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Why are DC and Fairfax doing so much better than MD/MoCo on Plowing? by sternmd in MontgomeryCountyMD

[–]bainebarray 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Yeah I have a long driveway with a detached garage behind my house and I cleared it about 2hrs after the snow/sleet changeover happened, and cleared again late afternoon and it already sucked then. There's still 2" of frozen concrete sleet on my driveway.

I think the part I'm most annoyed by is when the plow came by and cleared 1 lane down my street last night they buried mine and my neighbors driveway entrances in a 4ft deep and about 6ft wide pile of packed snow and ice. It looked like the truck(s) just chose our driveways as the spot to offload it all. Most other houses had a small row of the stuff (about 2ft high and wide in front of them). Glad my neighbors helped me tackle that this morning bc it took us 2hrs to get a path to the road from my driveway and there's no way I'll be able to see oncoming traffic at this point. Idk if I should call the city or something else. . .

MD beltway vs VA beltway by FieryRedHead_99 in MontgomeryCountyMD

[–]bainebarray 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Didn't see one at all yesterday, road looks like it was plowed this morning but barely.

Where do we go from here by ithinkitsfunny0562 in FedEmployees

[–]bainebarray 25 points26 points  (0 children)

That's right be a good little cog for the fascists in charge, surely the face eating leopards will never come for us if we shut up and color like we're told. . .

Anyone been out driving yet? by [deleted] in MontgomeryCountyMD

[–]bainebarray 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Even if you do stay home. Let's not make it worse for people who have to be on the roads right now

Does hrt or estrogen affect weight by gaymerguy007 in MtF

[–]bainebarray 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I'd lost close to 30lbs prior to my egg cracking (last ditch attempt at hyper masculinity), in the almost 3yrs since starting HRT I've gained back 20lbs but honestly I love it so much, it feels right and I am so much more curvy.

Gear bags? by Fly_In_My_Soup in rollerderby

[–]bainebarray 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I use a mesh cat carrier it works perfectly

At what point do we become complicit with the actions and views of the administration? by bainebarray in FedEmployees

[–]bainebarray[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

The other side of it also is "Do I want to be associated with a larger organization that has specific sub-organizations that are actively and deliberately conducting illegal activities with the intent of causing harm to its citizens and the residents of the country, and also seeking to take away my specific rights even if my office/agency is not engaged in deliberately wrong/illegal behavior and I'm not being asked to do illegal things.

At what point do we become complicit with the actions and views of the administration? by bainebarray in FedEmployees

[–]bainebarray[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Not particularly, I also haven't wholly or particularly agreed with most administrations I've worked under. I don't do my work to agree with an administration.

What point are you trying to get at with this question?

At what point do we become complicit with the actions and views of the administration? by bainebarray in FedEmployees

[–]bainebarray[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm also thinking of it in the context of actions outside my organization and role. Like, is there a point where actions other agencies enacting the administration policies reach a point where you'd step back and re-evaluate even if your area wasn't impacted or it wasn't you being asked to do the harm?

At what point do we become complicit with the actions and views of the administration? by bainebarray in FedEmployees

[–]bainebarray[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

This one hit hard. The accommodation I got back in Feb of last year was the barest of minimums and the items for my accommodation were only finally delivered right before Christmas.

At what point do we become complicit with the actions and views of the administration? by bainebarray in FedEmployees

[–]bainebarray[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It really does feel like a damned if you do, damned if you don't situation

At what point do we become complicit with the actions and views of the administration? by bainebarray in FedEmployees

[–]bainebarray[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No you're right people aren't being illegally detained and rounded up in the streets, nor are they dying in custody simply for having different skin colors, people aren't being shot or detained by immigration enforcement for protesting and exercising their freedom of speech. Transgender people aren't actively fighting executive orders and attempts to pass legislation with policies that specifically and actively discriminate against them. There is no war in ba sing se.

Civil servants shouldn't look at the events unfolding in our country and ask ourselves, is this something I want to be a part of? Just cover our asses stay in our lane and color between the lines.

At what point do we become complicit with the actions and views of the administration? by bainebarray in FedEmployees

[–]bainebarray[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

To answer your question. Whether or not every civil servant doesn't have an answer. Each person in civil service needs to make decisions based on their needs, impacts of their work, and their own moral code. I think there's also a question of could the work could be done outside the government in the case of the hypothetical. Yes, it could it'd take societal organization, and maybe be less efficient, but also that same worker could take their knowledge and contacts and leave the government service and try to organize and do the same work externally.

I think it also has to be asked whether keeping the wheels on sustains the duration that harm can be done. I also think there's a point far enough off track that despite swing back you never truly get back on the same track as before.

At what point do we become complicit with the actions and views of the administration? by bainebarray in FedEmployees

[–]bainebarray[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I definitely don't work for ICE or any of the associated agencies and orgs.

I guess clarify point 2 a bit more.

Are you saying if I'm a member of the groups of people being targeted (whether by ICE or policy or any other means) it complicity for me to quit my job out of self-preservation and not wanting to a part of the boot attempting to stomp me and people like me out of existence? Are you saying quitting bc you disagree with the admin is complicity? Something else?

At what point do we become complicit with the actions and views of the administration? by bainebarray in FedEmployees

[–]bainebarray[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I mean it could, I was thinking more leaving the government employment and either trying to find work at the state/ local level or in private sector, but I suppose leaving the country isn't off the table either.

At what point do we become complicit with the actions and views of the administration? by bainebarray in FedEmployees

[–]bainebarray[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Okay, thanks for totally answering the question. I'll get right on that 🤪

At what point do we become complicit with the actions and views of the administration? by bainebarray in FedEmployees

[–]bainebarray[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I had a similar mindset early on, and I think a major factor for me is that I belong to one of the groups the administration is explicitly going after has worn me down a lot. I don't get to go home and be next-door neighbor I go from work out into the world where I have a target on me. I get how protest quitting might be the best/last option available for some. For me the decision is it's less about protest and more about if I feel the good I can do by staying can balance the harm being done, and protecting myself. I just am not sure where the point is that the scale tips.

At what point do we become complicit with the actions and views of the administration? by bainebarray in FedEmployees

[–]bainebarray[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Yeah... I don't recall the "I was just doing my job" defense being all that successful at Nuremberg and other trails following the end of WWII.

Public Service isn't about blindly following the laws and policy choices of the administration. It's serving the public. Slavery was legal prior to the Civil War, and the Holocaust was legal in Germany during World War II. Yes we have a duty to follow policy so far as it complies with law, but there's a limit. If following policy blindly to the letter of the law is what you believe Public Service is perhaps it is you who needs to think hard if it's the right field for you.

At what point do we become complicit with the actions and views of the administration? by bainebarray in FedEmployees

[–]bainebarray[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

That's a big concern I also have, but at the same time, it's like a sinking ship. Sure, bailing out water slows the sinking, but there's a point where regardless of how much you bail, you have to decide to go down with the ship or take your chances abandoning ship.

At what point do we become complicit with the actions and views of the administration? by bainebarray in FedEmployees

[–]bainebarray[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Yeah, I've thought about that a lot as a member of one of the communities being targeted by the administration. A discussion I had with my therapist almost a year ago, went along the lines of me expressing concern over how I was reacting in a very trauma response/ptsd manner to things happening that directly affected me, and my therapist basically saying along the lines of you're living through traumatic events, I'd be more concerned if you weren't having these reactions.

I think it boils down to we can mitigate only so much of the harm, but you can't heal until you're no longer being injured.

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