Pass the tissues, please. via Did You Know


The Bethpage Black Golf Course in Old Bethpage, New York, hosted the Ryder Cup over the weekend. MAGA Republican President Donald Trump was in attendance with his granddaughter Kai.
Twelve top players from the States faced off against twelve top players from Europe.
The Ryder Cup is a three-day men's team match-play format golf tournament between the United States and Europe. Held every two years, hosting duties rotate between Europe and the United States.
Europe clinched the victory on Sunday before the mostly American crowd. At conclusion of play, Northern Irish golfer Rory McIlroy took issue with the crowd's behavior during the tournament.
Over five matches at Bethpage, McIlroy was heckled by screaming American fans who hurled insults about his golfing, his personal life, his height, his heritage, and his wife, Erica Stoll.
McIlroy—characterizing the Bethpage crowd as abusive—stated:
"What happened here this week is not acceptable."
"I don’t think we should ever accept that in golf. I think golf should be held to a higher standard than what was seen out there this week."
The Holywood, County Down, Northern Ireland native continued:
"Golf has the ability to unite people. Golf teaches you very good life lessons. It teaches you etiquette. It teaches you how to play by the rules. It teaches you how to respect people."
"Sometimes this week we didn’t see that. So no, this should not be what is acceptable in the Ryder Cup."
You can see his comments here:
The crowd also directly attacked McIlroy’s wife Erica Stoll, whose abuse at the hands of American fans was called out by Glamour magazine in their article titled "The Misogynistic Abuse Towards Rory McIlroy’s Wife at the Ryder Cup Is Deeper Than Golf."
Glamour's Stephanie McNeal wrote:
"It shows a cultural shift, one in which men feel emboldened to attack women in public without shame or consequence."
"At the Ryder Cup over the weekend, Stoll was subjected to the following: had a beer thrown at her head, was taunted with barbs about her brief 2024 split from her husband, and had to listen to fans chant the name of a woman who, some fans online claim without proof, had a relationship with McIlroy at some point around their breakup."
Team Europe player and championship clincher Shane Lowry of Ireland observed:
"I was out there for two days with Erica McIlroy, and the amount of abuse that she received was astonishing. The way she was out there supporting her husband and supporting her team was unbelievable, and kudos to her for that."
The Guardian UK headlined part of their Ryder Cup coverage: "US fan ugliness at the Ryder Cup was merely a reflection of Trump’s all-caps America."
The Guardian's Bryan Armen Graham, who was in attendance at Bethpage, wrote:
"There’s a difference between atmosphere and interference, and Bethpage spent too much of the weekend blurring the two. Boos during practice swings and the sing-song 'YEW-ESS-AY! YEW-ESS-AY!' after a European miss were tiresome, but survivable."
"What crept in on Saturday was different: insults aimed at players’ wives, homophobic slurs, cheap shots at McIlroy’s nationality dripping with tiresome stereotypes, gleeful reminders of Pinehurst the moment McIlroy crouched over anything inside five feet."
McIlroy wasn't alone in finding the Bethpage crowd's antics unacceptable, but predictable.
Welcome to the new America.
— Sparky (@lachspark.bsky.social) September 28, 2025 at 10:28 PM
It’s not necessarily a new America, it’s just the fact that they have been emboldened by the bully and chief trump. The president behaves this way they figure they can too.
— Johny Canuck (@johnycanuck.bsky.social) September 28, 2025 at 11:02 PM
Yep, that’s what I mean. There was a semblance of manners and respect and no decorum in the ‘old’ America. No longer.
— Sparky (@lachspark.bsky.social) September 29, 2025 at 1:24 AM
Such an embarrassment. I was waiting for the rental panel van to tear onto the fairway and ICE to round up the Europeans on national television.
— Scott (@scottyklink.bsky.social) September 29, 2025 at 8:18 AM
It's a gentleman's/gentlewoman's game - not supposed to be hurling obscenities at the players.
— me (@ckh49.bsky.social) September 29, 2025 at 8:12 PM
Is the Ryder Cup loss an allegory for Trump’s USA? Behave rudely, badly, indulge in ad hominem attacks, ignore long-established rules, and you will lose.
— kenmunn.bsky.social (@kenmunn.bsky.social) September 29, 2025 at 3:48 AM
Welcome to the Fascist States of America
— Love that Turbo (@vjmcdonnell.bsky.social) September 29, 2025 at 2:54 AM
And the ugly Americans strike again!
— Kristin (@klberts.bsky.social) September 29, 2025 at 1:28 AM
He’s absolutely right, they were an embarrassment to the USA!
— Patty S. (@bluemrs.bsky.social) September 28, 2025 at 10:33 PM
Those fans were horrible. Golf is a game of respect and decorum.
— cjndfan1.bsky.social (@cjndfan1.bsky.social) September 28, 2025 at 10:31 PM
But turnabout won't be fair play when Europe hosts the next Ryder Cup, as McIlroy stated:
