Wednesday’s Workwear Report: Tailored-Fit Textured Double-Breasted Blazer
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Our daily workwear reports suggest one piece of work-appropriate attire in a range of prices.
Sometimes a double-breasted blazer can look a little off when it’s left unbuttoned, but I think this one from Reiss is really working. It might have something to do with the fact that it’s pretty tailored at the waist, as opposed to some of the boxier fits that we typically see. Regardless, this blazer would look beautiful styled open or closed.
Add it to a less formal outfit when you’re unexpectedly called into a big meeting or pair it with a skirt and heels for a more formal look.
The blazer is $490 at Reiss and comes in sizes 0-14 and 0P-14P. It also comes in black and ivory.
Here are a few more affordable options: CeCe ($79.95 on sale, sizes 2-10), City Chic ($139.99, 14W-24W), and Caslon ($119, XXS-XL).
Hunting for more double-breasted blazers — or suits? As of 2025, this Ann Taylor version is really affordable and comes in great basic colors, and Argent always has classic versions in lots of colors, as does L'Agence (in knits as well as blazers). Some other latest favorites are below:
Sales of note for 12/12:
- Nordstrom – Winter Savings Event, up to 33% off (and fragrance sets up to 15% off). Designer Clearance continues, up to 60% off.
- Ann Taylor – 50% off almost everything
- Banana Republic Factory – 50%-70% off everything + extra 20% off
- Brooks Brothers – Lots of nice markdowns and clearance, including on suits, blouses, and more
- Cuyana – Free shipping on orders of $95+ (readers love their totes!)
- Express – $19+ Cyber steals + 25-70% off everything else
- J.Crew – 30% off almost everything (including select cashmere)
- J.Crew Factory – 40-70% off everything
- Lo & Sons – Holiday sale, up to 50% off – Reader favorites include this laptop tote, this backpack, and this crossbody
- M.M.LaFleur – 25-70% off the snuggliest styles of the season (this weekend only) Try code CORPORETTE15 for 15% off
- Neiman Marcus – Spend $200, earn $50 gift card… up to $1000 spend, $200 gift card
- Talbots – $19.50 HoliDeals, and 50% off your regular price purchase
- Universal Standard – At least 40% off sitewide!
I’ve realized two pant related things.
1) I look much better in straight leg or fitted pants, not wide leg.
2) Often the pants that fit at the waist are way too loose around my legs. I carry weight in my stomach/hips.
What’s the solution here? Can I buy say size 10 pants and have them tailored to fit size 8 legs? Stretchy waists only?
Yes, you can have leg seams taken in. But also, try looking for a different cut of pant, that is cut as slender/tight on the leg as possible: a slim cut, or even skinny cut, might fit you like a straight leg would fit someone else.
I’m in a similar situation, and honestly I just predominantly wear dresses as a result.
I think pants look better if they flow down from the waist, so I’d buy straight-leg pants vs anything loose or wider. Alterations like this likely will be $$$ and also look weird / mess up pockets. So I’d just focus on the pants and save your alterations $ for hems and things that need darts.
I carry my weight in my stomach, and I have a butt but no hips to speak of. Have you tried any tapered cuts? Like Old Navy’s “boyfriend straight” jeans, which have a slight taper despite the name. I’ve been getting a lot of wear out of them recently.
That’s a good idea, I’ll check those out.
Ask for brand recommendations from people with similar shapes, and you should be able to find things with a better fit.
I don’t know your age, but whatever your own, you might have more luck in stores and brands where the core customer is 55-75, since it’s a quite common shape for post-menopausal women of all weights and styles.
This is the answer. Liverpool, Talbots, Chicos, probably others.
Can anyone recommend a lightweight, oversized puffer jacket similar to the Free People Pippa Packable Puffer, but with elastic or drawstrings at the cuffs and hem? Bonus points if it comes in pretty pastel colors.
Check the uniqlo puffers
Random adulting question, my husband and I recently got married and I’m not sure if I need to add him to my car insurance. He doesn’t drive my car often and in several years has only driven my car twice, after I drank too much. I heard I don’t need to add him because the car is insured and he drives so infrequently, but I’m not sure since I’ve never had to deal with this before! TIA!
Does he have his own insurance on a different car?
Nope. He’s a typical New Yorker! I think he had a car once for a year and then it was too much trouble to keep in the city.
Then he needs insurance
He can’t drive uninsured, so yes he needs insurance.
Cars are insured (and then rates by the drivers) saying he doesn’t drive much is a proof problem you and your future lawyer don’t want. It’s assumed that if he is your spouse, he drives it. My teen is assigned as primary driver to one car but all 3 of us are on our policy.
Yeah, insurance companies want anyone who lives at the same address (married or not – it’s a constant problem for my housemates and I, that the insurance companies keep trying to “automatically” add us) on the insurance. You *can* technically call them and have your husband specifically excluded from your insurance, but then he needs to not drive your car, ever.
Double check with your agent but your insurance normally covers other people driving your car occasionally. But you can probably also add him for free.
Fifteen years ago, my insurance required me to add my now-husband when we moved in together because we shared an address (according to their rules, someone with the same address couldn’t be an unnamed random occasional driver). But there was no impact on my rates from doing it.
Many insurance companies do this. I have even heard of it happening for unrelated adults (housemates, basically).
I lean towards adding him. If he’s in an accident behind the wheel, there’s no way to prove that he’s an occasional driver; the insurance company would take the position that he’s a frequent driver who should have been added to the policy.
Not quite what you’re asking, but if he has his own car and his own car insurance, you should check with both providers to see if it would be cheaper to consolidate and insure both cars on one policy.
