They were taught not to speak directly about what they want and so a lot of them use this weird passive-aggressive shit which is MUCH more annoying than being forthright.

OH HAI Minnesota. (Apologies to Daniel and other Midwesterners, but my experience confirms that behavior.) My people are not passive-aggressive. We either Talk/Yell Shit Out or decide it's not worth it.

The Southern trumps the Jewish in the politeness sweepstakes.

That's my husband's family but with British colonial in place of Southern. Our how-to-manage-an-interfaith-marriage prep was all backwards.

Okay, getting a UTI on Sunday of a holiday weekend SUCKS. (The only thing that would suck more is if I got it Saturday.)

What's the best way to deal with it until I can call my doctor Tuesday? Lots and lots of H2O, cranberry juice, what else? Isn't there some OTC thing that doesn't cure the UTI but makes it more bearable?

Help out a Bitch who can't pee. (No, I can pee; it's just no fun.)

What's the best way to deal with it until I can call my doctor Tuesday? Lots and lots of H2O, cranberry juice, what else? Isn't there some OTC thing that doesn't cure the UTI but makes it more bearable?

Tep, there's an OTC pill that makes it a lot more bearable-- it's called AZO and it'll be with the UTI tests and preggers tests and all that other stuff. It'll make you pee orange, but you'll at least be able to pee without pain.

Excellent. Thanks! We're headed out now to get groceries, cranberry juice, and now drugs.

Tep, that stuff does indeed rock, but be aware you'll need to go off it at least 12 hours before going in for the pee test that will get you antibiotics, because it masks the UTI.

It is one of the best drugs ever made, however.

Tep, that stuff does indeed rock, but be aware you'll need to go off it at least 12 hours before going in for the pee test that will get you antibiotics, because it masks the UTI

Really? Last time I had a UTI I went into an urgent care and all I did was tell them I'd been taking the stuff-- when the test results came back they said the white cell count was still way elevated so either I had the mother of all UTIs or maybe I hadn't been taking the AZO long enough to mask the symptoms.

"You don't talk about anything. Ever."

Ex-fucking-actly.

This is Anglo-Saxon culture, to me: when I landed in U.S., I was shocked to learn I'm blunt.

Me. Miss fucking congeniality in Israel, just so we'll make it clear.

We don't have politically correct to make up for any respect we never had to begin with. Some have tact. And Israeli will have a very hard time to admit he/she doesn't know the answer to something (which means that if you're a tourist, it's somewhat dangerous asking for directions here). If you don't wanna talk about something, you simply won't talk about it. If something is troubling you and you'll try and dare to take it at others in a passive-aggressive manner, there will be shouts. Because taking shit from anyone, mostly people you love, is a matter of respect to us.

Then again, you have plenty of Anglo-Saxon people here, so it's not that extreme. I just... it's not that we're after arguments. It's that we prefer to clear everything out, no matter who's in the range of fire than letting things goes without saying, or not pay attention to something that might be a problem. Doesn't matter if it's our personal problem, or a stranger's in the street. Yes, people here will give life lessons to strangers on the streets. Really.

We're not emotional; we're very, very opinionative.

And now, ION:

May I ask for some ~ma towards my dad?

He and my mom, along with some other family members, will decide my grandfather's future care tomorrow. I don't know how bad his condition is, but I know my dad is under a lot of stress and that's the last thing he needs on his mind. I'm really stressed our a lot more about my dad than my grandfather, at the moment. He's in the hospital for a few days now, and apparently, won't stop shouting. We think he went demented, but we don't really know if anything other is wrong with him. I'll know more tomorrow.

Wow, that's really tough. ~ma for your dad and all of you in figuring out a path you can all live with.