u/ChaturangaChai

Kim Possible: While fans often speculate that Middleton is a suburb in Denver, Colorado, there are also instances on the show that contradict this theory. Middleton’s exact location is left intentionally ambiguous, and director Steve Loter has stated that Middleton "is Anywhere USA. It's not based on a real place."

The Powerpuff Girls: The coordinates of Townsville are fictionally given as 32°N by 212°W, but 212°W does not actually exist. Altering that coordinate to make it work would place Townsville in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. While we know Townsville is located in Pokey Oaks County, the state (or even the region) it's located in is never specified. 

Desperate Housewives: Wisteria Lane is in the town of Fairview in a fictional state called "Eagle State." The show never specifies where Eagle State is in relation to the other US states.

My mom has this infuriating habit where whenever something bad happens, her immediate response is:

"Well, there's nothing I can do about it."

When in reality, there are things she could do. She just refuses to try.

A few years ago, my older sister who has Down Syndrome had a medical emergency and needed to go to the hospital. My mom had just started a new job and wasn't technically eligible for time off yet. Instead of telling her boss, "My disabled daughter is in the hospital and I need an exception," she went on Facebook looking for sympathy about how she couldn't be there because she had to work.

People in the comments asked if she'd even talked to her boss. She hadn't.

They finally convinced her to ask, and of course her boss approved the time off immediately because most reasonable people understand that a medical emergency warrants an exception.

The catalyst for this post is that she recently got scammed out of what she described as "more money than she imagined." When I asked if she'd contacted her credit union, she said, "There's nothing they can do."

But she hadn't actually called them. She just assumed they couldn't help.

And this has been the pattern my entire life. My dad refusing to pay child support? "Nothing I can do." Problems at school? "That's just the way things are." Any difficult situation? Immediate surrender before even exploring the available options.

It's exhausting because she acts like she has absolutely no agency in her own life.

I love my mom, but spending time with her (or even texting her) is draining because I constantly feel like I'm trying to convince a grown adult that she is capable of doing even the most basic tasks. But even the most obvious recommendations are just met with either silence or, "That wouldn't do anything to help."

She's going to be visiting me in November, and I'm honestly dreading it because I know I'm going to have to spend the entire trip thinking for her because she can't think for herself. It's like I'm her parent. The last time she came to visit, she stayed for a whole week and I felt like my soul had been sucked out of my body by day 3.

My usual breakfast: Chocolate protein oats and a banana