Humor will not be tolerated!! -Portia

Also, if you're on Twitter, you should be following @manwhohasitall: https://twitter.com/manwhohasitall It's a hilarious sendup of the messages we give to working women vs. working men. (E.g., "WORKING DAD? Delegate chores! Get your wife to set the table & ask the kids to put their dirty cl...

It goes both ways. My husband stayed in a less-than-perfect job that wasn't doing much for his career because it was laid back and allowed him to spend a lot of time with our daughter for her first year. I think just assuming that men don't care about spending time with their babies or that it does...

Maybe this is the dumbest question, but...where are the rats being rescued from? Do they like set traps in alleys? Or are there so many people who abandon their pet rats that there's a whole rat rescue just for that?

http://theboard.byu.edu/questions/84363/ So many assumptions about women's roles in this question...I just wanted to say (maybe for the benefit of the asker if she ever reads this) that I became much happier and less angsty when I stopped feeling like my obligations towards society, the Church, or ...

I believe it's spouse, adult children, parents, siblings. If there are two people on the same level who disagree (like a widow's two adult children), then you either get them to agree or you start doing things through the courts. That's why it's so important to have a living will AND to discuss it w...

If a patient is unable to make decisions, then a healthcare power of attorney (which has to be made while the person is still of sound mind) is the only thing that supersedes the normal next-of-kin order. I had a patient a few weeks ago who was too demented to make decisions, and even though his dau...

"Steve, I'm not sure if you realize how sexist that sounds." This usually results in a prompt apology and no further inappropriate comments. I don't throw insults back because that makes people retrench themselves and get defensive and try to justify what they said. This is probably, most...

It doesn't come up as often in medicine as I'm sure it does in business and finance, but when I hear comments that are really not okay, my go-to statement is a matter-of-fact "Steve, I'm not sure if you realize how sexist that sounds." This usually results in a prompt apology and no furthe...

You know, I think homebirth is usually a poor parenting choice, but I also think most people who choose homebirth are probably trying to be good parents who look out for their kids and themselves. Most people in the world, even otherwise intelligent people, have little or no significant education in...

Aw shucks, I didn't mean to make anybody feel dumb. Sorry! I think your assessment of the situation makes a bit more sense in the context of another culture, and with the fact that the guy didn't literally say you needed to keep your eyes on him. In the US, I still would find it very strange if some...

Oh my gosh, you guys, the comment that posted the other day...I have to say that if a man was ever giving me a ride and suggested that I sit in the back seat "to put distance between us and so that I'd be able to see him at all times," my first thought would be, "Is this guy some kind...

And as far as the etiquette of the missionaries themselves asking not to be fed meat, I think it's more polite to let people know about dietary restrictions in advance rather than to surprise people by showing up and being unable to eat what they made. (Some people would argue that the most polite t...

Agreed. At least in the US, the missionaries aren't going to go hungry without dinner from the members, so there's no need to act like giving them dinner is some vital, life-sustaining service and the hosts have no other obligations beyond providing them with physical nourishment. If nobody signs up...

Even then if anyone publicly mentions it as an option they have to clarify that of course they would never consider having it done until after they were done having children, because it would prevent them from breastfeeding. I did not know that. Now I'm curious if the most common surgery is too mak...

Sounds super vasovagal to me, Mico! Just like fear can trigger a physical "fight or flight" response by altering autonomic nerve function, things like stress, pain, and strong emotion can also trigger physical responses (dizziness, fainting, visual changes, flushing, nausea, etc, are all p...

I wear a ballerina bun a lot--the kind where you gather your hair into a ponytail and twist and twist the whole thing until it twists itself into a bun. If your hair is long-ish, I think you could hide the colored parts (or those parts would just look like a decorative hair tie or something).

You guys are awesome. The only things I think I'm legitimately passionate about are animals (animal welfare, animal husbandry, having lots of animals and petting them all the time), desserts, and protecting my own free time.

So is a homemaker someone with no young children at home? Genuinely curious. Or is SAHM just a newer term that shows the increasing emphasis on time with children rather than waxing floors? I think the second one. As for me, Maternal grandmother: psychiatrist Maternal grandfather: pathologist Pater...

NerdGirl, I haven't seen nitrous used for any labors here--as someone who's seen it used, what do you think the overall experience is like? Is it like the dentist, where you get kind of loopy and weird? Do you think it provides good pain control, or just "good enough?" Those would be my ma...

I feel awful for that mom, but I also put some of the blame on her (assuming she wasn't pressured into her choices by the midwife in a verbal abuse situation) because a midwife (or doctor) should not be the sole decision maker for labor. The mother should also be educated and making decisions. Woah...