Tbh I think they really only slowed down because it was the absolute dead of winter.

This is a good point to bring up. My friend who is far less educated and her husband have awful jobs compared to me, but because they have generational wealth they are much better off in life. They have homes, land, etc all because they were passed down. At the same time, they would rail against being called privileged, but they could sell that home for half a million dollars and never go into the debts or put in the work others have to just to have a roof over their heads.

Glad I’m not alone, but also sad

I keep it together because a lot of young people are around me. But on the inside I’ve kind of given up on anything good and dread the next fucking crazy thing to come up.

Anecdotally, last week I (middle aged lady) was approached by two strange men. One tried to grab me outside my work site, and one told me how lovely I was and asked for my number (in target). It’s much, much worse for young women. It’s not manufactured, unlike the doubt of women’s lived experience seems to be.

I considered this as well. It is a good point, so I read profiles. Many/most were self-identified as conservative , libertarian, moderate, non-political, or religious. In my area they’re almost guaranteed maga.

How it felt when I spent 5 minutes on hinge. I swear every person I saw on the guy side was very maga-esque. The glasses, the hat, the fish, the trucks, the balloon animal muscles.