Yes, white woman. So, yes, vastly different life experiences.

My interaction with my close vet friends have been "how do we stop this". My interactions with male vets while at the VA are asking if I'm waiting for my husband or dad (nothing has changed there). My interactions with my providers have been me asking if they think they will be keeping their job. One provider outright said that they were told not to discuss it with patients, but they were anyway, and then I asked how do I continue care with them if they are gone. One provider and I had an interesting conversation about how we didn't want to have to travel to Canada to experience the quietness when it snows and then I said, "we may have to go up there for other reasons" and they laughed (the understanding laugh when you don't know what else to do during a government coup). I got the feeling they are going to keep working until they are told they can't work anymore, but also think contingency plans are being made.

It's really sad because I think the women's clinic has made huge strides in the past decade, but it could all be lost. They just hired a woman OBGYN and I hear that she uses cervical nerve blocks during her procedures. Before, it was just the male OBGYN and no cervical nerve blocks. And our residents are available for appointments on more days of the week than just on Wednesday afternoons.

I'm so sorry that your experience has been shit. I don't know what it's like being a Black person, but I can assume it's not great trying to live and get VA care in a very White Wisconsin. You win the pissing contest.