I Quit My On-Demand Laundry Service

ImageCredit…Photo illustration by Tony Cenicola/The New York Times In my study of time, I realized that these so-called conveniences were not actually saving me any. Jan. 20, 2020 Three months ago, on Oct. 18, I ended a five-year relationship with my provider of on-demand clean underwear. I did this first by deleting the app and…

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They Quit This Assignment

ImageCredit…Photo Illustration by Tony Cenicola/The New York Times An editor gets ghosted. By Anya Strzemien Jan. 20, 2020 In the course of putting together this series of essays about quitting, even the project itself wasn’t quit-proof, as my ultimately one-way correspondence with a writer who accepted the assignment — then disappeared — proved. I Quit!…

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I Quit Friendships, Regularly

ImageCredit…Photo Illustration by Tony Cenicola/The New York Times Telling someone you don’t want to be friends anymore can be awkward. So don’t tell them. By Mariah Smith Jan. 20, 2020 The rules for breaking up with a partner have long been established: Try to do it in person or at least on the phone, don’t…

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I Quit Dating Apps. Five Times.

Image The story of a tortured relationship — with a happy ending. Jan. 20, 2020 You’re 24 when you get seriously dumped for the first time. It’s the kind of dumped that leaves you couch surfing with friends watching old episodes of “Top Chef” on repeat and inhaling bags of mini stroopwafels from Trader Joe’s.…

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I Quit the Priesthood

ImageCredit…Tony Cenicola/The New York Times Len Schreiner couldn’t help falling in love. So he wrote a letter to Pope John Paul II and waited. Interview by Danya Issawi Jan. 20, 2020 I grew up in a very Roman Catholic atmosphere in western Kansas and had always been drawn to the priesthood. I joined the Capuchin…

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I Quit Chewing Gum

ImageCredit…Photo Illustration by Tony Cenicola/The New York Times It’s costly. It’s unsightly. And my jaws are tired. Jan. 20, 2020 Forget about “Drynuary,” which I broke on Jan. 2 with that insouciant leftover chardonnay in the door of the fridge. Or diets, long feminized and scorned, and now rebranded by annoying tech bros as “intermittent…

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I Quit Cars

ImageCredit…Photo Illustration by Tony Cenicola/The New York Times And in Los Angeles! Lauren Ferree, 27, does not miss the traffic — or destroying the environment. Interview by Danya Issawi Jan. 20, 2020 I was born and raised in L.A., and my mom is an environmentalist. We’ve always composted and she’s always had some sort of garden.…

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I Quit Buying Things

ImageCredit…Photo Illustration by Tony Cenicola/The New York Times John Michael Hogue, a 23-year-old from Chicago, felt conflicted by consumerism, so he took a leap of faith. Interview by Danya Issawi Jan. 20, 2020 I grew up in Omaha, in a suburban household that had normal consumer routines. But even as a child, some of those…

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