"We will be making sure to say to our fans in Ireland in 2027 that what happened here this week is not acceptable. And for me, it’s, you know, come and support your home team."
"I think if I was an American, I would be annoyed that people—I didn’t hear a lot of shouts for [Team USA's] Scottie [Scheffler] today, but I heard a lot of shouts against me."
"It’s like, support your players. That’s the thing."
Europe has won 11 of the last 14 Ryder Cups.
Begun in 1927 by Samuel Ryder as a contest between the UK and U.S., the field was expanded to all of Europe in 1979 over concerns the competition was unbalanced by the larger talent pool in a far larger nation.
The European Ryder Cup team for 2025 consisted of golfers from Austria, Denmark, England, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Norway, Scotland, Spain, and Sweden.
This was the European team's fifth time winning on a course in the United States in their last 10 tries.
Academy Award-winning actor Sean Penn stirred controversy after he told the New York Times that we "need" people like the late far-right activist Charlie Kirk in politics despite disagreeing with "almost everything" Kirk believed in.
Kirk was assassinated earlier this month while speaking at a university in Utah; the suspect was caught after a two-day manhunt and has since been charged.
The Trump administration has used Kirk's death as an opportunity to crack down on free speech rights—moves coming into sharper focus since late-night host Jimmy Kimmel was temporarily taken off the air—and targeting and blaming leftists for Kirk's murder even though the shooter is aligned with the far-right.
Penn, who currently stars in filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson's One Battle After Another, had this to say about Kirk's views and the higher rates of political violence nationwide:
"We need that debate. We've gotta fight it out and find a compromise."
"This one seems different. It seems different than the members of Congress. It seems different than the insurance executive. It seems even different than the attempt on the president. There's something about this one."
"These things do come into fashion, and the way we kill the fashion of it is people of conscience on both sides recognizing that if somebody really believes something, that's your friend."
Penn argued that Americans should acknowledge that even viewpoints we may strongly disagree with can still be “valid opinions,” while stressing that he was not referring to “some sociopathic Nazism":
"I'm talking about if somebody believes that a human being starts at conception, if you can't understand that concept, you're just stupid. And if you're not willing to tolerate the concept as a concept that's held as deeply as I may have a belief that, I don't know, let the woman decide. All of these are valid opinions."
Kirk was, among many other things, a virulent white supremacist.
Kirk once said that the U.S. "made a huge mistake when we passed the Civil Rights Act in the 1960s," contending that the legislation, which outlawed job discrimination and racial segregation in public places, schools and federally assisted programs, “created a beast” by prioritizing equality of outcomes over equality of opportunity, actions he claimed contributed to higher crime rates.
He also regularly attacked the LGBTQ+ community—he was again linking transgender people to mass shootings at the time he was killed—and previously claimed that widespread gun-related deaths are okay in the interest of preserving the Second Amendment.
And who could forget that just a couple of weeks before his death, Kirk, a well-known sexist and misogynist, urged singer Taylor Swift to "submit" to her soon-to-be-husband and "reject" feminism?
Of course, that doesn't begin to scratch the surface.
Reactions to Penn's comments were highly mixed—some appreciated Penn's remarks and others pointed out that Kirk's views were anything but civil.
Perhaps Penn might feel differently if his own human rights were up for debate.
Wicked star Ariana Grande criticized President Donald Trump by posing a blunt question on Instagram for his supporters now that Trump has been in office for 250 days and counting.
Grande has been a consistently vocal advocate for social justice for many years and she circulated a post from podcaster Matt Bernstein calling out Trump supporters now that, among other things, Trump's immigration crackdown is in full swing and the government is threatening free speech rights.
It reads:
“i want to check in with trump voters. i have one very genuine question. it’s been 250 days."
"now that immigrants have been violently torn from their families and communities have been destroyed, now that trans people have been blamed for virtually everything and live in fear, now that free speech is on the brink of collapse for us all ― has your life gotten better?"
"have your groceries gotten cheaper? has your health insurance premium gone down? has your work/life balance improved? can you take a vacation yet? are you happier?"
"has the widespread suffering of others paid off for you in the way he promised it would, or are you still waiting?”
You can see her post below.