Is it not cheaper to insure both cars together, along with your home or renters policy? We always had to be on insurance together because we bought a car together that we both used as our primary car (we carpooled and now WFH). His car was stick so I couldn’t drive it and he eventually got rid of it after a few years of WFH when it was clear we could get away with one car.
Also: if you have any assets or might in the future, get an umbrella policy. They are cheap and invaluable.
I’ve always been told that an occasion driver who lives elsewhere does not need to be on your insurance, like a family member who visits for a few weeks over the course of the year. But a family member who lives with you and occasionally drives the car does need to be on the insurance. Assuming your husband has a relatively clean driving record, it shouldn’t have much impact on price. So I would take the conservative safer approach, call and ask, and likely be told to add him.
This is the correct answer.
Yes, if he lives with you and does not have his own car/policy you should add him as a driver. This comes up all the time with teen drivers.
Yes.
I’ve just done this with my partner. Yes, you need to add him to your policy. It’s pretty easy though I do recommend trying to get a human on the phone to help you rather than adding him via the company’s website or app. A human can help you find other benefits and the best coverage options. You may even find that your rate goes down now that you’re married (it’s pretty common, apparently).
Through my work, I’m hearing a lot of deep concerns about food insecurity worsening, federal benefits possibly lapsing with the shutdown, and community food banks running dry due to demand (and loss of funding on their end too). If you can, it’s a good time to donate cash and food.
+1 – SNAP benefits won’t be renewed for November if the shutdown goes on much longer. I donated to our local food pantry yesterday and plan to do so monthly for the near future.
The best thing to donate to any charity is cash!
+1 – now is a great time to donate cash to your local food bank / depository.
Exactly! Now is the time to give! Food banks are supporting our federal workers as well as those who are on SNAP.
Let me put in more bluntly. Food banks are currently supporting our soldiers. This is insane.
Food banks have supported soldiers ever since junior enlisted were allowed to get married. One kid and a spouse on E-3 pay puts a person squarely in SNAP/WIC/food bank territory. Just because the most junior servicemembers can start families that early doesnt mean they should, just like any other couple who has kids too soon
Or maybe a government career, to include the military, should pay enough to support a spouse and child?
I’m not sure. It’s historically pretty normal to delay family when joining a military until being a little further on in one’s career (especially when joining very young and needing time to work up in the ranks).
Removing the structures in place that incentivize marrying too soon would go a long way. The military is one of the only careers where single folks make way less, have crappier housing and less freedom than do their married counterparts. Barracks life sucks so much.
And be sure, when you contact your elected, that even if your taxes went down due to Trump’s BBB, that because so much funding for essential services and assistance disappeared, that your expenses increased because you’re supporting food security in your community.
Yes, this is all amounting to a massive, but stralthy campaign to eliminate the elderly, sick and disabled. I don’t want people starving or going without essential care/medication in my community.
Has there been any media coverage of the effect on elderly, sick, and disabled people of cutting off Medicare coverage of telehealth? So many homebound people have come to rely on it. Meanwhile long term disability coverage requires recent doctor’s appointments documenting continued disability. Medical transport services aren’t reliable for getting to appointments on time unless you schedule hours earlier, but waiting for hours for an appointment is the kind of thing disability can prevent people from doing. It’s just a nightmare right now.
I don’t think most folks have connected all the dots and come to terms with exactly what it’s pointing to. Those who have are generally called alarmist. Me, I think alarm is past due.
I agree. It’s entirely possible that SNAP and some other food programs will lapse in November due to the shutdown. As for military families, there’s already a pretty robust use of food banks by the enlisted and I’m not going to bet the farm that military pay will be unaffected by the shutdown. The best thing to donate is money, most food banks have relationships where they can get food at a lower price than retail.
Does anyone else find that their inability to form long-term memories makes it hard to have regrets?
No, I am able to form long-term memories. Are you talking about having a brain condition like the guy from Memento, or what?
I do think I’m more out of sight, out of mind than a lot of people, and that for me this means I miss some of the pros and cons of being more invested in interpersonal drama. So for example I don’t always appreciate gossip when I’ve forgotten all about the former acquaintance it involves.
That is not a big deal, but it’s more sad if I lose track of things I should know about people I am still in relationships with. I think sometimes traditions like praying for a list of people you care about, or sending out good intentions, or meditating or holding them in your thoughts, can help with this.
But even where my memory is weak, if I have a regret, honestly it’s still crystal clear.
No?
Ha, I feel like I have a worse long-term memory than others but I definitely still have regrets.
No. I have an excellent long term memory, but not many regrets.
I wish I could make my regrets disappear. Sounds like a dream.
Oh I think this. Although I wouldn’t word it quite like you did – implying that it’s a problem. My long-term memory is not very specific or detailed, whereas my husband has a very detailed long-term memory. I am significantly less prone to regrets. I think this is a very positive feature, not a bug. I don’t think regrets are particularly useful. I learn from my mistakes and take the learnings moving forward, but I don’t carry emotional regret or shame from the mistake.
Thank you for this perspective. I do sometimes feel it’s a problem because I’m not sentimental and maybe don’t feel as bonded to people or places or experiences as I “should.” Maybe it’s less a lack of regrets as a lack of nostalgia (or both). But I like your positive framing a lot!
Yes, I have a terrible memory and do not keep grudges.
My sister has a truly remarkable memory and remembers every slight and every disagreement.
I really think it contributes to her being an unhappy person.
Same! I don’t hold grudges because I can’t remember why I was angry to begin with! I rarely can remember those sorts of specifics. For big life regrets (a bad college choice, a rotten relationship), I often remember the general contours enough to feel occasional regret. I don’t tend to ruminate years later, though.
