CuriousByNature

This forum is a community of people, and obviously, every community has some members that get on other members' nerves. Most people here have never met one another, and it can be hard to judge tone and meaning when reading what someone has written. At least that's what I try to remind myself. There have been members who've made comments on my posts that could be considered 'mean', perhaps. But that's ultimately on them. If that's how they engage people, so be it, and it isn't any skin off my nose. There are some people on the forum who just won't let it go if you happen to disagree with them, and that can get tiresome. We don't always have to be 'right'. And sometimes various viewpoints can all be valid at the same time. It does seem at times that kindness is becoming a lost art. As are forgiveness and empathy.

No, I am.

I really thought this was a photo of John Goodman

It apparently ends with a bang.

Thank you - I feel seen. LOL 😆

THANK YOU! You are awesome! This is much more variety than what I expected to see for MSC. Is this regular dining, or did you do the Yacht Club?

I was just kidding - I know you meant the most recent turn of the century...

But back in 1900 wasn't our dollar still on the gold standard?

If he gave you a facial, I think that would imply he got carried away... lol

Even though it isn't green? A green one would be kind of concerning - maybe a fungal infection...

I hadn't realized there was such a difference between NYC and some of the Canadian cities. My uncle in Vancouver pays about $10K per year in property tax on a house worth around $3.5 million. It works out to about 0.29%. For someone out there in Vancouver to pay $7500 per month, they would need to own a property worth about $33 million.

Wow. I can't imagine paying $7500 for a year's worth of property taxes.

Thanks! Would you mind taking a photo of a menu from the dining room and posting it here? If it isn't too awkward or difficult...

I haven't tried MSC yet - how's the food?

That must have been quite traumatizing for him...

I believe it's supposed to be set in the early 1880s. It was around that time that Mrs. Astor was forced to recognize the 'upstart' Vanderbilts, which the Russell family seems to mirror in the tv show. However, 'The Four Hundred' - the list of the 400 people who constituted 'Society', and based on the number that could fit in Caroline Astor's ballroom - was not compiled until the early 1890s, if I recall correctly. Since the list is already mentioned in the show, the program plays a bit fast and loose with the historical timelines. Also, the marriage of Gladys to the Duke is also set 10 years earlier than it was real life, if Gladys is meant to be analogous with Consuelo Vanderbilt, who married the Duke of Marlborough in the mid 1890s.

A lot of subs are long and hard, and full of seamen.

Yikes 😧

Priceless! LOL.

Would it have been less problematic for you if I wrote, 'social and psychological reasons' rather than 'reasonings'? If it wasn't clear in what I wrote, what I mean is that there are more than just biological reasons why incest has generally become taboo in most societies. There are social and psychological factors as well, that likely predate any understanding of genetic implications.

There's nothing puritanical nor judgemental in what I said. Two consenting adults can do what they want. All I said is that there are other reasons why incest has become taboo in most communities over the millennia. It isn't just about inbreeding and potential birth defects. Traditional societies have strong ties of kinship that follow certain parameters - and this predates our knowledge of genetics by a very, very long time.

I have no romantic feelings towards my cousins... lol.

I'm not sure why you seem fixated on this. My comment has nothing to do with gender roles. I'm looking way, way back in the history of communities - long before there was an employment based economy.

Please see my reply to Walt...

No, I have to disagree with the comparison. In addition to the biological issues of birth defects, from a social and psychological perspective, incest has generally been taboo for millennia because it can create significant breaks in familial bonds, leaving family units more vulnerable in times of hardship. The sibling bond that starts at a very young age has tended to render siblings sexually unattractive to each other, thereby fostering a stronger kinship loyalty across generations. While this psychological aspect of aspect may have an evolutionary impetus - acting as an additional safeguard against inbreeding - it is more likely environmental, since siblings raised separately and without knowledge of one another may be more likely to have a mutual attraction than siblings raised knowing one another.