😴 Out: Girl bossing. In: Bed rotting.

It’s Wednesday, Boston.

🚲 If the only thing standing between you and your bike is a flat tire … Never fear! There’s a free bike check-up clinic in Union Square Station Plaza from 3 to 6 p.m. today. Just make sure to sign up for a time slot here.

👀 What’s on tap today:

• The last local encampment down

• Good Red Line news?!

• One prudent(?) park-goer

Up first…

MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS MONTH

Bed rotting away

🛏️ It’s time to talk about rotting. And chances are, if you’re reading this, you know exactly what we’re talking about. Thirty-eight percent of respondents in last week’s poll admitted to doing it … Every. Single. Day. 

📱 Rotting is the name. Self-care is the game. If you’re unfamiliar, “rotting,” or “bed rotting,” are phrases popularized by Gen Z where one lounges — in bed or on the couch — for hours at a time doing passive activities (think: snacking, mindlessly scrolling, or binge-watching a show). It’s made the rounds through TikTok, with users sharing their own rotting routines, advice if you’ve rotted the day away, even the dark side of rotting. 

😬 For many, it’s a response (or an act of resistance) to life’s stressors. “I do it every day,” said one B-Sider, “but I wouldn't say it's bad. It's a way to recharge and let my brain rest after needing to be ‘on’ for eight to 10 hours at a challenging job.” And after being hit over the head with self-care to-do lists on social media, Dr. Keneisha Sinclair-McBride, a psychologist at Boston Children’s Hospital’s Digital Wellness Lab, thinks the pendulum is swinging the other way. “It seems like the other side of that is like, I'm gonna do nothing. I'm gonna scroll on my phone all day in my bed,” she said. “But there's a middle ground there.”

🧘 But is rotting actually relaxing? Yes and no. Most people think of relaxation as being very passive, said Dr. Natalie Dattilo, a local clinical psychologist, but relaxation and regulating your nervous system are an active process, and the type of activity matters. Dattilo said vegging out in small doses can have some benefit as a quick reset, “but it could create more stress if it’s done as an act of avoidance or procrastination.” If you’re after true relaxation, she suggests meditating or reading for pleasure.

😴 And don’t get us started on what bed rotting can do to your sleep. Because we develop associations with our space, “we can condition ourselves to experience our space in certain ways,” Dattilo said. “We want the bed to remain sort of a sacred space for sleep. So any activity that you're doing in bed, if it's not promoting sleep, it probably shouldn't be done.” If you must rot, opt for a couch instead, she said. 

🍎 Think of rotting as part of a balanced decompressing diet: A little bed rot, a little exercise, a little hanging out with friends — they’re all part of it, Sinclair-McBride said. 27/4 bed rot can actually be a sign of depression. “One reset day, I’m all right with that. But once you get beyond one, now are we developing a pattern? And what are we hiding from? What are we avoiding?”

TOGETHER WITH TOAST

Looking to impress your foodie friends? 

🍽️ 🍔 “I know the best spot in town for…” just became your new catchphrase. With Toast, simply search for whatever you’re craving and get countless recommendations for local joints — from takeout at Monica’s Mercato & Salumeria in the North End to a sit-down meal at the Seaport’s Row 34. Download the app now (or if you’re an owner looking to level up your restaurant, book a demo). Be warned: You might end up becoming the go-to “planner friend” in the group chat.

CITY

Quick & dirty headlines

⛺ The last local college encampment is coming down. Student protestors behind Harvard’s pro-Palestinian encampment announced Tuesday that they’ve voted to take it down. They said that since students have left campus, the encampment has “outlasted its utility with respect to our demands.” This news comes after Harvard placed many students involved in the protest on involuntary leave, and after most other Boston-area sites were cleared by police in the past weeks. But, students say that this isn’t the end of their fight for the cause.

🏒 The Bruins have lived to skate another day. Last night, the B’s managed to eke out a 2-1 win over the Panthers in Game 5 thanks to goals from Charlie McAvoy and Morgan Geekie, closing the gap to 2-3 in this round of the playoffs. In order to make it to round three, they’ll have to win the next two games in a row — a tall order, considering that the Panthers have been the B’s playoff nemesis, picking them off in last year’s playoffs and being absolutely dominant throughout this series so far. Consider our fingers and toes crossed. 

🚇 A bit of (rare) good news for Red Liners. Thirteen speed restrictions have been removed from the line thanks to work done during last week’s shutdown between Park St. and JFK/UMass. That brings the line’s total restrictions down to 43, and the MBTA’s total number to 83. Now, MBTA gods willing, in addition to a generally faster, smoother ride, there should be fewer unplanned service disruptions, according to officials. But enjoy it while you can because another weekend shutdown is on deck. 

🏢 Cambridge is taking steps toward housing equity. The City Council voted last week to begin the process of reforming some housing practices that ban multi-family homes from being built in certain areas of the city, like West and North Cambridge. This practice has led to the area’s eye-popping rent prices and lack of housing availability, experts said. Plus, it’s exclusionary, rooted in NIMBY-ism and outdated ideas of what a neighborhood “should” look like. Now, the council will begin drafting new regulations.

🍻 R.I.P. The Thirsty Scholar. After reopening, closing, and reopening again in recent years, Somerville’s iconic dive bar has officially closed its doors for the last time after being quietly sold. And in its wake, a new (albeit less divey) bar will emerge. The space was taken over by local restaurateurs Daren Swisher and Joe Cammarata, the minds behind Daiquiris & Daisies, a modern cocktail bar at High Street Place. Their new venture, called Tall Order, is said to be an approachable neighborhood bar and restaurant set to open later this year.

QUICK QUESTION

🚇 How many speed restrictions did the MBTA have at the beginning of 2024?

GIVEAWAY

Together with Boston Calling

Enter to win a pair of 3-DAY VIP passes to Boston Calling from May 24 to May 26, a $2,400 value! If you have already referred a friend to B-Side (and they’ve accepted), you're eligible. Full details below*

ONE LAST THING

A very prudent(?) parkgoer

It takes a lot of effort and energy to speak up about a cause you care about. It takes even more effort and energy to have a profane sign made and installed for said cause. But that didn’t stop one Dorchester resident from taking matters into their own hands. 

Dot residents woke up Tuesday to find this sign on Park Street, asking residents, rather firmly, to quit littering. The professional-looking design drops an F-bomb over a lovely illustration of a park.

But language aside, the lengths that this person had to go to to think of, create, pay for, and hang this sign tells us everything we need to know about how peeved they are about the litter. And TBH, we respect it. 

— Written by Gia Orsino and Emily Schario

🌳 Thanks for reading! I believe that there should be more signs (and notes) written these days, passive aggressive or not. 

💜 Special shoutout to today’s sponsor, Toast, for supporting local journalism and making dining in (or taking out) in Boston easy. 

🏀The results are in: OK, B-Siders! It looks like many (29%) of you are OG women’s basketball fans. One reader said, “I’m just not a huge sports fan in general! Men bore me too!”

💃 Keep up with us @BostonBSide on IG, TikTok, and Twitter. Send comments and suggestions to [email protected] or [email protected].