I suffered post concussion syndrome after a surprisingly minor car wreck in my 30s. I went from having an excellent memory to average if I concentrate, and definitely my longer term memory was more impacted. I still regret my mistakes, but I’d say don’t acutely feel that as much, that middle of the night rumination or paralysis when faced with the same situation (or person) for example. How much of that is from having a foggier memory vs maturity of aging (50s now), I can’t say for sure. But because it happened in my 30s with a clear before and after on my memory processes, then I would say there was an effect. One of the few side effects of PCS that I don’t mind actually.
Not at all, but thankfully as I’ve gotten older my memory isn’t as sharp so I have forgotten some of the awful people who have crossed my path over the years.
Anyone found a fix for this or is this just… price of admission?
I am a vegetarian and only drink occasionally. I have a lovely group of friends that likes to meet up for fancy brunches or dinners at new restaurants. I love these meet ups but the bill-sharing is rough. My portion usually comes out to half of what each of them owe, sometimes way less if they’ve ordered a bunch of cocktails, but we end up splitting the bill evenly. I don’t love paying 60 extra dollars for the pleasure of hanging out with these friends, but also feel awkward asking them to split it 7 ways and I’ll pay my own. Normally I think this all comes out in the wash and is no big deal, but I happen to be unemployed at the moment, so am more fixated on this than usual! They know I don’t drink, but I doubt anyone is keeping track of my $20 entree vs. their $35 entree, or the cost of two cocktails each to my seltzer with lime, but it really does add up! I don’t want to stop attending but I also don’t think its fair for me to essentially be subsidizing all of their meals. Thoughts from either side?
This is so tough. Is there one person in the group you could talk to about this? It might be nice to have an advocate on the inside.
You could make suggestions to hang out in other ways (hikes, movie night, etc.) but I understand that’s tough with a big group.
I agree with this. Is there one person you think would be the best ally here? Saying something like “hey I love hanging out with you guys, but given I’m between jobs, I need to be extra careful about fun money, and order carefully to stay within my budget. Do you mind if I just pay my own way for now?”
I think the fact that you are unemployed makes this easier. Totally fair for you to say, “guys, being unemployed is making my finances tight at the moment, any objection if I just back out what I owe and you guys can split the rest?” Anyone who objects to that is not your friend. I am also vegetarian and usually have one drink (vs friends who eat a lot of meat/seafood and will order 3 cocktails) and they almost always suggest that we back out my total first. Now that I am financially more secure than most of them, I usually just insist on splitting it because I don’t care, but back when I was on a strict budget, I had no qualms about reminding them if they forgot.
If you use this script and do the math yourself I can’t imagine they’d object. They just assume you’re fine with the arrangement because you’ve never said anything.
+1 agree, this is a great script. Splitting evenly is easiest and fastest thing to do with a check, but I never care if someone grabs the check and actually figures out the equitable split.
Assuming your friends aren’t assholes, this will be no big deal.
All the restaurants near me just assume separate tabs these days. It’s perfectly reasonable to pay separately, especially when some people drink and others don’t. I would never try to make someone else subsidize my drinks.
I would also feel awkward about this on your side, and I’m sorry your friends aren’t taking the initiative about it since they know you’re out of work now. My friends and I are the split everything evenly type in general, but if someone isn’t drinking we typically leave them out of the division of the tip and if someone is unemployed everyone else kicks in a little more or sometimes just treats them. (Not a pity/hurting someone’s dignity thing at all, we’ve all had down times and it just goes around, you know?)
Use your words!!’
You should be able to pull the server aside and ask to have your meal on a separate check. They do not need to make 7 bills, just 2: one that is split 6 ways and yours.
You can say to the group “I’m going to have my check separate today, sorry for any inconvenience!” and if a follow up is required, just mention since you don’t drink it’s easier for everyone this way.
Ask for your bill and dip early?
I’d want to try to leave out the fairness question and just focus on the $ in price of admission terms. If it’s too much, it’s too much, but that’s how much it costs to hang out without opening up the door to a lot of awkwardness. If you love the meet ups than probably it’s worth it to you, and it will all come out in the wash in different ways in the long run.
But in practice, I’d probably end up missing a meet up over this, and maybe that is worse; I’m not sure.
I have a friend who doesn’t drink, and when we go out, we split the bill evenly, but tell her not to pay any tip and split it among ourselves. It probably doesn’t work out fully fair for her, but it’s often the easiest thing. If there have been a LOT of drinks, we do a special tab for her. She never said anything, it’s just what we do. So I say this to say that maybe you could mention something to one of your friends, who could point it out to the others? Or you could just say something. I feel they would be very happy to accommodate you if you raised the issue.
This question seems to pop up a lot in various places, but I don’t encounter it much in the wild. The advice is often to ask for a separate check or just to eat the cost.
I think I would handle it as a social negotiation depending on the dynamic of the friend group.
If I were trying to engage with a new friend group and wasn’t yet a core member, or needed to appear prosperous for some reason (like the group contains a client) I would just eat the cost, but if these are people I have a strong relationship with and I have a good reputation and not as someone who wants to nickel and dime or fuss over every plan, I would get a separate check or if it’s a place where that’s not possible I’d use cash to take my order cost and tip off the top before the bill is split.
I feel like each friend in a group gets to be a *little* annoying by going counter to the group norms, like talking too much or having fussy dietary preferences or being 5 minutes late to everything or always asking for a separate check … but you can’t be the person doing *all* of these things.
So often it is the same person doing all of those things, but yes.
It’s totally normal in my friend group for everyone to pay for what they ordered, not split the bill equally. You need to speak up!
“Hey guys, you probably know I’m unemployed at the moment and watching expenses more closely. Mind if we do separate checks tonight?”
yes, use your words
I think it’s better just to ask for your own separate check. Th whole group doesn’t need their own checks. So just say “I’m job hunting and watching expenses more closely right now – I’m going to get my check separate.”
