for college/graduated high school or at that age. Its like they make an agreement that once the kids are grown, they go their separate ways. Its early in the year and I can think of 4 or 5 of these that I’ve done already this year!
Seems like a rough way to go thru married life, but I see the perspective especially when kids are involved.
• John H. writes:
Quick take: the email from Dean in Monroe says a lot more about Dean than it does BFC.
Having no one you can lean on when shit goes sideways and internalizing it makes you bitter, lonely and mad at the world.
We don’t know who BFC is but I guarantee you he is feeling a bit better having told his story and gotten the feedback he’s gotten.
Having been divorced a couple of times myself I can say that it’ll get better eventually and for me the 3rd time was the charm, I had said f--k it, that’s it, not doing that again
When I met a women that had said the same thing to herself, and here we are 15 yrs later still best friends with benefits !!!
If your only support group is here on SC, use them. Like Joe says, we come from everywhere and have our fingers in all the pies , someone will have what you need .
Fat lazy kids and cheating spouses
• Kevin in Toboso, OH writes:
So tired of the government trying to fix everything in our lives. If people don't stop voting for the lib-libs we deserve this insanity.
1. Forgiving student loans that they knew would be expensive= buying votes from young folks
2. Biden and libs give free everything for illegals = WTH
3. Obama care will reduce medical costs.-= WRONG
4. Get rid of police in the name of social justice.= how's that working out for you and poop infested cities?
Now they want to pay for little fat kids to play baseball? How about saving, eating less 8 dollar big macs and stop buying your kids video game machines. Then maybe you can afford it. Stop asking for my money to pay for your dumb crap!
On cheating spouses: don't have one, never been one. I love my wife and if I ever lost her that'd be it. No one would ever measure up. Here is a shout out to my wife and all the faithful wives/husbands out there in SC land . Going on 30 years, 4 kids, and the plumbing is still being used frequently, if you know what I mean! We have had some rough patches but committed ourselves to work it out and it wasn't always easy. Lots of sacrifice on both parts. Who could argue with a spouse that WANTS you to hunt, ENCOURAGES you to buy a boat and likes to go bowling...(code word for our kids to stay the hell out of our room unless you want to see something you wish you hadn't) We always joke about how old we will be and still do the deed? I hope until I die. Wouldn't be a bad way to go!
Just wanted to plug all the marriages that have worked their butts off to make it work. Isn't always easy but IMO well worth it.
Speaking of Kevin in Toboso, the Screencaps Facebook group has advice for his boat
Remember, you can always hop over to the Screencaps Facebook page to ask random questions.
Finkle/Einhorn is back on Jeopardy
• Jim M. has been monitoring Finkle/Einhorn:
Go give 100% at life today
I like to test to see if Brent P. in Indiana is reading by including "Go give 110% effort" at the end of Screencaps from time to time. He was reading on Wednesday.
• Brent P. in Indiana writes:
Sitting her in post-op with my wife as she recovers from a surgical procedure. She sees me grin as I am looking at my phone and asks "what are you smiling about". I tell her Joe told everyone to go give 100% at work instead of 110%. It’s funny because she knows who Joe is, and she knows why I smiled at 100%
It's always nice to see OutKick's Hayley Caronia riffing off my content
Hayley remains one of the brightest rising talents among the OutKick staff.
Speaking of rising talents at OutKick, you should be reading 'Womansplaining' from Amber Harding
The haters always claimed OutKick wasn't a place for women to work and that this was just an alpha male, lawnmowing-obsessed, rare meat-eating MAGA-fueled website that would never welcome women to shine.
That's absolute nonsense.
If you aren't reading Amber's column "Womansplaining," it's time to work it into your routine. She's dropping it every Wednesday at Noon. No, it's not a woman telling men they're pigs and scumbags. It's "Womansplaining."
By the way, Amber's email interactions with readers have been incredible and I'm happy to report I'm not seeing many of the Screencaps regulars. It seems to be an entirely different crowd. Go get involved.
New edition of Ford F 150s
• Bill C. writes:
Pulled up behind this F 150 today. I didn’t know Ford was cranking these out now. Definitely a fossil fuel version.
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In honor of Brent P., let's get after it. Go give 100% at your job even if that job is retirement and you're going to the golf course to play 18 with the fellas.
Go have an incredible day.
Email: joekinsey@gmail.com