Exactly what I was thinking. It's crazy how something so small can totally change the way people reach out to you. You put in a little bit of effort to show you're honest, and suddenly people actually feel comfortable picking up the phone. That's not something you can fake or buy, it's just earned over time. Really glad to hear it worked out for you too, because it feels like that kind of thing is getting harder to find these days.

Wait, has anyone talked about the social pressure angle here? Like maybe the real problem isn't just the drug itself but how people feel pressured to use it in the first place to fit in at parties or whatever. I feel like that's where a lot of the harm comes from, even for the "responsible" adults, because it's not always a free choice when everyone around you is doing it.

Fourteen jars of "discard" in my cousin's fridge right now because she watched a viral video and now thinks she runs a bakery. @tessa394 I think your neighbor and my cousin should start a support group for people who can't handle being wrong about kitchen chemistry. It's funny how someone will fight you for an hour about how their bread is fine, then you take one bite and it tastes like a wet sock. Social media gave everyone a megaphone but skipped the part where they had to know what they're talking about first.

Wait, wasn't that a 40 mile section on the AT, not 50?

Honestly, that idea Jake has about flagging attention drift is gold. But here's the thing - did they tell you how to handle those marked sentences after? Because I feel like just knowing where someone zones out is only half the battle. Ngl, I've tried that approach and ended up with a manuscript full of random marks but no clue why my readers checked out. Was it the pacing, the dialogue, or just the time of night they were reading? Tbh, I think the real trick is following up those marks with a quick question about what specifically made their attention wander. That way you get the "where" and the "why" without having to guess.