Glad you enjoyed Boston! You have to do the Duck Boat Tours next time you're in town. Very touristy, but great for finding things to do around Downtown and the Waterfront. Hope you come back soon!
And that's okay! There are plenty of ways to use climate-friendly means of transportation if your area has the infrastructure for it. If it doesn't, buying/utilizing used cars with good gas mileage and adjusting how much you drive, supporting climate-friendly legislation, and raising awareness are the best things you can do until biking/walking/etc. is more accessible for you - or until you can move to a high-density area with those options, if that's the goal.
Electric cars are a great step forward, but currently lack the efficiency and affordability of ICE vehicles. Plus, they ultimately serve as a means to maintain the stability of the Auto industry in an increasingly environmentally-conscious society.
Who are you to say it means nothing - I find value in it, so I will share it. The point is to not judge someone at face-value because of the circumstances you are seeing them in. Everyone is going through something, so we should all try to help others when we can - just as we will need help with something eventually.
Maybe, maybe not. I can't control what others do, but I can control what I do. I don't want to enable someone, but I also know for some that money is exactly what is needed. So, I do my best to judge the situation and act accordingly.
Actually, yes. This is one of the best health plans I have used. It could be better, it could be cheaper, but I am more than pleased with it and had a few different options to choose from.
My boss told me something that will always stay with me. I've never known him to lie, so I have no reason not to believe him - but nevertheless this is still a personal anecdote.
Anyway, he told me that when he was a teenager, his family had gotten to a point where they moved out of a bad neighborhood and into a rather affluent one thanks to some luck from his parents. He said he went to the store one day and a homeless person was outside the store, asking for help getting back on his feet. My boss, being the asshole teenager he was, told the person to, "just get a job."
He said the person humbled him immediately, and told him in a very respectful, but firm manner, that he lost his wife and son due a car wreck the year before - that he went bankrupt and eventually homeless paying for their medical bills while they lived, and for their funerals when they died.
My boss tells this story to our new-hires when he can. He typically says that all this person needed was for someone to believe in them and give them another chance, because no one truly helped them when they needed it most.
I didn't say they are experiencing these slowdowns because of abatement policies, like you said with shark attacks and ice cream. Read my edit. I think I'm being misunderstood, and I don't think I clearly communicated what I was trying to. Your second paragraph literally summarized what I was trying to convey, which I thought I did in the tldr, but I'm better at numbers and graphs than I am with words lol.
I will be .zip and I'll die on this hill