SirBillybob

A truth stranger than fiction, because only fiction is obliged to stay within possibilities .... Some four decades ago I travelled on a fantastic Caribbean cruise (non-gay, small liner), joined by someone with whom there were friends in common back home. He had an arts degree and was not in school. Much to my surprise and consternation he decided that he would pose as a medical student in our nautical microcosm. He did not warn me or ask me to collude in this charade. I did not back up the fiction and I stayed out of it. He also posed as heterosexual but the socio-political climate made that more justifiable. Most on board got sucked in concerning his academic status, but a very select few shot knowing glances to my poker face. There were a lot of activities to override a focus on his backdrop and he did not offer informal medical advice that everybody knew would not be the province of an undergraduate anyway. The dude was princely to me and everyone else while perhaps basking in the additional social capital his misrepresentation conferred. I did not reveal the experience to anybody at home known to him, and it never came up between us. The event and his related meta communication eroded my desire to maintain a close association. I know for a fact he has never done any concrete harm through impersonation. ——— Fast forward to an experience with a recent friend that had already overtly described and convinced me and countless others of credentials far exceeding reality. Following months of digital communication, the new normal for degrees of bonding these days, this person proposed a social meet-up at a travel destination we had in scheduling common. We also jointly know a few people. In this case, I am a retired, not particularly outstanding, clinician maintaining faculty status at a university, yet have had associations with young high-performance multiply decorated academics within many disciplines (the current person’s practice and discipline is not the point). Eventually, close to the juncture of our meeting, I had very mild suspicions as the person’s narrative expanded into a range where the average listener would become somewhat incredulous. This evolved into a realization that the situation was thematically very similar to years ago, this new person also presenting the same charade within a small group social gathering on our meeting day. This was uncomfortable. At the same time, this person alluded to skills that would sound ominous to anybody that might be on to them. This prompted me to look things up based on the information I had, verifying for myself that the person was impersonating, presumably for social capital purposes. Perhaps others are aware of men and women inclined to grossly exaggerate themselves. It was certainly not necessary, for my sake, to cultivate friendship based on falsely elevated status. I will engage with somebody friendly and charming irrespective of walk of life. There would be nothing to gain by directly confronting or “outing” this stage show. I do not wish to embarrass anybody, while feeling sheepish about my own naïveté. However, I have described the experience to a few people I am certain are not contained with the person’s circle, without identifying information. —— What do you think would be a reasonable threshold for digging a little into the public domain to unearth somebody’s reality? What constitutes a related boundary violation? What about the things a person tells you, distorts, or omits, outside of their primary identity (given that confidentiality about that component is generally an ethical imperative even if not explicitly requested), is one’s business? How and it what arenas(s) might you debrief the type of experience I described?

Arghh ... Yet a free reign to be maliciously rude and accusatory to any individual caught in the crossfire of a bad day, and to do the heavy lifting on behalf of one’s symbolic figurehead.

I am prepared to make generalizations about cross-national rates of rudeness and alpha fails, but it would not be particularly useful.

Got me ... the research papers related to gratitude expressivity customs in Brazil and elsewhere do not exist, and I have never peer-review published on help-seeking dynamics.

Right you are, also applies to ‘eunuch’. You would think I am new at this.

I was not making a generalization about Brazil, nor were observational questionnaire researchers doing so particularly, and I have no need to defend what I took from the bit of reading I did. I was interested in digging a little into modes of expressing gratitude. It appears that Asian customs may be unique compared to Brazil and North America, the latter two patterns more similar. Be my guest to do a search on, say, cross-cultural expressions of gratitude, and lead a seminar on the topic. Or simpler, if a young Brazilian male does not show appreciation according to expectations, explore it with him. Personally, I am more caught up in my altruistic magnanimity, and buffing my nails on my lapel, on rare donation occasions than I am seeking overt recognition from the recipient.

Teehee, “finishing” education for young garotos in Brazil. Hard pass ... not much for me to contribute.