Grande's post prompted White House Deputy Press Secretary Kush Desai to weave several of her song titles into a statement— including “Save Your Tears,” “Just Like Magic,” and “Get Well Soon":
“Save your tears, Ariana. Because President Trump’s actions ended Joe Biden’s inflation crisis and are bringing in trillions in new investment."
“He even signed an executive order just like magic that paved the way for the FTC to crack down on Ticketmaster for ripping off Ariana Grande’s concert-going fans. Get well soon, Ariana!”
That did nothing to address the very real concerns Grande brought up—and people were quick to call it out.
Trump won re-election by promising voters an economic renaissance. But months into his second term, many Americans feel let down. Early optimism about his handling of the economy and inflation has given way to strong disapproval amid investor fears and an increasingly chaotic global trade environment due to his tariffs.
Fresh YouGov polling shows Trump’s approval slipping even in places that backed him just months ago. His ratings remain strongest in Republican-leaning states and weakest in Democratic ones, and his core voters still largely stand by him. But the data reveal widespread disapproval.
Demographically, white and male voters are most approving, while younger Americans and ethnic minorities show the sharpest disapproval. College graduates and postgraduates are the least likely to back him, and even older voters—a group that typically leans Republican—are proving less enthusiastic than expected.
President Donald Trump is known for his gaudy taste in decor and now he has people rolling their eyes after he claimed that all of the gold decorations in the Oval Office actually makes visitors "freak out" due to its "quality and beauty."
The Oval Office has been significantly revamped since Trump took office in January—it features, among other things, fireplace adorned with gold cherubs and medallions, surrounded by portraits of American statesmen in ornate gold frames and shelves filled with gilded figurines, urns, and freshly installed Rococo mirrors.
Trump posted a video on Truth Social showing gold decor that will soon be placed on the White House walls and commented:
“Some of the highest quality 24 Karat Gold used in the Oval Office and Cabinet Room of the White House."
"Foreign Leaders, and everyone else, ‘freak out’ when they see the quality and beauty. Best Oval Office ever, in terms of success and look!!!"
You can see his post and the video below.

Trump was swifly called out for his boast at a time when Americans are struggling with the rising cost of living, particularly the high grocery prices Trump was claimed he would take care of on his first day in office.
Trump first revealed the lavish makeover of his office in February, when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu became the first foreign leader to see it in person.
The two world leaders posed beneath a portrait of George Washington, framed by gold medallions, cherubs, and a gallery wall so tightly packed that the frames nearly touched.
During a Fox News tour with Laura Ingraham, Trump gestured toward the cherubs and said:
“It’s angels. They say angels bring good luck, and we need a lot of luck in this country with what they’ve done over the last four years.”
By May, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney was seated in the Oval Office for a bilateral meeting. Trump referred to the Oval Office as “new and improved" Oval Office." He added that as the room "becomes more and more beautiful with love—you know, we handle it with great love—and 24-karat gold. That always helps, too.”
Trump is also overseeing a project to repave the White House Garden in the style of his Mar-a-Lago estate and has commissioned the construction of an enormous ballroom, so we can expect the People's House to look drastically different sooner rather than later.

