CIRCLE WITH A DOT

Every time I read a thread about use of public space in some way (this time, one focusing on shitty bus stops that provide no shade or space to sit), there is always some person who jumps in like "it's to prevent people from peeing in them."

You know what else would deter that? You know what would deter people peeing in a semi-private bus stop?

Fucking public toilets that are accessible 24-hours a day and without payment. Amazing solution, I know. No one's ever sat and thought about it before. /s

@brahms @hipsterelectron My favourite! "Oh, you mean they're recreating the same shit you said you didn't want, but it's okay if THEY MAKE IT?" Losing my absolute mind.

@hipsterelectron Same, same. It's exhausting to listen to people complain about how "the US companies just want to steal their data" (true) when they ignore how complicit their own "but we want sovereignty!" governments are.

Like, you think that US company is succeeding without your own government's complete complicity and selfish desire to have access to that data? Sure thing.

Honestly, I'm not a fan of "at least it's not as bad as the US" platitudes because it always just sounds like their rationale for doing nothing. "What we have sucks, but at least we aren't them!"

Except... a lot of you are a lot closer to being "as bad as" you think the US is than you want to think you are.

Sometimes it feels like people here will simultaneously complain about how bad healthcare is (it's rubbish) while also reminding themselves that "at least it's not as bad as the US."

And like... idk. As a person from the US, I don't feel comforted that "at least it's not as bad" when it feels like it's... basically becoming exactly the same thing? Like, if everything is becoming part of a private clinic, specialists barely exist, and clinics are at capacity with available patient slots, then uh...

... you're not exactly doing better than the US, y'know?

@hipsterelectron Oh, definitely. And considering some of the people I talk to on a regular basis, it's silly to even try to categorise "person using lots of emojis" as child. (Hell, half of the kids and teens I talk to regularly... don't use emojis in text-based communication? Or do so sparingly.)

I think it's fine to internally think "Hm, this person feels young based on their responses" and consider how you should respond to them, but I also don't think it should mean you talk down to them or undermine them. (For me, this thought only really hits when I mention something, realise it doesn't connect, and then am like... Oh, maybe I'm old? Lol. Which usually makes me think "I feel like I should ask another question so I can engage with them better" or something in that vein.)

@hipsterelectron I'm perpetually baffled by people who are roughly my age (or within maybe 5-10 years) who want to filter out children from their existence anywhere (online and offline). Most of us benefited from that online anonymity of people we talked to not really knowing how old we were (while maybe being able to recognise that we weren't adults, though not really calling us out for it) and engaging with people who helped us learn and grow.

Hell, even when people did know how old we were (again, online/offline), we largely benefited from being able to still engage with them and learn... whatever. I spent so much time in free workshops (at first with my mom, then without her when I saw something I liked that she didn't) that, while they didn't prohibit children, weren't made for children... but I loved that so much, and the people running them made me feel welcome and like an equal participant.

This whole "silo the kids into kid-focused [surveillance] spaces" is so bizarre to me.