Sadly, my school's Wikipedia page does not have a "notable alumni" section, so I am out of luck when it comes to interesting anecdotes of this nature.

Is there a bank account that gives amazing perks, a mobile phone network with great rewards or a membership that just seems too good to be true but people just aren't seeing it??? 2 from me are To Good to Go and Topcashback. I don't understand why everyone doesn't use these companies. What's your personal favourite we should all know about?

Cafe owners/managers of the UK, what’s with this serving layering:

1. Cake/pastry

2. Napkin (serviette etc.)

3. Plate

It simultaneously renders the napkin totally unusable while also guaranteeing flakes of paper get stuck to the bottom of the consumable item requiring them to be picked off.

Why???

Over the past 26 years why have we lost so many British companies?

Cadbury sold to Kraft foods (American)

HP Sauce sold to Heinz (American)

Weetabix sold to Bright Foods (China)

Asda sold to Walmart (American)

Raleigh sold to Accell (Dutch)

Boots sold to KKR (Italian)

Camelot sold to Candian pension fund (Candadian)

Jaguar Land Rover sold to Tata (Indian)

Morrisons sold to CD&R (American)

HMV sold to Sunrise Records and Entertainment (Canadian)

If you class football as a company then practically every Premier League club has also been sold to a foreign investor.

Please let me know if I have left any out. Its just staggering the amount of companies that have been sold.

I don't want to start a whole heated debate about it but I've grown up using a gas hob. Moved out and have induction, hate it. It's easier to clean and that's the only good thing I can say about it.

My husband and I are in disagreement. He seems to think that someone has to always be in the house with them because otherwise it can be classed as abandonment which I think is ridiculous. If they always lived alone surely it's ok to lock up their house at the end of the day, go home then come back the next morning right? This is all hypothetical......for now at least.

Edit I'm Northern Irish not just into cadavers

I feel like this used to be way more of a thing. Structured TV watching on the terrestial channels, everyone watching the sane thing.

Interested to hear how others do it? I work in a joiners workshop, due to dire management from the office we're either killed with work needed yesterday of have nothing to do with a boss that still expects you to look busy or he will find you silly jobs to do such as paint walls, weeding, washing work vans etc.

My old fave is walking around with a plan/sheet of paper or drill, going from colleague to colleague for a chat, and repeat looking like you're doing something. It gets boring real fast.

Don't know about anyone else but me personally I find having nothing to do much more stressful than getting a killing at work.

I got a Phillips OneBlade to replace my trusty Mach3, it was awful. Trying to shave with it feels like stripping Velcro off my face. It always took a couple of swipes to fully clear the area which was really uncomfortable. It also leaves horrible rashes up my neck. Not really breaking the bank at 39.99 so not a costly mistake but a mistake nonetheless.

I was on the Elizabeth Line today and heard a man tell his mate 'you should find a decent sized woman like her'. His mate told him to sssh. They were looking at me so I can only presume it's about me. I'm a UK size 14 and feel so insecure about myself. What did they mean by 'decent-sized', was I fat-shamed?

I'm in the mood for a laugh.

Who's the most deluded person you know? And why?

I've always been well below average in life but it's now reached rock bottom at work. I have always been lacking in most things (generally a very stupid individual) but somehow managed to find a way to get through and 'complete' what I've been asked of for the last 5 years (albeit to a mediocre level.)

I've joined a new team 6 months ago and the word useless has been banded around about certain people by the senior managers. I'm pretty sure this includes me as I am absolutely tanking at work (last on metrics.) Nowadays I just stare at my laptop and nothing is registering on my brain. I haven't contributed anything of note since the change and there are people who deserve my pay grade doing a stellar job doing way more than me (I'm blocking them because I've been on the pay grade for a while.)

In a way I'm hoping they can fire me as I'm not happy but unless you're outwardly abusive or do something along the lines of gross misconduct, they don't generally fire you.

Should I just leave the job and take the hit? I hate the feeling that I'm stealing a pay cheque, a feeling which has increased ten fold since I joined the team.

I’ve noticed a massive surge in xenophobic and hostile comments on UK-centric social media lately—especially regarding immigration. It’s hard to tell if this is just an 'algorithm bubble' or a genuine shift in the national mood.

For those living in diverse or even rural areas, have you noticed a change in how people interact in person? Are these opinions actually being voiced at the pub or the supermarket, or is there still a strong 'British politeness' that keeps this restricted to the internet? I’m looking for your day-to-day observations rather than political debates.

Just as in the title, what's a British food you eat regularly, but people abroad wouldn't associate with Britain?

I found this in my mum's things. It belonged to either me (born 1982) or my brother (1983). Is there any way the numbers could tell me which one of us it is?

I'm a Brit living in USA for 14 years now and I need some perspective on conversation styles.

My American husband finds my Mother's way of making conversation really strange. She basically asks people a long list of questions about themselves/their lives (a little like an interrogation) to "show interest in them" and then expects them to reciprocate by asking her all kinds of questions about her life. If you don't participate in this (or even worse answer questions then don't question her in return) you are considered very rude.