I am vegetarian, don’t drink, and never partake in the group apps or dessert shared by the table. Hence, I have the exact same problem that you do.
I finally decided to use the words and say that I wanted my own separate check or, I take cash and toss in $20 (or whatever the cost of my meal including tip would be). Don’t ask if people mind if you do this. Just say that you are doing it. Having my salad and a water consistently cost over $30 because everyone else orders more and more expensive dishes plus drinks gets really old really fast.
I feel like your health insurance premiums must also be unfair at that point.
As a person with food allergies that include an alcohol allergy, I have a similar problem. It gets old because it’s uneven in the same way every time. So it’s time to tell, not ask.
I agree with the other poster who said this is just the price of admission. But in your case, since you are unemployed, I would explain to the server (and your friends) that you need a separate tab and let the rest of the group split their tab evenly. It’s a 2 minute conversation, so you just need to do it and move on.
No, it isn’t fair. I’m surprised that if these are close friends that no one has mentioned that the bill shouldn’t be split evenly given your current unemployment.
My friends and I always just get separate bills. I was recently in Italy visiting some friends where bill splitting is normal (and I had accepted it as the price of admission) but as a vegan who drinks minimally my salad and one glass of wine was like 1/4 the cost of everyone else’s and my friend actually brought out her phone and made sure people paid fairly. Sounds dumb but my friends action made me feel so loved it’s still a very distinct memory months later.
I don’t think this is appropriate even if you’re not unemployed. People need to develop better self-awareness.
I often split my bill or alternate picking up tabs with friends, but we consume similarly in alcohol and food. I would not ever expect someone who for whatever reason orders less than me to frequently pay more than their share. In the course of an evening out and they want to pick up an uber or whatever, then that’s different. But we all have some app that sends money easily. Just send them what you owe with a tip and let them split the check between the drinkers.
Oof, I would be mortified if I was your friend and realised that my thoughtlessness caused you to pay 60 dollar extra! Especially if it’s paying for my drinking more alcohol.
Agree that often small cost differences level out over time in a friend group, but it can’t be based on the person with less money paying more. It has to be a paying it forward system.
You could ask that the group request separate checks for alcohol vs. everything else. Most restaurants do this easily because government and some businesses do not reimburse for alcohol. Then, everyone splits the food tab, but only those who are imbibing split the bar tab.
Def speak up. There are apps for this too. Also, you can get your order on a separate ticket.
As someone in a similar boat, who does not drink and is working without pay, it’s a great time to use your current situation as a reason for choosing to pay for your portion only. It’s telling that typically the people who order more want to split the bill. In some situations things do even out, but when your choices are consistently less costly than other people’s, it’s annoying that it is a consistent meal subsidy, and it’s often to people who earn more. Hopefully you can navigate this without serious social repercussions, as there is a reason why many people prefer to socialize with their financial peers.
Is it an American thing to just split the bill evenly? I’m Canadian and every time I’m at a restaurant the server just assumes that we’re all paying separately, it’s so normal and expected.
In my experience, fancier US restaurants are less likely to be willing to do separate checks at all, and it has a little bit of a stigma to it – like, you know you’re asking for some annoying extra work. Like if the server offers (“separate checks or all together?”), it’s fine to say “separate please!” but if I have to ask, I’d probably tack on an apology.
It depends on the friend group norms, the waiter, and the restaurant. I’ve been in restaurants where it’s their policy to do one check for the whole table, no separate tabs. I’ve been in places where I thought it was obvious we were doing separate tabs and then the waiter shows up with one check.
Re group norms – for one of my friend groups, one person will pay the whole tab and then they do the math and send Venmo requests for each person’s portion. Another group we all just pass the check around, throw down cash (assuming we all have cash – the ccs add a different dynamic), and then a couple people at the end makes sure we have enough with the tip. For another couple we go out with, we alternate picking up the check/tipping. With one of my friends, whoever rides/doesn’t drive will often pick up the tab for lunch. It’s all very variable with friend groups.
I think it’s regional, also. In NY it felt like a big ask but I live in Minnesota now and servers cheerfully split checks, including splitting some items between subsets of people, and often proactively offer to do so.
That’s funny, I posted above that it’s standard to offer separate checks where I live and I thought that it was just that me moving here coincided with everyone updating tech to pay at the table, which makes this really easy, but I also live in MN now, so maybe there’s also a regional component to this.
ha, I was going to add that it is more common that I need to proactively say when we want ONE check, and then got to this comment and realized I am also in Minnesota. It’s the egalitarian Nordics I betcha.
There is a tech issue. Most restaurants in the US only started running the credit cards at the table since the pandemic and had the most ancient systems for keying in orders. Everyone that has upgraded to the Toast system which keeps details by seat has no issue quickly splitting checks.
Right that makes sense, debit/payment systems are one thing where Canada has been weirdly very advanced. We’ve been paying with cards at the table for…I can’t even remember how long.
Also in Canada and same in my city. Separate cheques and machines brought to the table for about 15 years with more tap/Apple pay/Google pay since the pandemic.
I vote for your check separately, other six together, and don’t make a big deal out of it.
If it’s a once in a while thing, I’ll eat the cost. (I often say that I don’t start fights over $30.) But if it’s chronic and usually not fixable, as it is here, I’ll just default to a separate check.
Usually what happens is someone will see that my bill is, say, $35 versus the $80 everyone else is paying and will get it.
Separate tabs is totally normal with my friend group. We’ll also occasionally have someone pay the whole bill and then each person can pay what they individually owe. Have you brought this up with your friends? I’d imagine it won’t be nearly as problematic or difficult as you think it will be—maybe others feel the same way!
I would bring it up with one member of the group to whom you are closest.
If I were a member of the group and noticed that one person was ordering less I’d proactively suggest separate checks for all, probably without pointing out which person would benefit. It’s less awkward if someone other than that person is the one to speak up.
