Blissfully correct and insightful and an excellent read!! You really nailed all the situations and solutions. Guess you hit the gym early today. Your cardio is The Frays' gain!

MessyONE:

... it's Captain Obvious and his paranoid fear of what, exactly? You have a computer. You have an e-mail address for your condo board. There were rules about common areas.Those monthly fees?

You think Vespas are cool. You aren't fooling anyone with your phony justifications about money or gas mileage, and you know darn well that you only live a nice half-hour stroll from work. Pay for the stupid thing yourself if you want it that badly! Why shouldn't you join in the fun? If someone taps your car from behind, you're out the deductible to fix a bumper. If someone taps your scooter from behind, you could easily end up in traction...or a wheelchair...or dead. Face it, a scooter is a vanity purchase for you.

You are likely NEVER going to make enough from a job like that to buy a house, or a new car, or afford a baby. It just ain't normal to dread going to work. Retail jobs are a dime a dozen, so are most retail workers- like you. You're supposed to discover that it's a shitty way to live and get your ass back into school so you don't have to put up with that crap until you're 70 or so because you'll never be able to retire.

Check out Slate's article about test driving the Fortwo. Sounds like the same situation as the Vespa. The savings in gas mileage really don't justify transportation with such limited cargo capacity. It's all about the cuteness, the "look-at-me and what I'm driving" factor. Whatever.

The condo neighbor's dispute and their behavior reminds me of people who work in cubicles and send emails to the dept head rather than just go next door and discuss and resolve an issue themselves. Must avoid actual contact - or, maybe, have their mom take care of the dispute when she comes to drop off groceries and pick up the laundry. How about leaving a post-it note?

The pet store employee isn't clearly seeing her situation for what it is. She describes her job interesting work, friendly co-workers, personal competence and decent pay, but a terrible boss. The first four are relatively easy to come by in a work situation, but having issues with a supervisor, especially in a small business is a deal-breaker and a very valid reason to quit.