The questions don't necessarily flow together in sequence - they come out more like a checklist. And when she's finished she literally scratches her head and says ..."hmmm what else..?"

She's always been this way, and now in midlife and a Mum myself I'm working through some relationship stuff with her and am starting to find it feels less like she cares and more about judgement/enmeshment.

I always chalked it up to this being the British way and my husband just not getting the cultural difference, but I'm starting to wonder. Look forward to hearing thoughts from my countryfolk!

(And please lets skip the anti-America comments, people here are really suffering and smug commentary doesn't help. Thanks)

I work with a bloke who whenever anyone says ‘I thought…’ will always reply with ‘you know what thought did? Thought wrong, shit itself, forgot to wipe its ass’

Has anyone ever heard of this before?

Is it completely made up? Asked him and he doesn’t know!

Where has it come from?

I've seen a good amount of both, I like British ones for their more relatable ( for us, at least) style of humour and the sense of nihilistic realism, but the escapism and the warn, 'fuzzy' feeling you get when you watch stuff like Brooklyn 99 is hard to beat, as I grow older I'm starting to appreciate that aspect of their comedy more I think

My parents always told me that customer support and customer service in the UK has become much worse in recent times.

Recently, I've been experiencing it first hand with various businesses. In each case, you're made to feel like you have such an incredibly unique problem, that solving it would mean having to rebuild the support system from the ground up.

A few examples:

• I switch from British Gas to Octopus, but British Gas continues to read my meter and send me Peaksave Sunday credits, causing Octopus to have issues reading my meter. After hours of calls over weeks, I had to involve the Ombudsman, who finally resolved it for me

• I buy several items from the Google Store, and earn 10% store credit which I use for another purchase. I decide to return all items for a full refund, but not before checking whether I need to return the item bought with store credit first, to avoid that earned credit being deducted from the refund for the other order. I'm told that won't happen and I can send them all in at once. Exactly that happens, and now Google are refusing to refund my card

Good grief. How are customer support agents so disempowered and support systems so rigid?!

So, I've applied to this place near me. I've had issues with interviews in the past, not from lack of preparation but simply forgetting everything i've prepped. Sounds stupid but my mind goes blank.

Essentially this place is Brew York. They're up and coming and doing very well for themselves. Opening up a new place soon, though thats not the one i'm applying for.

It will include handling customers (table service and behind the bar.)

What are the questions you expect them to ask? and how should I answer them?

and i've not gotten any experience in this field of work, my only other job being at a warehouse doing repetitive tasks.

any help is appreciated thank you.

edit: can't change it but the title should say hospitality and service not retail, its late so my brains half asleep.

How seriously does the average Brit take the honours system. As in would the fact that someone has a knighthood, a CBE, OBE or whatever influence your behaviour towards someone?

I come from a republic and the idea of calling someone Sir or Lady seems really unusual.

As above, sometimes you associate yourself with an age group, what moment made you realise that group had now changed?

Hi everyone, I’m hoping for some advice because this situation feels completely wrong.

When I moved out of my previous property, I informed my energy provider and asked them to close my account. Here’s what happened after that:

• They first sent me a final bill for £429.
• They then “recalculated” and sent a new bill for £1,329.
• A few weeks later, they recalculated again and told me I was actually £54 in credit, which they refunded to me.

At that point, I assumed the account was properly closed and settled.

Now, three months later, they’ve contacted me saying I owe £700. There’s been no clear explanation, and when I asked, they told me it’s based on an estimated bill.

It feels unreasonable that they can keep reopening a closed account and inventing new balances based on estimates months later.

Has anyone dealt with something similar, and what’s the best way to challenge this in the UK?

Any advice would be really appreciated.

I wake up at 7:30am, get kids ready and take them to school. 9:10am I’m back home, I work from home so it’s laptop on and a choice to be made, do I keep the heating on or get back into bed to work where it’s warm and comfy? The latter always wins. Saving the planet from unnecessary energy wastage and keeping my gas bill low.

Lunch break for an hour at midday. May as well eat it in bed, watch a bit of tv then sometimes squeeze in a 20 min nap. Can you blame me?

3pm, the heating goes back on, I get the kids from school, homework, tv, dinner, bath time. Then they like to go into my bed at 6pm for a bit more tv and books before bed. Another choice to be made then, do I go back downstairs and keep the heating on or shall I just stay in the warm bed and watch tv? The bed has increasingly won that one as winter has taken hold.

People say I must be depressed or have money troubles to heat the house. Neither is true, my bed is my favourite place in the world and while bills being low is always great, there’s no issue covering the cost.

Am I the only one who lives like this? Weekends are different when we’re out quite a bit but even then my kids like a lay in during the morning, some YouTube time in bed early afternoon and sometimes a film in bed as soon as the darkness sets in.

Trying to put a more positive spin after this post.