I haven't updated this journal in a bit, so I thought I'd sit down and do it today, especially since I have some things to get off my chest.
I was hoping that after the election I'd hit a couple of weeks of depression, then move on to rolling my eyes at another four years of the Dumpster Trumpster Show. I should have known better, however, as they've already started harming as many people as possible.
Fucking dipshits.
Let's um, take an accounting, shall we?
Meta (Facebook/Insta) has rolled back their moderation and now explicitly allows calling nonbinary people “it”, questioning the mental stability of transgender people, and calling women household objects. They say it's because of the change in the political landscape. That some fucked up loose morality there, kids. Zuck the whore. They also removed their trans and possibly nonbinary themes from the messenger app just to be extra petty.
People should really permanently delete their Facebook and Insta accounts in protest, but I haven't heard or read of any tales of that happening. Time will tell, I guess, but I don't really have any hope. The excuses are so thin it's disrespectful and insulting.
“I want to keep up with my family.” Do you not have a phone? “I want to connect with my friends.” Again. Phone. “Where would I see cat videos?” Fuck off. “I NEED it for my job.” No you don't.
These are just fucking excuses for people who are too lazy and too addicted to change harmful behaviors. Teen suicide already hit a leap thanks to social media. Now that the guardrails are specifically taken off, how much worse is that going to get? Adults have more capability for dealing with online hate than teenagers, and even they can become victim to their own thoughts being egged on by internet hate.
I cried nearly all day yesterday. Not because Meta did this, but because I knew no one would do anything to protest it other than post on social media.
Before that... Elon and Vivek have started a civil war within the MAGAts that was predictable to anyone who knew anything at all about how tech works. H1B visas are basically used as indentured servitude for tech. Employees are often abused because if they lose their job, they'll be deported. That means they don't even get the choice to look for a new job when the old one becomes horrible.
For example – requiring 80 hour work weeks on exempt employees. Exempt employees, those earning a salary and not hourly, don't get paid overtime. So they work for free. In no way should this be legal, but it is, and tech companies abuse the fuck out of this, especially with H1B visa employees. I left abusive companies. They couldn't. Literally couldn't.
This one was also predictable. During the election cycle, I waited and waited and waited for H1Bs to come up, and they didn't. Or if they did, MAGA must've done a pretty damned good job of covering that part up. Tech would be completely shaken up if the H1B system was pulled and their people were deported. They'd have to hire Americans and pay them properly and not force them into unpaid overtime. Wouldn't that be hilarious?
I made the mistake of asking for solidarity on the Etsy forums over a really dumb policy. I wanted to talk about the policy, but the forum harpies that show up to every post like they've heard a siren's call showed up and keyed in on the fact that when someone orders an inexpensive item that's easy for me to make again and something goes wrong (like they don't receive it), I just send them a new one. Oh no, shock of shocks, all the Karens joined in to tell me I was doing it wrong and that I'd be taken advantage of if I kept it up.
I defended myself. Etsy mods deleted my defenses, and left up a bunch of really bad information. One woman just kept following me around the post, tagging me, and telling me how rude I was and how no one should help me. Another spent a lot of time writing a post to Karensplain to me why my policies were wrong and how I should never trust someone who tells me something was lost in the mail.
Apparently, when I told Karen that I'd rather be thought of as a Nordstrom or Costco than a Forever 21 or Shein, I was insulting her. Okay, I was fucking insulting her. And yeah, unless we're talking about a super original hard to replace item that costs quite a bit, I think leaning on Etsy's ridiculous return policies is just bad customer service, which I associate with cheap brands. So yeah, I did intend to insult the cunt. Ah well, sometimes our worst demons take over. She deserved it.
But, the greater take-away here is that the forums on Etsy and even r/EtsySellers, are both trash. I read through many of the r/EtsySellers posts, and they too were full of sellers who were suspicious of every little thing customers asked for... and they wouldn't given an inch, even if the consequences of a loss would be small. One woman complained about losing $10 because an item didn't arrive and neither Etsy or the USPS would refund her. Ten bucks is hardly worth the labor it would take to follow either of those avenues... and there's no way to get either of those sources involved without requiring the customer do something.
“Oh, you didn't receive it in the mail? Okay, well, I'll need you to call your post office, ask them about it... ask your neighbors to see if any of them received it... then, wait 48 hours and file a claim with Etsy. Why 48 hours? I think Etsy just wants you to give up and not do it. Oh, wait, you're bored and have already stopped reading this? Not surprised. sigh“
Poof. No more customer. And, look, if you've ever tried to track down a package through the US postal system... it RARELY – if EVER – results in anything. There's a Cost-Benefit analysis that has to be done. It only took me a couple of attempts to find missing packages before I realized it cost me more to go through the motions of looking than it does to just replace the item.
But try telling Karen that, 100% of whom are 100% sure 100% of their customers are trying to scam them. It's like talking to a brick wall. I don't know why I bothered, I think maybe I wanted pain? I don't know. The bottom line is I'm way beyond anything I can get out of these communities, either because the communities suck or because people don't understand that every business doesn't run the same way just because we all use the same platform. Even Etsy doesn't understand that part.
In the midst of all this, I've also been doing my best to work on new button designs. There's ample material out there to work with, after all. I've just... I don't know how to exist in a world that is erasing me a little at a time. I've been staying at home a lot... getting my groceries, food, and everything else I need delivered. Occasionally, I go out when I absolutely have to, but if I can get something delivered I go that route.
Social media is pushing out people like me en masse, leaving us to the jackals and the clowns... and the worst part is the dumb excuses people give to let it happen. No, hating me isn't going to make your eggs cheaper or your taxes go down. It's not going to ensure you have a retirement or job. It's not going to make your house worth more or pay for the additional insurance you'll need due to climate change. Hurting me and hating me will do absolutely nothing to make your life better.
But it won't matter because stupid is as stupid does. My only hope is that this MAGA civil war will continue to produce Right-on-Right violence and more CEOs get killed. Maybe that'll thin the herd some and in four years the serious adults can take back the country again. Doubt it, though. An awful lot of them would have to die for that to matter. I hate being a place where I think this, but look... I also hate being in a place where I'm genuinely afraid of being murdered for being a nonbinary person in America.