My spouse is a Starbucks barista. “You are special” goes on 90% of the cups she hands out. She puts actual effort into it for the people who are underappreciated workers like nurses and teachers.

For political disagreements, be wary of fruitless endeavors. 20 replies back and forth are pointless. Most of the time, my goal isn’t to change that person’s mind; it’s to be the voice of disagreement so that others can either be exposed to my views and their rationalization or so that others who silently agree with me can see that these views aren’t unpopular. After enough time passes, I tend to state that I’m disengaging because it’s no longer going to catch the eye of many of these people.

In general, be courteous. Most people aren’t assholes. Some people will have a bad day and maybe will take it out in you, but gently asking them to be courteous and not take their bad day out on you usually spurs some introspection and improves the interaction. If it doesn’t, then they’re really not mature enough to further engage with. Respect yourself and don’t allow anybody excessive opportunity to ruin your day.

$90k is absolutely life changing for most people. That’s a down payment on a house plus moving costs and upgrading appliances and furniture. That’s the difference between poverty and living comfortably. If that’s not life changing for you, then I’m not sure you’re familiar with the struggle, in which case I strangely both pity you and envy you.

Sure you’re not gonna buy a mansion with $90k, but you could go from renting a shithole apartment in a shithole town to owning a home in a decent area with access to better employment to sustain a much higher quality of life. $90k is a ticket to escaping geographical and financial shackles.

This was a huge aspect of the Holocaust: indifference. This was a huge piece of my 9th grade curriculum. Night by Elie Wiesel was one of the first assigned readings that actually left a real impact on me. Elon Musk is not mature enough to comprehend what a bunch of 13-14 year old kids were expected to learn and understand.

That piece of shit would be absolutely nothing without his daddy’s exploitation emerald mine money, and the world would have been a better place without him. He’s less than worthless, and I look forward to a specific headline about him, hopefully earlier than we got with Kissinger.