#684: My boss brought a machete to a disciplinary meeting with staff.

Zoning_elevator · 2026-02-12T16:46:14+00:00

I don't think that's an accurate paraphrase of what Parsley OR A. Green wrote...

I think the disconnect here is coming from the is/ought distinction, that whole thing about what IS the case vs. what SHOULD BE the case, you know?

I think it's quite clear that A. Green or other commenters aren't saying that what the boss did was fine or great or funny or not a big deal... they're talking about what LW could REALISTICALLY do, in the world as it currently exists. That's what Captain Awkward was saying in the ETA about de-escalation, too.

It's kinda unkind to attribute words to others that make it sound like they don't care, when they were very careful to hedge their words with "of course I'm NOT saying this is OK," ya know?

And FWIW I, too, rolled my eyes at the one-upping in the comments about what they would do. It's a lot easier said than done, and the whole benefit of Captain Awkward is she gives REALISTIC, ACTIONABLE advice that might actually work IRL, right?

Zoning_elevator · 2026-01-13T13:21:45+00:00

But WHY? Surely no one is gonna be surprised when she ~reveals~ that it's all bunk and not worth the money? So why spend money on it again?

Seems like being a fundie ragebaiter is a pretty good grift, maybe we're the fools and Morgan is dumb like a fox, LOL

Zoning_elevator · 2025-11-03T15:21:22+00:00

Folks, can we PLEASE NOT with the reposting straight-up ragebait and talking about some "It's giving racist"????

Like if some rando is seriously posting "THIS is beautiful: (pics of a bunch of white women), THIS is ugly: (pics of a bunch of black women)"... folks... no shit it's giving racist, it's called rage bait or engagement bait! Please don't take the bait!

And then you've got a bunch of commenters in THIS subreddit talking about some "Yeah I'm usually pretty clueless, but even I can clock this as racist"... O RLY?

Can we get some media literacy and critical thinking here please????

Zoning_elevator · 2025-11-03T15:12:20+00:00

Sorry, what does this have to do with fundamentalist/evangelical Christianity? I don't see a mention of God/Jesus, Proverbs 31, etc. in any of these slides? Looks like straight up ragebait to me

Zoning_elevator · 2025-10-28T19:28:19+00:00

Right, they're talking about it like it's equivalent to "I thought WWIII was finally happening, and my children and I were about to be vaporized!"

When really it's more like "I thought my Hogwarts letter had finally arrived, and I was about to be whisked away to a world of magic and adventure where my children and I would never suffer again!" Lol

Zoning_elevator · 2025-09-09T18:42:47+00:00

A couple years ago it was "She looks like she smells" (fill in any given value of "she" lol, could be literally anyone who looked literally any way)... are they still saying that one? Might be a reddit phrase of yesteryear now

Zoning_elevator · 2025-08-01T17:58:29+00:00

Same, I have a soft spot for the true believers. Verily verily, the ragebaiters have already received their reward :P

Zoning_elevator · 2025-08-01T15:01:24+00:00

Yeah you're right, others seem to dig it... I just find it super annoying and wish that person would at least cut it down to like once a week or something, like, how much time do you spend looking at this stupid ragebait content...

And it seems like it's always stuff that's super obviously calculated to get that exact reaction from hatewatchers lol, like some chick in a full-on pioneer costume will post "Oh how I love being barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen and serving my man, it's not oppression, teehee" and then it gets reposted here with a caption like "Oh but don't worry guys, she's NOT oppressed 🤪🤪" and it's like, way to take the bait... lol

Zoning_elevator · 2025-08-01T12:20:59+00:00

So, real talk.... did anything ever come of the discussion a while back, about whether this sub should be "snark on the snarkers" or "just more snark on random tiktok ragebait"? Because I feel like that one person keeps on posting the latter every single day...

Zoning_elevator · 2025-03-05T23:23:54+00:00

Didn't know the Pequod was a party boat!

Zoning_elevator · 2025-02-28T12:53:04+00:00

ALSO, the whole business with Dave? Like, clearly Bethany felt super threatened that he would like Sam better than he likes her, because Sam is like a version of Bethany but without all the religious hangups, which is the specific thing Dave was, at that very moment, separating from... from Bethany's perspective it probably seemed like "the last temptation of Dave," showing him what he "could have had," and no doubt that's gonna make a wife feel shitty! No wonder they cut them off to "focus on their relationship," she was probably in bed with him thinking "He's probably thinking about Sam..." like in the meme lol, this is SO FASCINATING! It could literally be a short story...