It's always nice when our partner makes a grand gesture to show how much they love and care about us.
Be it a surprise romantic getaway, a nice dinner out, or a gift they knew we'd been eyeing, what touches us the most is knowing they did this to show how much we mean to them.
However, it is possible for our partners to demonstrate their love for us through smaller gestures.
Indeed, more often than not, it is the little things that reveal their love and support far more than the big things.
Redditor ijuan6 was eager to learn about the small gestures made by their partners that made a lasting impact, leading them to ask:
"What is a small, seemingly insignificant thing your partner did that made you realize how much they truly cared for you?"
"I have a connective tissue disorder so I have to sleep on the couch in a nest of pillows and to support my limbs so they don’t slide out of place."
"Every night when I fall asleep he puts my drink back in the fridge, plugs my phone in and takes my glasses off my face so gently I don’t even stir."- romantasaurushex
"When we were first dating, I was going through chemo and just had a colon resection surgery."
"For three months, I had an ileostomy."
"It’s where they take your small intestine and turn it inside out to make a sphincter higher up in your digestive tract so the lower half can heal."
"As such, I wore an ostomy bag to collect the output."
"My care team warned me that the bag would occasionally fill up with gas, so I needed to open the bag at the bottom to let the air out."
"If I didn’t, the pressure could pop the bag, leading to leaks."
"We were asleep in my bed one night when my bag popped."
"I was so embarrassed!"
"I woke him up, apologizing and saying I needed to change the sheets."
"Instead of being grossed out or annoyed about being awake at 2 am, he helped me strip the bed."
"No squeamishness, no complaints, nothing."
"He just helped me and told me I didn’t need to apologize, as I was asleep when it happened."
"I’ve been in remission since 2021, and he’s been there through it all."
"I can’t wait to get married to him."- Childe_Rowland
"Drove me to work when my car battery died, then went back to my apartment, charged the battery enough to drive the car to a place to put in a new battery, then came back to pick me up from work."- reallyf*ckinon

"I’d been feeling really burnt out, I have 2 school age boys who are great but had been running me ragged with school, sports etc."
"I kind of lost my mind one night and I could tell they were all like 'ohhhh sh*t, this serious'."
"The next day there was a handwritten list on the fridge made by my partner, a column with each boy’s name, and a list of 'Ways to Help Mom' with examples the kids came up with."
"I ugly cried at the gesture and they all thought I was even crazier lol."
"I told him just sensing I needed a hand without making a big ceremony of it (and getting the boys involved) meant a lot to me."
"And my youngest’s contribution to the list makes everybody laugh."- cheerfulsarcasm
"I lived in a teeny tiny apartment under 400 square feet, so I didn't have a lot of room for storage or anything."
"There was a broom closet and he built shelves inside it so that I could use it as a pantry and storage closet."- Future_Usual_8698
"I mentioned that I liked the chocolate half of some chocolate/strawberry cookies we used to buy."
"Next time I wanted to grab some, he had eaten all the strawberry halves and left the chocolate ones for me."
"I was convinced at that point that we were going to be together forever."
"I really was."- Tiquitiplin

"So I love to bake sweets, but never had a partner bake something for me!"
"When i came over to my current partner's house for the first time, in addition to dinner, he made me my favorite cookies and said it was f*cked up that nobody had baked for me before!"
"I've only been seeing him for a couple months but he's baked other things for me since then."- PositiveStop9665
"When my very elderly grandmother needed a breast biopsy for possible cancer, and was going to leave the hospital she was so terrified, she wouldn't listen to any of the family members."
"My (now husband) bf somehow calmed her down and actually stayed with her and comforted her through the proceeding."
"He was her favorite for ever after, when she died at 103, she wanted him to have the prime pall bearer spot."- aloneintheupwoods
"My grandmother passed away recently, which was really hard for me as we were very close throughout my childhood."
"I saved some trivial/sentimental things, like her silverware (we have a ton) and potholders."
"It had been a year since we picked up the silverware from my parents house, and they were tied in a plastic bag."
"I asked my husband to unknot the bag since my hands were wet and we could refill our forks with her silverware."
"He carefully unknotted it and within the knot, somehow, was one of my grandma's hairs."
"He has always been a detailed and meticulous person, but he immediately noticed it which was hard to do because it was silver-white and put it in a bag for me without hesitation."
"He was paying enough attention to my grandma's silverware to notice ONE of her hairs."
"I would have missed that."
"That man loves me."- doubtfulvoid

