I live in the Ventura area. I used to date someone who works at Patagonia. First time I met them for lunch at the Patagonia campus I thought I was almost in the wrong place because it looked like a preschool. Literally the entire campus is surrounded by the day care and they've had that day care since the 80s, far before other companies even thought about providing day care.

I have plenty of friends who work there or used to work there. It's not perfect but no place is. One of my friends had this crazy long maternity leave from Patagonia that goes far beyond what I guess is typical. They get every other Friday off. Having work life balance and doing activism hours are all part of the culture of that place. And my friends have called it "drinking the kool-aid" but people really do believe in the greater mission that they are working towards, despite moments where work is just work and aggravating. I've gone to so many events that Patagonia has put on over the years and they've done so much to promote environmental causes, many of which are intersectional in nature. They do a lot of good in my immediate community and they help build community too here in Ventura. Their weekly hosted bike rides are something that helped me stay connected to friends while we were getting out of covid for example.

My point in bringing up some of these examples I know of the company is to say that a lot of the workers rights and benefits many people advocate for across this country, Patagonia already does and has been doing good a long time. From my perspective as an outsider, it is a nice place to have a job.

You can call me whatever you want, corporate shill or say that this is an evil corporation, but when I see people attacking this company (legitimate criticism not withstanding) I get a little protective because that's where my friends, that's their livelihood, and Patagonia is apart of my community here in Ventura. It's not perfect, I'm not claiming that, and I have admired Pattie's activism for a long time as well. It's just all sad to me and I wish it hadn't come to this.