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| Commenters had split opinions about companies that “strongly discourage” tips. |
| We keep hearing that customer service is dead. More and more stores have self-checkouts replacing human cashiers and websites are now opting for AI chatbots instead of a phone number. There are also the more crotchety takes, like that younger generations are “rude” and don’t have the people skills we’re all looking for when we go out shopping. |
| Maybe that’s why it’s so pleasantly surprising when you do have a genuinely nice customer service interaction — a great waiter or a super-friendly checkout clerk. It can legitimately brighten your day. You almost want to celebrate and shout it from the rooftops. |
| One TikTok creator did, more or less, exactly that when a helpful cashier at Trader Joe’s blew her away. Margaret Stone jumped on TikTok to share the story of a rockstar Trader Joe’s employee and the curious response she got when she tried to leave him a tip for great service. |
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| She knew it would be her last chance to surprise her husband—even if she wasn’t around to see it. |
| Christmastime can be hard for some people due to the loss of a loved one. It can be especially difficult if it’s the first Christmas without them here to celebrate. You look around your house and nothing quite feels the same because you’re acutely aware that someone is missing. Being around other loved ones can help ease the transition of that person no longer excitedly waiting for you to open the gift that they worked hard to pick out, but one family got a surprise from a lost loved one that they never expected. |
| At the start of 2024, Idaho mom and wife Kjerstin Cook lost her battle with the terminal degenerative disease ALS, leaving a hole in the hearts of her family and friends. But because she was aware of her impending early death, she wanted to ensure she left her husband one last gift, even if she wasn’t around to see it. |
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What’s your favorite cold weather activity?
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| Skiing or snowboarding |
| Ice skating |
| Building a snowman |
| Sledding |
| Cozying up indoors with a cup of hot cocoa |
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| A president got away with murder. |
| The Friday, December 13, 2024, episode of “Jeopardy!” with host Ken Jennings featured returning one-day champion Ashley Chan, a publicist from Lewisville, Texas, taking on Ram Murali, a writer originally from London, England, and Carla Winston, a political scientist from Baltimore, Maryland. The most memorable question of the night stumped all three contestants and not one buzzed in with an answer. |
| The interesting thing is that the question was about a president who shot and killed someone under dubious circumstances. It’s proof that no matter how strange American politics feels in 2024, unscrupulous characters have always been vying for positions of power. The triple stumper clue was for $400 in U.S. Presidents category: “An 1806 duel involving this future president resulted in the death of Charles Dickinson.” |
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| It ranked highest for both accidents and general traffic-related incidents. |
| Sorry Bay Staters—Massachusetts has the worst drivers in America, according to a recent study from the finance site Lending Tree. Data was collected from all 50 states, plus Washington, D.C., from Nov. 5, 2023 to Nov. 4, 2024 and researchers found Massachusetts ranked No.1 for the highest number of reported incidents—including speeding, DUIs and citations—with 61.1 incidents per 1,000 drivers. |
| But wait, there’s more. Of those reported incidents, Massachusetts also had the highest accident rate, with 44.4 accidents per 1,000 drivers, giving it the boasting right of being the only state to rate above 40. |
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