Notorious Pixie King

The first cat comes in ready for a fight. Low down, trying not to be seen, stalking/wary posture.

Second cat jumps in the air and then does the exaggerated arch. That's an absolutely terrified cat. No cool, no chill. A cat willing to fight would not have gone full arch because it's moving them out of a position where they could launch themselves at the other cat. However, a scared cat can move from this to a preemptive attack if they think the other cat is going to attack them and just moving slowly.

Realizing the second cat doesn't want a fight, the first cat comes out of the low, threatening slink quickly to roll around to say hey, whoops, they weren't here to attack, they don't want to fight either.

With similar speed and exaggeration as the arch, the second cat does the same wiggle that yes, I too have no desire to fight, look at me doing the same thing and conspicuously not attacking when you're vulnerable.

It's the kind of thing I've seen people say doesn't happen. It does.

People on phone calls will be kind and respectful until you tell them you're on Medicaid - suddenly they will become strict and hostile. They'll correct your wording and pronunciations, sometimes even mocking you for them. Suddenly there's a wait list. Suddenly the program isn't for "people like you."

Medical offices (who say they accept Medicaid) are open to seeing you. You mention you're on Medicaid and suddenly they don't have any openings. No, not even a wait list. Try another office.

Landlords will find out you have subsidized rent and suddenly the apartment you toured has been filled by someone else, and actually, nowhere else is vacant.

Your meals in fast food joints are watched like a hawk. If you stay too long after finishing them, you're at risk of getting kicked out. Don't even get me started on department stores.

A lot of these are generally part of the poor experience, and also a lot of them are usually worse if you're unhoused (and even worse if you're visibly unhoused), worse if you're racialized, and worse if you're visibly disabled. Black and Brown poor people have all of the above issues and also a higher risk of the cops showing up, and God knows the cops won't listen to their side of the story.

A lot of these are illegal - some blatantly. But you don't have time to prosecute because you're at risk of eviction, you're at risk of losing benefits, losing your car, your medication access, your ID, your food stamps, your spot in a shelter, your name on a wait list... a permanent crisis, a socially engineered pressure cooker.

^ embroidered a net onto the front pocket of these overalls

Rather, we were the unwanted mutts of their nationbuilding, that "got to" squat on government land, hide in parks and mountains, and live in the ten foot wide land clearances where a road was to go. The latter were called Métis Road Allowance communities, and existed from around 1900-1960 in shantytowns and shacks, ploughed over for the highway and rail system. Then, they took all of the kids they could find, and either adopted them to white families, and/or forced them into residential schools until 1996.

My ancestors worked building the railroads in the mountains of Alberta and BC, and lied their asses off to anyone asking about their ethnicity, because fuck that. I only found out when I was 17, because it was safe for me to be told who I was then.

It was kept from my dad growing up. He was told Irish and Sicilian, but no. Métis, his mother adopted to Sicilian Canadians, his dad's family just relying on a marry-in for the Irish bit.

Tracing the lines back is so fucking complex and painful.