Your step 4 is to ask them on a date. Not to hang out as friends but on a real date.

You could say something like “I’ve really enjoyed spending time with you and am wondering if there might be more than friendship here, would you like to go on a date Friday? There’s a show I think you’d like and I’d love to take you to dinner before?”

This step ensures that you’re clear there is mutual interest. Then when you’re at the show you know it’s likely appropriate to hold hands and see if the spark continues, grows, or shrinks. If it continues you can take it as fast or slow as you and they feel comfortable with while checking in regularly by saying things like “I’m really enjoying this, would it be ok if I kissed you?”

You are the only one who knows your comfort reading social cues (and honestly, I still check in like this with my wife who I’ve been with for 16 years from time to time to ensure I’m not misreading cues).

Be up front and clear about what you’re hoping for at each step and open to the possibility that they might be hoping for something different!

I agree with your conclusion but I think you have your numerator and denominator swapped.

$1,000,000,000 / 339,996,563 citizens = ~$2.94 / citizen

At the time I read it there was one comment on this article: “NOT big enough; that it can’t be wiped away from the surface earth; with a relatively cyber attack from the Alliance. In fact; Google/YouTube will just be one; of 63 communist controlled platforms; that will be completely erased from existence once the order is given.”

What the heck is “the Alliance”?

I’m pretty sure we’re talking about going around South America if we’re talking about the Panama Canal…

In the school district that I live in (and where my kids attend school), elementary school starts earliest and middle/high school both start at roughly the same time.

I’ve found that this works really well since my youngest wakes up and is ready to go earliest anyways, I don’t have to adjust my schedule because they’re out of the house before I have to get to work and I would need after school care regardless. My older kids can more or less fend for themselves before school so I don’t need to worry about them while I get to work before they leave.

If elementary school started at 9 like high school and middle school I’d have to organize care for my youngest both before and after school since I’d be working at both times.