Just say it when you order and don’t treat it like a big deal (because it isn’t a big deal).
When it is your turn, “Mine will be on a separate check. I’d like the falafel wrap with the NA beer. Thanks!”
If speaking up is hard, there’s a few ways out:
Ask the waitstaff for a separate check for your stuff.
Leave early and drop your portion in cash + 30%.
Get your own drink at the bar and chat and leave before dinner.
DH and I have a friend in our group who doesn’t drink and is a vegetarian. When we go out with others, he usually throws down some cash for (more than) his share (but still way less than what everyone else is paying) and that is deducted from the total which is then split among the rest of us.
I’ve noticed in Europe it’s just assumed that everyone will have separate checks.
Pull the waiter aside and quitely say you need your check to be separate from the group. Then pay your own way, and leave the division and splitting up of the group bill to the others. Those who feel this is unfriendly invariably are the diners who ordered an appetizer and/or dessert when nobody else did, and had multiple alcoholic drinks, and secretly or overtly were counting on the group to subsidize their share of the cost.
Adding my two cents in case you came back and review these responses OP. It’s odd to me that people are saying this is a price of admission thing, or something to be even a little awkward about. Your friends should be feeling awkward for not catching it sooner! I don’t even like splitting the bill equally when I’ve had a drink or two more than a friend who is drinking as well.
You are completely fine to either ask for a separate check at the start while ordering, or taking the per person amount and saying “Mind if I pay [insert 2/3rd to 1/2 of the flat per person rate] since I wasn’t drinking?” Your friends are jerks if they have an issue with that.
I purchased an economy plane ticket on United. when I went to pick a seat, no economy seat was available, only economy plus. I don’t want to pay an upcharge so I haven’t picked a seat. What will happen if there still is no economy seat at check-in? Will I be forced to pay more or get a better seat for no extra money?
You will be assigned a regular economy seat. They aren’t all taken just blocked off.
This.
the lower level of United status (Silver I think) can choose Economy Plus for free at check-in, so expect some “free” seats to open up at that time as they get the opportunity to switch. But, you might get lucky.
I’m Gold now, but when I was Silver I almost never nabbed an economy plus seat, even though I almost always checked in as soon as possible. They are usually gone well before the check-in window opens.
I think part of the economy ticket these days is not being able to pick a seat. They assign you one day of based on what’s left over. Prepare for a middle seat in the back of the plane.
This is such BS. It’s time to eat the airlines.
Why though? I get paying more for first class and for aisle / exit rows. I get getting a discount if I just want to get to City A as cheap as possible in exchange for late boarding and a middle seat. Like I can fly out of a different airport or weird time to also try to save $. If all seats cost the same, I’d probably just pay more, but I’d like to pay as little as I possibly can.
Airlines have no incentive to offer better service when people like you assure them you only care about cost. This makes flying progressively worse.
Cost is important to me though. And I’m flying mostly flights that are <2 hour flights, so it's a calculation I get to make — I don't need to pay for first-class comfort for such a short flight. I get that others make different calculations based on flight duration, comfort, and budget.
For me, flights getting more expensive would also be “progressively worse”. It’s kind of like the question above – imagine the status quo was all restaurants served two “free” cocktails with every meal, and it’s always been that way. Some people don’t want to pay for those; and will enthusiastically patronize the first restaurant to start offering “basic economy” meals with no drinks. It’s not those people’s fault that folks who still want 2 cocktails have to pay for them separately.
I am all for regulation that requires airlines to make it clear what exactly you’re paying for, make it easier to compare apples-to-apples prices, etc. but I don’t want “pay for the extras some people consider essential and some people don’t” to be a price of admission for air travel.
I mean, of course I care most about cost! I’m not made of money.
It’s also unfair for people traveling together, particularly parents with young children. We recently had this happen with a 7-year-old flying cross country alone with nearest parent 3 rows back. This despite airlines often promising that they will sit children under 12 with parents whenever feasible. It’s absurd. I’m sure someone will chime in to say that parents and children aren’t entitled to special treatment but who even wants a child sitting alone like that next to them? Now we have paid extra to sit near each other.
It really feels like everything has been monetized to absolute death.
This. And if you are traveling with another person, they will likely split you up. This happened to my husband and our minor children recently, I was floored United wouldnt keep them together (for everyone’s sake!).
Don’t forget that the DOT under Buttigieg and Biden had a rule that was going to require airlines not to charge to seat kids with their parents. The Trump administration kept it from going into effect.
FWIW, for safety, I do not get how we allow lap babies. It is so dangerous to the most vulnerable and I feel that most of my flights have turbulence now.
Because when the safety people did the math, they found that a)Lap babies are dangerous, and having all children in their own seats would reduce air transit deaths but also b)with the extra expense of lap baby seats, more families would choose to drive, which is significantly more dangerous than flying and TOTAL transit deaths would increase. Basically flying with a lap baby is more dangerous than flying without a lap baby, but both are safer than driving.
Except it just doesn’t seem to account for how many crashes are very survivable, even for babies. But a baby as an unrestrained passenger in a turbulent situation is likely to cause them catastrophic damage that isn’t recoverable or leads to lifelong limitations. Not to mention how traumatic it would be to the family witnessing this while strapped in and spending a lifetime rehashing how Kimmy has cognitive impairment because we didn’t want to spend $300 for a real seat for her. I don’t think that death vs death is really the right comparison here. We make adults belt when the seatbelt light is on but not younger kids with soft heads and weak neck muscles.
Yeah, it’s not death vs. death; they usually count in DALY’s (disability-adjusted life years) which *does* account injuries not resulting in death. It doesn’t quantify whether parents feel more or less guilt if their child is injured in a car accident versus a flight, but I don’t think there’s any reliable way to quantify that.