Ha, You choose a handle that suggests incapacity to elevate a topic and then you do not elevate a topic.

I should also point out that the research is not observational but is based on self-reports of Brazilian youth regarding rates of preferred modes of expressing gratitude for having a wish met. One limitation of this is the possible disconnect between what they deem to best fit the situation and what they might do in actuality based on perception of what comportment dictates.

“Not trying to be mean or ... troll”. Sounds much more humble than other forum contributors bent on critical appraisal that blames, shames, maims with memes.

Good points, to be sure. I am in fact drawing from an academic research review and summarizing, briefly, multiple cross-cultural studies not just one isolated project, rather than pasting links to the relevant studies. It is not my own research. I am not a sociologist or anthropologist. But I simply wish to blend the scholastic along with some of the experiential here. I have been in Brasil often and lived in long-stay low-cost family-integration room rentals of up to $20USD per night, (not upscale digs) enough to know that, yes, you will see a great deal of the usual expected polite social interactions among locals of all ages. And of course, many various verbal and meta-communicative forms. I am not clumping all young men together. But I have decades of cross-cultural service experience and I have also observed different or non-existent incidents of ‘’the simple thank you”, whatever version might be seen as an expression of gratitude, according to gender, ethnicity, or intersection of those, obviously along with additional circumstances ... recognizing that my own relatively privileged gender and ethnicity play a role. The continuum has ranged from gifts out of whack with the situation to formal complaints about my being useless in relation to meeting a need. I cannot second-guess all the dynamics in the OP’s reported cases, but I hoped that digging a little into the research on modes of expressed gratitude would broaden interpretation with multifactorial information and soften the negative stereotype about commercial sex workers, as I think is the intention of many contributors to the thread.

What gets me is some apparently more recent accounts that are $25 (Canadian currency) but the profile lists only a handful of photos and vids have been posted to date. You would think that these providers would at least enter a greater number of nonXrated photos to the inventory to make it look like it may be worth it to explore the account. I have dabbled a month at a time here and there but have not really been drawn to check for new posts very regularly. Only as a last resort after checking IG or Twitter faves. And also discovered the lower cost profiles that upcharge for new clips.

I think some of this is cultural. If a young macho guy there is offered a favour (eg cigarette, share of a pizza slice) from a friend I would not be surprised not witnessing a verbal expression of gratitude. The gratitude may be connective, the acknowledgement of a bond that exempts the formality, and the implicit intention of the receiver to wish the giver well. Similarly, a boomerang request for a second-helping of assistance may be an artefact of this dynamic, whatever the degree of authenticity of connectivity in the context of an existing transactional history. I would not take it personally, and it may be as likely the guy is signalling (or feigning, if you are inclined to be, well, jaded) closeness as much as it is likely he may be guilty of a rude oversight. In some cultures, in fact, expressed verbal gratitude for a wish granted can be considered an insult. In Brazil, among youth, some research suggests that verbal gratitude is favoured by the wish receiver at about 50%, and connective gratitude (reciprocating by interpersonal closeness where possible) is quite prominent. There are variations according to whether the wish is hedonistic as opposed to based on a fundamental need, and differences related to whether where the person fits in a continuum of social autonomy-heteronomy. A third form of gratitude, reciprocating a concrete favour in kind at some point, is obviously impossible given resources and distance. I wonder if that would also cause the young recipient to lean towards implied connectivity over ‘obrigado’, that connectivity having also been satisfied in cases of honouring you with an erotic image accompanying a request.

I am hoping we can keep this thread tightly focused. With so many insurers outright eliminating coronavirus-related health costs when travelling abroad, I was surprised that AetnaInternational will provide a quote. I don’t wanna know the price-tag yet! The landscape will likely evolve, but although I am healthy having full coverage is a priority for me. ——— Please add any additional info you may acquire.

