u/puddiingpurin

Merchandise weight (pounds)	Shipping charge
5	$16.49
10	$23.99
25	$46.49

"The table above shows shipping charges for an online retailer that sells used textbooks. There is a linear relationship between the shipping charge and the weight of the merchandise. Write a function in slope-intercept form that relates y, the shipping charge in dollars, and x, the merchandise weight in pounds."

i understand why the slope is 1.50, but i can't get this:

y= 1.50x + b

16.49 = 1.50(5) + b

16.49 = 7.50 + b

8.99 = b

where does the 8.99 come from?

i (17f, will turn 18 in september) have been living with my mother, stepfather and my younger brother in the US for a little over a year now, and my senior year will start this fall. i’ve mentioned more than once how much i’ve been unsure on what to major in college, but i have some options to look into (like computer science or something health related).

the problem is, a recruiter (i’m not actually sure who it was) from my school reached out to my stepfather to talk about the military, and now my parents think the best path forward for me is to join the navy because it would help me get some discipline and i’d get good benefits for college.
due to the stress of having a new brother last year i can say i haven’t been the best, but i help my mother with him everyday and i don’t drink/smoke/sneak out or do anything that “problematic teens” do. i get good grades and i literally just stay home everyday except for my volunteering shifts on the weekends.

he has scheduled an interview without telling me beforehand. i love my stepfather, but he doesn’t really care what i want. i’m really afraid i’ll be stuck with the military if i choose to continue living with them after my senior year, because being forced to do things (such as having to go to church with my parents) has been a pattern over the years.

i do want to leave and live alone eventually, but i don’t have a job (i can’t work legally in this country, just study) or even a license, and my only other option would to choose to go back to my country and pursue college living with my (bio) father and his family, my older sister, or my grandparents. i don’t know how viable that would be, since the education system is so different there, and i’m not sure they’d want to take me in since they all have their problems already and i’d be a legal adult by then, but i could try?

the truth is, i love living in the US with my family. they’re very loving outside of some issues, and the opportunities i have living here are laughably bigger than where i used to live before, and i don’t want to give that up. but i just can’t imagine what would it be like to join the military in this state of the world, and i wish i could get disciplined in another way. sitting them down to talk would be of no use, as i’ve tried telling them more than once how i wouldn’t want that and they just brush me off every time, and i just end up acting like a petty kid and feel like i can’t show my concerns properly. i’m completely lost on what to do. if i tried telling my sister or (bio) father about it, they’d probably support my stepfather’s decision. i know he can’t force me to do anything, but there’s just some things i learned ever since i started living with my parents that i simply can’t control.

i’m not a native english speaker, so i’m truly sorry if this is somewhat confusing to read.