"When I met the man I married, I had a cat."
'It had been just me and her for close to a decade."
"She slept next to me on the bed, she even had her own pillow."
"The first time he slept over, I gave him a different pillow, and explained that the pillow on the bed was hers, and started to move it."
"He told me to leave it there."
"He slept a few feet lower down on the bed, with his feet hanging off the end of the bed so that my cat didn't have to give up her spot on the bed."
"For the next six years he slept with his feet hanging off the end of the bed so that the cat could have her spot."
"To be fair, if he tried to sleep in her spot, she'd just sleep on his face."- ca77ywumpus
"I’ve shared this story in another post, but it was the smallest, quietest thing he did that made me feel loved in a way I had never felt before."
"We were on a weekend getaway together."
"He was driving us back from dinner."
"We were holding hands, his over mine, just chatting."
"As our car wound around the pacific coast, I opened up about a series of health issues I hadn’t previously told him about."
"Serious things."
"Things I felt shame about, fear about."
"When I got to a particularly difficult part, I felt his grip tighten on my hand."
"He didn’t say a word."
"He just held harder, and didn’t let up until we parked the car."
"That one gesture brought tears to my eyes."
"The next day, I mentioned to him how much that meant to me."
"He said 'I didn’t even know I did that. I just heard you and felt like I needed to keep you as close as I could and make sure you never have to go through any of that stuff alone'."
"'Ever'.”
"Being loved is being seen and heard and cared about."
"It’s not the grand gestures."
"I don’t need gifts and flowers and parades."
"He held my hand tight and without a single word he healed a part of my soul."- Concept_Check
"When my husband and I were in the first five years or so of our relationship, we hit a rough patch and he did something that really upset and hurt me."
"It wasn’t intentional, more like thoughtless, but the impact was really hard to overlook."
"For the first time ever, I slept on the couch because I couldn’t stand to sleep next to him that night as angry and hurt as I was."
"When I woke up the next morning, he was sitting upright, no blanket, curled up in a ball on the floor next to the couch, gripping my nightgown in his fist and fast asleep."
"The fact that he was so upset that he hurt me that he came in and slept that way was a wake up call that this man would never intentionally hurt me and would do anything to not have that happen again."
"And 15 yrs later, he hasn’t."- LucyJordan614

"When I was dating my husband, I had to haul a horse cross country."
"The tires had dry rotted on my trailer and I didn't know until I was on the road."
"I called him, freaking out, he met me on the highway and then arranged to have a service come put tires on it right then and there."
"And then he paid for it."
"I MARRIED HIM ASAP."- WompWompIt
"My knee swelled up after a 12 hour shift."
"I work a physical job and have rheumatoid arthritis."
"He spent an entire evening gently icing my knee with a frozen washcloth, giving me ibuprofen."
"He was putting a biofreeze roller on my knee."
"I noticed he was rolling it over with his fingers, then lightly pressing it on my knee, with each application."
"I asked him why he was doing it like that instead of just rolling it on."
"'It will hurt you if I put it on like that'."- aerosmithangel
"About 6 months into us dating, my very nerdy boyfriend, who loves everything about science and had always dreamt of one day going into space, made a music tape for me of our favorite songs."
"He did a little voice over at the end of how much he loved me and that he would give up the stars for me."
" We’ve now been together for 35 years (married for 27)."- Jazzietunes

There are endless ways to show our partners how much we love them.
More often than not though, it's the little things that leave the most lasting impression.