Well we see glimmers of autocratic rule re-emerging but public order does cost money, taxpayers money, and runs close to 2% of GDP and 6% of government spending. GDP will have shrunk and deficits expanded astronomically. Unless strip clubs double as rare culinary markets, paranoid xenophobia and economic reality will shift the enforcement agenda elsewhere ... kissing booths, free-hug flash mobs, Chinatown. The anti-prostitution Nordic Model will focus on obsessing whether female commercial sex workers received their share of bailout entitlement. The money I save now will be squandered on private dances that I may be using a cane or walker to access.

À propos of cell phones in any country, but a bit off topic, I have to roll my eyes at the idea that citizens will accept being gouged for perMB data in order to facilitate their whereabouts being tracked by authorities.

I actually don’t think the OP is American, do not know if there should be an R before the $, and require more denomination details. If the 150 is reais, I don’t think it would cover much let alone a few MBs to keep one’s mobile phone operating to even be able to WhatsApp text. And WU or Moneygram, etc, skim so much, the transfer companies should be expressing gratitude. Thank you in advance for what I expect will be the cozy affectionate warmth of receptivity to this thread contribution.

Are the dancers congregating under one set of cameras? I doubt it would be individual ‘basement feeds’ in a ‘honey-cum’ clustered format.

Is the fee not designed to give the dancers a bit of compensation that would otherwise have been privates and tips? Even if subscribed geographically widespread, may not yet yield a huge amount. The pricepoint is trial-and-error, no real precedent.

Hahaha ... been doing this for years. I prefer to be pleasantly surprised than ensuring follow-through. The problem is not figuring out what they reveal where and when ... being mindful of discretion of course. The problem is getting them to enact behaving in a STRICT manner when you fantasize a little harmless abuse. Many are sheepish about role-play, in spite of the swagger|bravado they endeavour to project. Then, of course, one can attempt to shame them into confidentially letting you finger their hole or just put in the tip, just for a little bit and short time. Overall, I am likely the most flexible and easy to please client they will cum across. LOL

If it’s a history repeat, Spanish flu 3 waves beginning March ... the 2nd wave late Fall 1918 the deadliest. What might have been appropriately called herd immunity took at least 11-12 months. One must hope for a vaccine and minimal mutation. Then possibly travel in a year from now if infected and recovered, or successfully inoculated.

Truvada and Descovy contain the same dose emtricitabine but different form of tenofovir. To me they are essentially the same ... Descovy may confer less renal toxicity but both below alarm thresholds ... Truvada (or generic equivalents) may confer decreased blood fat levels (or maybe that is less risk increase) and less risk of weight gain. Not proven, but it is speculated Descovy may have a slight edge for ‘on demand’ regimen based on the first 2 doses taken together absorbing (bioavailability) more quickly and efficiently to threshold blood levels. I use generic Truvada for prn on-demand with condom and will not be switching, particularly since my provincial plan may not cover Descovy.

There are written pieces on this. Statistical estimates do not assert risk is absolute zero because both mitigators rely on self-report and PrEP use may be related to riskier sex. I do not think there is research that compares 3 arms within the same study. It is reasonable to assume that PrEP confers additional benefit to consistent condom use and vice versa. Used in combo, particularly in the context of viral suppression of inserting partner, is likely extremely effective.

I have mainly ever been on an on-demand regimen of tenofovir-emtricitabine, with months at a time of abstinence, save for zero-risk play ... my boundaries are impeccable ... so business as usual. Currently no access to STI testing, script renewals, or organ surveillance lab work in the programs I have used. I expect my current 60 doses will expire (or I expire natural causes!) prior to re-uptake. Maybe crushed up and rubbed on hands will sub for sanitizer if run out (obviously not serious).

Go to simpletax.ca for QC. Plug in 75000 self/employed ... ave rate 32%, marginal 37%, net about 50,000 I live here. Tax among the highest in nation. For a moderate income you pay the equivalent of a substantial holiday abroad compared to Ontario.