Reasons for so much of my writing and autistic burnout this year have been so much more to do with physical and mental health over writing too much, and it's frustrating having to slow down on something I love so I can *checks wrist* have my liver hole-punched and be sick and see dentists.

how did i go so long not knowing we were literally teaching people to read wrong. i knew something wasn't right but jesus christ www.apmreports.org/episode/2019...

Anyway, anyone who has to deal with purity wank and moral puritanism and panic should really have a Chronically Offline Glen in their lives for perspective

This also reminds me of the time I told him antis were accusing people who wrote noncon etc. of being rapists. And he laughed like '???'

And I said: No really

And then he laughed harder than I've ever seen a grown man laugh in my LIFE. As he wiped away tears, he was like 'that's so STUPID.'

From there, I wonder what it does to us as creators, & the arts in general, that the faith we could generally have in the arts now has - for some of us - that little voice going 'but what if?'

That we cannot trust our own eyes anymore renders life an optical illusion in a really unfun way.

My trust in what I saw online/visually was shattered early, and I've had to work to overcome it. As an artist myself, there is now always a little voice that goes 'but what if?' first, and I don't know that I'll ever truly unlearn it. This is something humanity has never had to deal with before.

I am so very very grateful you are in the world, sharing these perspectives, in a way that is clear, compassionate, reflective and nuanced. So sorely needed and so appreciated.

It was enforced even if you had your back to the customers and were merchandising, meaning you had to constantly look over your back on busy days on sales floor, and *also* meant you couldn't fill/restock properly, which you *also* got blamed for.

Anyway yeah. I guess that is pretty dystopian.

This was enforced. There was a tape measure to show you how long 10 feet was. There were tests with supervisors who would walk into your 'circle' and pretend to be angry customers at you. It was watched over surveillance. 'X you haven't been doing the 10 foot rule.'

I always attribute my ability to talk to people (anyone, really) to the customer service training I got at Toys R Us, but make no mistake, that was the 10 foot rule. Which is:

- Every customer in a 10 foot radius is acknowledged with a smile and a friendly 'how may I help you today!' (or similar)

This is the Toys R Us model that was in place since at least the 90s and was called the ‘10 foot rule.’ It’s… something, to see how something I just accepted at 14 is being described now. It did suck.