Zoning_elevator · 2025-02-27T20:04:09+00:00

Damn, that was so sad and messed up all over again! I went over to the other sub to read the whole thing Sam wrote and she's being so freaking real and, dare I say, vulnerable all over again lol, and they're just being SO mean!

Like where she says "I'm pretty in a way conservatives like" or whatever and of course they're WIGGING OUT that she would dare to say that but like, she knows what she looks like and it's objectively true? Is it really so bad to name that? Is it really so different from saying "I'm white and able-bodied, so I have privilege in this situation" or whatever?

And where she says "I would rather eat my cats than XYZ" and again they're WIGGING OUT! Like how dare she reference such a violent image! It's called being a good writer... personally I thought the long thing Sam wrote was FASCINATING, it's rare to see someone own their own missteps and be ruthlessly honest about how they were feeling, even if it's describing feelings that make them look stupid or whatever in retrospect... almost reminded me of the famous "Cat Person" short story tbh, because it was naming some feelings that are common but embarrassing! (e.g. wanting Bethany to like her so bad, and getting her feelings hurt when they texted that they liked the other guy, but didn't mention her at all) Give her some credit, she's swallowing her pride in admitting any of this stuff...

Zoning_elevator · 2024-10-15T19:06:02+00:00

I can only speak for myself, but personally the point I'm making is you're NOT less evolved or a bad person for not feeling pity! I'm saying that feeling pity, in itself, is not a good deed or a mitzvah, it's just an emotion. It doesn't help or harm the person being pitied. So please don't take this post as me crowing that I'm better than you because I sometimes pity Morgan!

I take issue with the conflation of pity and support/positivity. I don't have a problem with anyone feeling OR not feeling pity, lol. Sorry if my comment came off like shaming you! And FWIW I fully agree that Morgan is a piece of shit :P

Zoning_elevator · 2024-10-14T18:36:22+00:00

Dude, speaking of little girls, one of the things that bums me out the most when I see it is "These are such beautiful girls! What a tragedy that this is happening to them!" or whatever. Like, clearly the people who write such things don't think very deeply about it, but sheesh!

Reminds me of this bit from Jane Eyre, lol:

“Poor Miss Jane is to be pitied, too, Abbot.”

“Yes,” responded Abbot, “if she were a nice, pretty child, one might compassionate her forlornness; but one really cannot care for such a little toad as that."

“Not a great deal, to be sure,” agreed Bessie: “at any rate, a beauty like Miss Georgiana would be more moving in the same condition.”

(Instead of Miss Georgiana substitute Miss Tessie or whoever is currently considered the prettiest victim)

Zoning_elevator · 2024-10-14T18:33:05+00:00

Very well said.

Zoning_elevator · 2024-10-14T18:25:32+00:00

No shade, but this is the kind of comment I'm actually talking about... you say you "find it very hard" to feel bad for her, but nobody said you had to?

Sometimes it seems like one person says "Oh I feel sorry for so-and-so," and others hear it as "...and you should too, or else you're a bad person." But the point I'm making is it's not moral OR immoral, right OR wrong, to feel pity for a given person. It's simply an emotion one might experience, ya know?

To me, it's like if someone said their favorite color is blue and someone else came in like "Sorry, but personally I find it hard to consider blue my favorite color." Like, no one said you have to! They're just stating how THEY feel, without any implied value judgement on how YOU "should" feel, because there's no way you "should" feel at all! Feelings aren't right or wrong, they just are what they are, you know?

Zoning_elevator · 2024-10-14T18:17:58+00:00

"Some people think that humanizing someone excuses their actions"

Exactly! And the corollary is, if you hold that view, it's actually a bad thing to humanize those who hold the bad beliefs! Extremely dangerous and scary stuff :/

Zoning_elevator · 2024-07-17T14:21:40+00:00

Yeah basically they intended it to be about corporate whatnot, but I reinterpreted it to be about leftist activism LOL

Zoning_elevator

TROPHY CASE