u/thiccgrizzly

This is an interesting one. The seeds of my deconstruction were planted during the 2016 election, which bloomed a few years ago. Yet in retrospect the fields were plowed and cordoned long before that.

I watched James Cameron's Avatar with my grandparents in theaters and was blown away by the visuals, ingenuity, and attention to detail with the flora and fauna, as was the whole world.

My grandfather, surprise surprise, was not impressed. You see, he has this paranoia about films in which he thinks the movie is out to get him. It made watching movies with him annoying, as we'd have a 5 minute debrief (rant) in the car ride home about how these movies elevate women, attack rich people, anti-military, anti-cop, the father's always abusive, bumbly weak men etc etc.

So with Avatar, it was too political, and anti military. Laughable, since the protagonist is a cishet white disabled marine. Also, the story has been done before. Dances with Wolves, The Last of the Mohicans, Braveheart, The Patriot, Pocahontas, etc. Indigenous people and/or other residents rally against a tyrannical force. Are those anti-military lefist agendas?

So I think at an early age it clicked for me that conservatism is plagued with a lack of media literacy and nuance, as well as cognitive dissonance. These people can be insanely smart and insane obtuse simultaneously.

So a good morality test I have found is Avatar indeed. If you think of it that way, you're probably not a good person. And it checks out usually, just look at their beliefs about Palestinians, undocumented immigrants, queer people, POCs, etc.

Clinic based employees, has your company been getting more strict, anal, and micromanaging like mine over the years?

Literally every other meeting our lead RBTs and BAs are forced to regurgitate a new company wide memo about "yeah you can no longer do xyz" with like little to no explanation when those things were never an issue a few years ago. So why are they an issue now?

We jokingly refer to the upper echelons of the company as the Sky People because they'll take a pass through the center occasionally and reorient entire therapy rooms because they think "it's better this way" and it annoys tf out of the whole clinic. We had those layouts for a reason due to client needs and behaviors. The desk that you just moved within a foot of the door is the eloper's bro 😭😭😭. We figured out to "just smile and wave boys" (IYKYK) and change it back once they leave.

Anyway, has anyone else experienced your company just becoming more draconian overtime? If so, why? Is it changing insurance rules? Leadership change? Culture change?

I'm a mixed POC cishet man who grew up evangelical (SBC and nondenom) in the deep south. Some in the suburbs and some in the boonies. I constantly heard shit talked about minorities, particularly black people.

Recently a relative over xmas made a passing comment about "you know how there are certain types of black people who make being black their whole personality?"

I didn't respond cuz I was like huh? But had I been more quick thinking I would have said "I've noticed that everyone who says that to me is some mediocre white person." Because it's spot on. These mfs have varying fonts but they all have similar clothing, dialect, jobs, hobbies, music tastes, etc. So who's really making their demographic their entite personality?

Also, if you're in a minority demographic, no shit it's gonna be a huge part of your personality.

SEE TW:

For those who personally or know someone who has undergone an abortion procedure (any kind at any stage for any reason), and your/their families were told about it, how did they react?

One thing I'm struggling with currently, even as a cishet man, with a family who loves them, I can't feel completely safe with my family.

I grew up in the bible belt and now live up north, visiting a few times a year. Living near family would definitely be cheaper (lower cost of living, no travel cost, and PTO saved for actual vacations), but I feel much safer culturally here.

If I had a pregnant friend or partner who sought a procedure, they could do so easily with an outpouring of support. Not where I'm from. Conservatives saw to that, and my family cheered it on.

I mourn the fact that if my partner ever needs a procedure, I can literally never tell my family. I would never hear the end of it.

If we lived in the south, we'd have to travel to receive that care, and thanks to the impending laws, that can have drawbacks. If my family knew of those plans, I keep wondering if they'd try to interfere in some way.

The older I get, the less like home family feels, and the less energy I have for anything and anyone that disrupts my peace.