That said, the FAA, the NTSB and the AAP are all very clear that children are *best* off on airplanes in their own seats (in an approved carseat). So if you have the money and want to optimize for safety, do that! If you don’t have the money, there are many many risks you take every day, no parent can minimize them all, and the absolute risk of flying, especially in the US and other rich countries, is very low (even including turbulence injuries). Other choices you make as a parent are statistically much more important (consider this a reminder to schedule flu vaccines)
We always bought a seat for my kids, but I remember doing the research when they were little and being surprised at how safe it actually is to have a lap infant. Airplanes are staggeringly safe compared to other forms of tr*nsit. Babies are not regularly dying or getting brain-damaged from turbulence, it would be front-page-of-CNN type news story if that happened.
Floored it worked exactly how they tell you it will when you buy the cheapest possible ticket instead of paying for the level of service you need?
I think basic economy is the cheapest level of service, not regular economy.
It’s OK for us to complain that regular economy is slipping in service. I agree that basic economy comes with the expectation of the worst amenities, but OP said regular economy.
She did buy basic economy. If you buy regular economy you get to select a seat.
Anecdotally, I have heard (from parents travelling with kids, so they’re pretty tuned in to seat selection) that this has started happening on some airlines with regular economy as well. So they see something like:
Economy Plus: $x + $100.
Regular economy: $x+ $50. Seat selection and an over-the-head bag.
Basic economy: $x. No seat selection, no carry on, etc.
But then when you actually buy Regular Economy, and you get to the part where you actually select your seat, every seat shown as available for selection has another, ADDITIONAL, charge: Seat 1A + $50, Seat 1B +$25….Seat 36D: +$18.
Essentially, selecting seat 1A costs +$100 and selecting seat 36D costs +$68.
So in practice, if you want to select your seats, you need to pay a base fee to select at all, then a seat-specific fee. I don’t think this is an intrinsically unreasonable pricing model (like, I pay a base fee to be allowed to shop at Costco; then product-specific fees for everything I want to buy?) but it needs to be more clearly communicated upfront, not tacked on once people have already decided to pay $50 for “seat selection”.
Floored that they wouldn’t think this was a liability to separate small children from their parents. As a traveler, I do not want to sit next to a random child whose parent is several rows away. And as a parent, I do not want my small child seated next to a stranger where I cannot see them. At the time, we truly did not care where we were seated and assumed we’d get the last row of non-reclining seats, next to the bathroom, not three middle seats several rows from each other. For what it’s worth, these were very expensive tickets as we were flying last-minute across the country to a funeral. I don’t recall if they were basic economy or regular but they were like $1,000 each– probably 3 times what other travelers were paying.
hmmm… Flying last minute is a problem. Because it is also not fair to the other passengers who may have paid extra for their seats to loose their choice for your last minute purchase. But I certainly agree with prioritizing keeping kids with one parent.
Yeah, if you’re flying with kids, you need to pay for seat selection. I have a lot of sympathy for parents who are willing to pay for seat selection, but the airline doesn’t actually have selectable seats for sale – but you should definitely expect to pay something!
So if you are traveling with children who are too young to sit alone you should expect to pay higher ticket prices? That’s where we are as a society? (To be clear, I think this is where we actually are because I have had to do this to not be separated from my young kids, but I still think it’s absurd that anyone finds this an acceptable practice).
Yes – you either buy tickets very early to get a seat choice, or you pay extra to get a seat choice.
Someone has to sit in the middle seat in the back of the plane though. I don’t think all seats are equal and it’s not fair, but some seats just suck.
Right? And I fully get charging less for people essentially volunteering for middle seats. I’d pay more for an aisle. And you can usually indicate flying with minor children when you get tickets and can board first to get seated together. If you buy an aisle seat and your kid winds up in a random middle seat, I think your middle seat person would switch as they are equivalent. Sometimes you have to pay for what you want.
Clearly you do not fly with children. We bought all our tickets together, which all require DOBs, so it was clear he was one adult accompanied by two minor children. They have the information, they simply do not care.
Boarding first to get seated together is only a thing for airlines that do open seating. Southwest is the only airline I know of that does this and they are ending the practice in January. United offers early boarding for children under 2 but you do not get to choose your seat if you board early– all seats are assigned.
Yea Southwest is the only US airline I know of with open seating. You can board early with little kids on most airlines but you have an assigned seat; you don’t choose so there is no seat assignment advantage to getting on early.
It sucked a lot less when the seats were less cramped. They have options and are choosing to make passengers suffer.
But people keep paying. If people stopped buying those seats, they would get rid of them.
When were seats less cramped? I hear this, but just don’t recall. My parents remember ashtrays and smoking sections and people dressing up to fly even domestically. Then?
Anon at 10:11 am, there isn’t ordinary consumer preference competition in this industry unfortunately.
Anon at 10:14, just twenty years ago there was more room.
Anon @10:22am, in at least the first half of the 90s, the exact same planes that have 6 seats to an aisle had only 5 seats. Each seat was wider, and so was the aisle. More legroom was also standard. A middle seat has always been the worst seat, but it used to be much less awful.
I also feel like the airlines are making their standard offerings much worse while adding extra strata for people to upgrade out of some of it. When I was looking at tickets recently, one of the airlines had 5 or 6 different classes of ticket, even though only one didn’t have the word economy in the name.
I’m 5’2″ and can remember a time when I had enough leg room in any seat. If I need to try to get a better seat for leg room, things are bad.
Yup. If you have a preference, you have to pay. Ridiculous, but this is where we are.
They will upgrade a frequent flyer to economy plus and give you the vacated economy seat.
You get what you pay for.
