Of Ghosts and Constellations

i don’t support replacing cops w social workers because the role (and in fact legal mandate) of social workers as “mental health first responders” is still to incarcerate ppl against their will, just in a psych institution instead of a jail

I am much more interested in peer/community based de-escalation teams that have interest in keeping a person in their community rather than a legal mandate to disappear that person to a black box unit in a hospital. psychiatric diagnoses and “treatments” are already racialized, black and brown bodies face far higher rates of abuse in psychiatric institutions. don’t advocate for defunding of police just to have mental health works continue that violent work

Officers have yet to be charged and her birthday would have been tomorrow. Here are some ways to help. 

hmmm. customer was asking me if id been to any protests lately. gave the general “how could i when im always at work” response. he keeps going asking about where protests are being held/how he’s having trouble locating them and “it’s been hundreds of years coming so im not suprised”. he buys a lotto ticket and opens his wallet, which surprise surprise also contained a police badge..

Seriously. Be suspicious of everyone you talk to. especially if you don’t know them. even if you used to talk to them but fell off for a few years. don’t give out any information that could put others at risk

also celebrate George Floyd’s life. he was truly a beautiful, kind, and caring individual. i wish his family so much healing and that they get the justice they deserve.

George Floyd campaigned against gun violence among adolescents, he campaigned for peace. He was loving and he was kind. Don’t let his memory be defined by the last moments of his life. Don’t let his memory be defined by the man who murdered him.

my brother has been criticizing me all day and he told me if i wasn’t happy i could go somewhere else so i wouldn’t ruin everyone else’s dinner so i took the massive bowl of pasta + special sauce i spent the last 2 hours making from scratch for the whole family and i left

it really is incredibly bold to mercilessly criticize the person who is not only making your dinner but also holding a knife

I sequestered myself in the other side of the house and ate my family-sized pasta from a mixing bowl using a serving spoon in the dark because the sun went down in the 2+ hours I spent stewing and I was too stubborn to turn on a light

the only person I shared my pasta with was my dad who on a conference call at the time and didn’t just stand there and watch my brother be an asshole like the rest of my family and since he came to me in my sanctuary with his bowl and asked nicely if he could have some pasta i did share with him

sometimes you’re an adult who has been quarantined with your parents, younger siblings, grandfather, and dog for the last 2 months because of a global pandemic and some nights you just have to take your pasta and Leave because you are an adult who knows when to tap the fuck out

why the fuck would i check my email, thats where the fucking emails are

I don't think anything will ever validate me more then watching a group of literal brain and heart surgeons confidently walk into the conference room, only to have their leader sadly shuffle out to my office 15 minutes later and ask me to come help them with the projector.

Having a 52 year old heart surgeon say "you're not gonna be able to fix it Kait is the only one who can do it" is the modern day equivalent of being fed grapes on a fainting chair

I still think that my favorite urban legend/folklore fact is that there are certain areas in New Orleans where you cannot get a taxi late at night not because it isn’t safe, but because taxi companies have had recurring problems of picking up ghosts in those areas who are not aware that they are dead and disappearing from the cab before reaching the destination and therefore stiffing the driver on the fare causing a loss for the company.

An occupational hazard of cab driving I had not previously considered

I love that the nola problem here is not “ghosts in my taxi cab,” but “ghosts are FUCKING BROKE DEAD BASTARDS & I GOT BILLS”

Horror is when ghosts get into cabs and scare drivers Magical realism is when cab companies have to develop policies to prevent ghastly fare-theft

In a book about the tsunami in Japan in 2011, the writer talked about how there was a huge increase in reports of ghostly activity. Apparently in Japan treating ghosts rudely is basically considered the stupidest thing you could possibly do. For months after the tsunami, taxi drivers would pick up a passenger only to have them give an address in one of the devastated areas. The cab driver often looked up halfway to the destination to find their fare had disappeared. Not wanting to be impolite to the person (even if they were dead) they’d drive to the address, open the door to let them out, then drive away.

^That is the most Japanese thing I’ve ever heard

do you think there’s ever been a point in the avatar cycle where everyone was just waiting for them to pop up in one of the water tribes, but instead they reincarnated into one of those waterbending swamp hicks in the earth kingdom? because I really like the idea of a swamp avatar with a little leaf hat and a southern drawl.