Monday, April 17

[gottawonder]

Today I am grateful for:

Warm temperatures, though it did rain later (we probably do need it).

That I remembered that the vet was coming today to biopsy Sasha's skin irritation. I very nearly forgot.

The appointment went pretty smoothly, he took three biopsy plugs from different spots.

He talked about how this skin issue has him stumped, which I guess it's nice to know that he really has been putting in an effort to figure it out. He's got goats too, so he's likely pretty curious. He said that it really doesn't fit any of the things he's familiar with, and he reviewed skin conditions and it still didn't fit anything.

I really hope the biopsy leads to a diagnosis, and I hope it won't be too difficult to treat.

He happened to notice we had a stack of still unused fence rails, and wanted to know if we would sell them. They were left over from some other work we did, so I said we'd sell them. He's coming back on Friday to pick them up.

Then I went to pottery, and it did rain pretty hard on my drive to town. It was a bit slushy.

Pottery was good, I worked mostly on decorating and glazing a few bisqued pieces. Bisque is the first firing to thoroughly dry the piece, and it is not fully vitrified at this point.

It was fun to socialize with everyone, and it was nice to not be worried about Roxy and be able to fully enjoy being there.

I suppose while the people at pottery and at the riding barn are not exactly the kind of friend where we do things together outside of class, they are kind of friends within that context. I get a lot out of being there among a group of people and being social with them.

It seems like the topic of gender issues and political correctness comes up a LOT as a topic as we chat, and it isn't always easy for me to hear how uncomfortable some of these people still are with LGBTQ people. One lady today said a few things that were actually pretty awful.

She was talking about two different people she knew that had transitioned, but that they were not attractive. As in, the woman who became a man was really short and not an attractive man. The man that became a woman was also very unattractive.

I expressed to her that maybe their choice to transition was more about feeling more comfortable with themselves rather than being attractive to anyone.

Well, anyhow. A lot of very outdated and frankly mean stuff was said, and I did my best to deflect it, rather than let it be left unchallenged.

I felt happy for the most part with my work. I guess we'll see how it comes out later.

I learned about the concept of the Euphemistic Treadmill whereby euphemisms, which were originally the polite term (such as STD to refer to Venereal Disease) become themselves pejorative over time.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euphemism#Euphemism_treadmill

Comments

[sherlockishere]

Gotta, that's really great that you addressed that woman's comments! So many people won't say a thing, which allows the speaker to assume that their views are acceptable. I honestly think people need to be pressed over and over to grow to think differently about these issues. You gave her a chance to rethink her homophobia and to realize that not everyone approves of that kind of thinking.

[gottawonder]

I'm fairly sure the people who were saying negative things won't reconsider their perspective, but at least they know that while I'm around, it won't be tolerated without comment. They can keep their poisonous thoughts to themselves.

[ratunderpaper]

The polite conversation that used to define society has plummeted to a base and vulgar level, an us-vs.-them mentality that appears to stem from politics and religion. If Lois were around, she'd probably shake her head and say something like "In this day and age, you'd think people would know better than to act like that."

[gottawonder]

What's odd, is there were several people in the room that from previous such conversations, demonstrated their support of the LGBTQ community, and yet these people felt very comfortable stating their hurtful views.

There are admittedly times when I feel a little bit "enough already" about how careful we need to be about being correct, BUT, I also have the luxury of not being in a group that is routinely trodden upon. I try to recognize that for a while, things might feel a bit much, because we have as a society, deeply harmed these communities for a very long time, so it isn't going to level out for some time.

All I really want for people is that they can feel safe and comfortable in their own skin, and none of it harms me. No one needs to judge them or attack them for that.

[ratunderpaper]

Unfortunately, these types feed off each other. They are quiet until they meet more of their kind - and then the nastiness oozes out.

[ratunderpaper]

Also - I followed the link all the way to "egg corn". I have met people who've said "old timer's disease" and meant it.

[gottawonder]

The one that drives me nuts, is "for all intensive purpose" (intents and purposes). I'm pretty sure anyone using that phrase has neither thought it through, or understands what it even means.

[ratunderpaper]

I've heard plenty of people using the term "gaslighting" without having much idea what it really means, and "woke" to describe anything that doesn't fit their political framework.

What a peculiarly nasty time in society this is. What happened to the Age of Aquarius?