If you want to live on the edge, I never pay for seat selection and I have sometimes gotten really nice seats (exit row! bulkhead!) no one wanted to pay for by checking in at the very last minute. But I do this because I am cheap and unorganized and you have to be okay with understanding you are absolutely playing the back-row-middle lottery
I am not Steve Jobs or Elizabeth Holmes, but I did not even make it to November before busting out the turtlenecks. I maybe have 5 black and 5 white and always seem to gird up to handle even the slightest of chills (especially during the day when I’m largely sitting at a desk). I checked my thyroid; it’s normal. Big Turtleneck has returned!
love turtleneck season!
I loved Fleetwood Mac and Stevie Nicks as American classics, especially writing burn breakup songs about your ex (and making them sing on them). I know we lost Christine McVie a while back. Stevie Nicks is still touring. She is 77. 77! I am amazed (but I wonder if it is also a big melancholy for them, as they are left without prior bandmates and many of their contemporaries are also gone). At any rate, I’m redefining what I want for the back half of my life and didn’t think I’d be giving thanks to Stevie Nicks for making me question if I’ve set my goals too low, but I am. [That and LSU’s retiree tuba player in its band and the guy in his 50s playing football at Lycoming College.]
I saw a clip of Cher guesting at a recent Cyndi Lauper concert, and I was floored! She’s 79 and looks fantastic.
Right? They came of age back when people worked in their tans and smoked, so that they are so vibrant is amazing. Gonna go hit the gym so I’ll be ready to rock when my AARP card comes.
Don’t forget to have a net worth of several hundred million dollars ;)
Don’t you wonder if they aren’t still touring because they need the money, having spent all of their money on drugs and otherwise living beyond their means? And what 70s music icon contributed to a 401(k) or, heck, even had FICA withheld? It’s great that they’re still able to do what they do, but I don’t assume they are doing it because they love love love touring in their 70s.
IDK but I saw Stevie Nicks in this tour (first timer) and she seemed to really love talking to the audience. IDK how you can dial that in at any age.
I get that some people may need the $ but also that it’s a huge business enterprise that they have, that feeds a lot of other people that they may feel obligated to, like their band and tour entourage. A business has a succession plan but neither of Cher’s kids can step into her very awesome shoes when she is ready to move to The Villages / celebrity equivalent. I don’t see them getting the same joy from pickleball if their bodies still stand up to the rigors of touring.
Also, consider tours support a LOT people, lots of jobs
I am a musician. I know many musicians who refuse to retire even when their skills have declined because they don’t want to give up doing what they love. Don’t underestimate the rush of performing on stage for a live audience. Nothing else compares.
I play violin (mediocre) and rely on sheet music even for standards that I should know. It amazes me how musicians in any life shows just play. A friend says that chord progressions are easy (maybe they are? IDK) but there are people playing keyboards and the non-rhythm guitars (and other instruments — one of the Wilson sisters plays flute and the other plays an excellent classical guitar). So even them in “decline” is likely still excellent work to me, at least so far (and I’ve seen “older” bands like the Rolling Stones and U2). It’s just amazing to me that it happens at all.
You are talking about two different things: memorization and improvisation. Memorization is extremely standard, although it is less commonly expected in the classical world these days than it once was.
Improvisation is a completely separate skill that is honed through many years of observation and practice. It is grounded in the underlying chord progression and operates within a set of parameters specific to the genre and period of the music.
As a trained flutist, I am deeply offended by the quality of flute playing in pop acts. The fact that you played flute in your high school band does not qualify you to do it by yourself in front of a paying audience.
I will say that I really enjoyed the Heart concert I went to, which included one song with a flute. I’ve never seen Jethro Tull or Lizzo and can’t think of any other acts with flutes even sometimes on offer.
Professional musicians practice and perform the same thing for so long it’s basically a reflex. And musicians trained in music theory have context to be able to riff in a way that is pleasant when they forget the score, rather than jarring. It’s like driving a car; you don’t need to re-learn how the rules of the road work just because you stayed home for a day.
Clairo has a woodwind doubler in her band.
I don’t wonder this at all. I know amateur musicians who would perform in front of a live audience every day if they could. I suspect someone with the skill and drive to get to the level of these women loves music and performing in a way we can’t begin to understand.
Actually I’m also a Fleetwood Mac fan and Stevie Nicks has repeatedly said that her parents made her hire an investment advisor at the start so she and Lindsey have money. There’s also probably more money in their publishing than in their touring. They at least were often cowriters of their songs.
I’m sure many musicians need money but they also probably enjoy the spotlight and attention as well.
I know plenty of professionals – not nec. musicians – who just love what they do and have no interest in outright retirement. I don’t myself at the moment and can see myself continuing well into my 70s, assuming I get to work on my own terms, doing what I like. I don’t think people only work because they need money. Some of us actually like our jobs.
My husband just saw her last week and said it was a phenomenal concert.
I need recommendations for everyday underwear, bikini-brief style. Somehow I end up destroying mine in months–I usually put a hole in the hip seam or right under the waistband, where my thumb pulls them up. I can work on being gentler, but I also think at $22 a pair and over ten rotating pairs, they ought to last more than six months! I’m a size large, and a bit soft everywhere, so regular ole cotton Hanes from Target create too much VPL. Help!
Someone recommended these years ago and they are still my fave for everyday- find the size chart accurate.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01JM78HLA?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_2&th=1&psc=1
Ha, I also got these from a rec here. They’re decent, but my new favorites are Evry (the light version).
That was me! :) I’m glad you still like them.
OP, I wear these with casual outfits. I wear Soma Vanishing Edge panties when VPL is a concern.
I’m a fan of Gap’s cotton bikinis
The Icebreaker siren hipkini is my holy grail. It’s stood up to years of abuse in the outdoors and it’s the ONLY pair I’ve ever found that doesn’t ride up on my large-for-my-shape butt.
