this post was submitted on 01 Jun 2025
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Showerthoughts

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A "Showerthought" is a simple term used to describe the thoughts that pop into your head while you're doing everyday things like taking a shower, driving, or just daydreaming. The most popular seem to be lighthearted clever little truths, hidden in daily life.

Here are some examples to inspire your own showerthoughts:

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The terms "Mother's Day" and "Father's Day" is very anxiety-inducing for people who have been abused/neglected as a child. (self.showerthoughts)
submitted 2 days ago by throwawayacc0430 to c/[email protected]
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I hate when websites use the terms "Item arrives before Mother's/Father's Day".

Makes me want to cry, thinking about the alternate timeline where I have a normal life and no depression/anxiety.

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[–] throwawayacc0430 13 points 1 day ago (3 children)

You can go to jail in some countries for cutting ties with your abusive parents. It's so fucked up.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filial_responsibility_laws

Typically, these laws obligate adult children (or depending on the state, other family members) to pay for their indigent parents'/relatives' food, clothing, shelter and medical needs. Should the children fail to provide adequately, they allow nursing homes and government agencies to bring legal action to recover the cost of caring for the parents. Adult children can even go to jail in some states if they fail to provide filial support.

In 2012, the media reported the case of John Pittas, whose mother had received care in a skilled nursing facility in Pennsylvania after an accident and then moved to Greece. The nursing home sued her son directly, before even trying to collect from Medicaid. A court in Pennsylvania ruled that the son must pay, according to the Pennsylvania filial responsibility law.

In Germany, people who are related in a "direct line" (grandparents, parents, children, grandchildren) are required to support each other, this includes children with impoverished parents (de:Elternunterhalt, support to parents).

In France, close relatives (such as children, parents and spouses) are required to support each other in case of need (fr:obligation alimentaire, duty to support).

Singapore, Taiwan, India, and Mainland China criminalize refusal of financial or emotional support for one's elderly parents.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filial_piety

In some societies with large Chinese communities, legislation has been introduced to establish or uphold filial piety. In the 2000s, Singapore introduced a law that makes it an offense to refuse to support one's elderly parents; Taiwan took similar punitive measures.

Some scholars argued that medieval China's reliance on governance by filial piety formed a society that was better able to prevent crime and other misconduct than societies that did so only through legal means.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 6 hours ago

Keep in mind in Germany this only applies to children making 100,000€ per year or more with impoverished parents provided the parents did not abuse the children. If you can prove you were abused and it would be an undue hardship to provide support then you can be exempted.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 day ago

Which just keeps the cycle of “My retirement plan is having kids,” which generally leads to people not having kids to enrich new human lives and make new beings that learn and improve from their parents, but rather to systemically guide new humans through enforced potential financial success in the self-interest of a high return when retirement comes.

[–] Jax 6 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

Is this not just slavery of your progeny?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 hours ago* (last edited 5 hours ago)

Not really IMO. Is it slavery to require parents to provide for their children? Familial ties are meaningful in the eyes of the law.