rat queen

blink and you miss them running by

[art by me - neonscrapyard]

me: "whose fucking dog is this?"

dog owner: "it's mine!"

me: "are you going to put a leash on that thing?"

DO "yes, i'm working on it."

me "why would you take a dog to a park with wildlife and let it off leash?"

DO: [silence]

me: "why would you do that???"

DO: "because i'm an asshole."

me: "... uh. yeah. good job, because you're an asshole."

i then left, a little bit stunned by that response, and we very pointedly avoided each other for the rest of our respective walks at the park. it occurred to me that what brought out that answer involved not making a single accusation, only demands for an explanation-- not unlike asking someone to explain a tasteless joke, sometimes the best approach to making people realize they've done something stupid is making them explain it themselves.

For something like computers, this looks like how pricey "gAmiNG" laptops look all fancy but fall apart in about the same timeframe as the lower end laptops for students. But if you've ever handled the sort of laptops for banks or businesses, you'd wonder why laptops can't all be like this. People swear by Lenovo Thinkpads for a reason. Dell's Latitude (general productivity) and Precision (has the power of a gaming laptop but far less bs) lines, HP's probooks, all feel really nice and last for-fucking-ever. But you can't buy them in a store even if you wanted one.

So the trick is to buy what big organizations are buying, but you likely gotta get 'em secondhand when the orgs are done with them. For basic clothes, mil surplus might be a good port of call, for technology see an e-waste recycler or sometimes government auction (you just gotta know what to ask for; ThinkPads, Dell Latitude/Precision, HP Probook/Zbook). Otherwise try to thrift old, pre-enshitification items. The blanket I had as a kid is still going strong and has lived to bury multiple sets of newer bedding (which have worn thin and torn). Kitchen items, see if you can shop at a restaurant supplier.