I can’t imagine having only 10 pairs of underwear. I have, like, 3 times that.
Same. But people here always act scandalized when you say you wear more than one pair a day. How wasteful!
SOMA. They often have sales.
I like Jockey
What kind of consultant would a start-up nonprofit that serves clients look for to help it set up its IT? Not looking for a canned “managed solutions” sort of service, but for someone to help set up laptops, configure cloud-based software, and negotiate access to other entites’ systems to acquire essential data.
The first 2 services you need will be completely separate from the last one. Folks who can evaluate and negotiate data sharing agreements will not be the same ones setting up workstations. For the first 2, there are loads of local outfits who can do it. For the last, your general counsel or person who handles risk and compliance will probably have a name or two.
The org’s general counsel and risk and compliance person is its executive director, who is in way over their head. They cannot handle the technical details of the negotiation–e.g., figuring out what infrastructure is necessary to connect to the other systems, understanding what questions to ask or even with whom they need to speak. I am advising the org in another capacity and have the skills to handle this, but it’s out of scope and I cannot get that involved.
1 and 2 are completely different services as well. I do 2 for a living. You want someone who knows that software platform in depth and understands how it interacts with peripheral systems. This is probably someone with accounting and business process knowledge. 1 is your basic IT guy.
So what title do we look for to get #2?
For all but a standard, plug and play configuration (which would be handled by #1, and was my train of thought for lumping those 2 together), you’d hire a consultant to guide your organization through the configuration and implementation of the system you purchased. Sometimes the vendor partners with a specific consultant and can provide referrals.
This is actually prime territory for a managed services provider. Take time to interview a few different options, especially if you can get recommendations (perhaps from your city chamber? SBA contacts?). Explain what you are looking for and if you want one-time help with the setup, be clear about that. Some MSPs will be happy to do this, others are only interested in long-term support.
Agree with other commenters about these all being different roles. Maybe 1 + 2 can get lumped together. For 3, who will be handling the data they receive? Do they have a data team? That team should be able to set up the infra and figure out what the connection will be, but yeah will need counsel for an actual data sharing agreement.
Re: # 3 – if this is a database-related project, there may be consultants who specialize in that particular database and can help with integrations. The database software provider might be able to make referrals, especially if it is somewhat niche.
I’m not sure what you mean by not wanting a managed service provider, because that sounds like exactly what you need.
My observation of managed service providers is that they charge a high price for relatively mediocre and very standardized services. What the org needs is more individualized.
There’s no magic way to do this cheaply. I was a tech savvy office manager at an NGO once and I ended up doing most of this stuff myself because it’s not really hard.
It wouldn’t be hard for me, but the org’s staff is having a tough time with it.
(Deleted by mgmt)
Say it, forget it. Write it, regret it.
Do phone booths still exist?
Hire your own lawyer to advise you on whether you would face charges for violating whatever confidentiality rules applied such that you had clearance to write/view classified docs. Then depending what they say, have them reach out to Jane Does lawyers. and dont post about this on the internet anymore!!
+1 ask a lawyer for legal advice. Do not write about this anymore. Maybe ask Kat to delete this post for you.
This.
Find an internet cafe, library or some other public place with computers, no security cameras, that takes cash. Using a VPN or TOR browser on one of these devices set up a proton mail account, do not link the proton account to you in any way no recovery email, generic account address, and random password. Email the law firm from that account, ideally they have auto reply so you know the email went through, then nuke the account.
lol Internet cafe like those still exist.
I saw a movie about this once. Your best bet is a pay phone and you should wear a long trench coat and a fedora while you wait in your dodge charger nearby
This has to be fake, right? If it was real, you wouldn’t have specified the topic of the lawsuit because that makes you significantly more traceable. Anyway, the answer is sending an anonymous email asking them to contact you on a Signal account that you’ve set up on a burner phone.
Or getting your own attorney to do the dirty work works, too, but you’ll have to pay them and that will be trackable.
This is 100% fake because poster identifies themselves as the author of a document. If it were real, they would ask how to disclose confidential information to a law firm without being identified. That’s all you need to ask in order to find out.
My first thought was that it was an operative attempting to frame someone for a leak.
Anyone have travel recs for Belgium? We are going in December and will mostly be doing Christmas market stuff but would love suggestions for restaurants and other things to do. Planning to stay in Brussels and do day trips to other Belgium cities like Bruges, Ghent, Antwerp, etc. Not interested in Paris or Amsterdam, we’ve been to both several times and want to focus on Belgium for this relatively short trip (we only have 5 full days).
I used to live in Brussels and it’s been a while, but a few thoughts:
-Victor Horta House in Brussels if you are interested in Art Nouveau
-Go to Place du Grand Sablon, ideally on the antique market day. Taste chocolates at Wittamer and Pierre Marcolini, and decide which are your favorite. (Neuhaus and Leonidas are also there, but you can get those in NYC so they are less urgent to me…although truly the more chocolate in life, the better.)
-Lunch at Noordzee Mer du Nord in Place St. Catherine is the best, and it’s quite close to the Christmas market in Grand Place.
-Spend an evening in Place Jourdan enjoying frites and beers. Really, you can do this in many places, but this one just always had my favorite atmosphere.
-Bruges is wonderful in every way. Antwerp has a ton of interesting small museums – it looks like my favorite is closed for renovation currently, but there are a lot of great options.
We did a really great photo tour in Bruges — highly recommend: https://www.phototourbrugge.com/
I know you want to focus on Belgium, but my favorite Christmas market from my trip to Belgium was in Aachen, Germany (right across the border and easy day trip by train from Brussels). I also really enjoyed the Escher museum in the Hague, and wished I’d spent a full day there to see the Mauritshuis.