The dog sitters I never asked for — I’ve had quite a few odd jobs during my teenage years to my twenties — mystery shopper, retail photo technician developing 35mm film in dark boxes, airport security guard, cashier and a switchboard receptionist. For this reason, I’m a stickler about being nice to service people. I know what it’s…

The college friend that made me challenge this theory — When one of my college buddies invited me to her graduation, I was ecstatic. We hadn’t seen each other in years, after I fled a startlingly racist university and she did the same shortly after. We didn’t have mutual friends at that college, but the two of us had always…

Flirting and driver’s license renewals aren’t the best matchmaking technique — Today, I’d already dealt with the guy who yelled out of his car window, “Why my phone ain’t ringing since you calling somebody?” I ignored him holding up traffic. I shook my head at the guy who walked near me and my dog to say, “Hey, how you doing? …

And it took a Judy Blume book special for me to finally narrow down why — “I don’t understand why people like porn,” she said to me. “It’s just so boring. It doesn’t do anything for me at all.” I was a little caught off guard by her comment. She isn’t a prudish woman. She has two kids, is married and is a genuinely upbeat person…

And if bookworms start set tripping, you deserved it — I do not condone gang violence. I think there are better ways to handle conflict. But when it comes to fake book decor, I daydream that bookworms would creep around the corner like Geoffrey in “Bel Air,” reading glasses on (or dangling from a chain), and simply state, “I don’t…

Because I never won the Olympics like Tara Davis-Woodhall or Sha’Carri Richardson — I leaned against the nearest bookshelf I could find. I counted stars. I looked for shooting stars. While wearing a bridesmaid dress, I smiled at a handsome family friend who was way too far on the other side of the room to flirt with. In jeans, I did manage to…

An argument to be made about not relying on one phone — While “Abbott Elementary” and two seasons of “A Black Lady Sketch Show” are cracking jokes at Android smartphone users, it looks like those too-cool iPhone users are having their own share of issues. In a recent report from the Wall Street Journal via CNN, savvy phone hackers are getting ahold…

‘Love Is Blind’: And other problems I have with the Fun Police for men — After every season of “Love Is Blind,” I end up with a headache watching these couples. Of course there are the Tiffanys and the Bretts who make me cheer them on like they’re the Obamas. Then, there are the Iyannas and Jarrettes who…

When are casting directors and musicians going to stop lying? — I didn’t even get a week to enjoy it. That was what I was thinking when I saw Marques “Batman” Houston trending on Twitter. I’d been all giddy seeing an interview with one-third of my favorite boy band group on “R&B Money” and was reliving my childhood music memories about…