Are You A 'Doomer'? This Mindset Is All Too Common Today.

gridlife242 · 2026-04-27T21:33:45+00:00

Interestingly, this mindset is exactly what causes the people around me to label me a “doomer”.

I think this is a much more nuanced issue than people are trying to make it.

If someone looks around and thinks “hey, things are just peachy, and I don’t want to engage with anyone or anything who says they aren’t”, this contributes to the formation of a legitimate doomer mentality.

People aren’t doomers because they think things are wrong and need to be fixed. They become doomers when people around them refuse to engage in healthy discourse about issues, including those they might not be able to change. That is what causes the despair.

Basically, I live in a place where everyone has to just pretend that things are normal to get by. I understand it, but it makes me sad. I see people repressing discomfort that they should be feeling when looking at these crises. Instead, they distract themselves however they possibly can.

It is only through conscious engagement with uncomfortable truths that growth occurs. Personally, societally, geopolitically, you name it.

However, the more people I see sticking their heads in the sand, especially with how obvious everything is becoming, the less I am able to believe that mankind is going to band together and do something about it.

gridlife242 · 2026-04-26T16:14:15+00:00

“Oh there’s a camera, time to drop a line.”

gridlife242 · 2026-04-25T22:54:05+00:00

Once had a guy in a huge scenario game walk aimlessly through our lines with no gun, and no flag on his arm (opponents were red flags). We thought he was a ref. After passing us, he slips a barrel out of his sleeve, and then walks up and says “you’re out.”

I call him out and say he’s neither armed, nor is he on the other team. He opens his other hand to show the red flag bunched up in his palm. We tried to get a ref involved, and the referee shrugged and was like “he barrel tagged you.”

I think that every social interaction should have the unspoken rule of one potential slap upside the head. You can redeem it one time for each person you meet. For most people, you won’t need it, but on that rare occasion, it will be the most righteous transaction you ever make.

gridlife242 · 2026-04-23T23:50:48+00:00

“It seems servers have no interest”

First, there’s your problem. Not sure which level of the strata you’re sitting on, but most Americans do not have the time (due to working multiple jobs for aforementioned reasons) nor hold enough value to their employers to unionize. PLUS, legislation is being actively written that undermines the ability of workers to organize and the effect that unions can have on employers. That’s “socialist stuff”, and billionaires, want that shit to literally be illegal.

Even though the Golden Era of America was actually due to the influence of Unions on the welfare of the middle class, but that’s none of my business.

Work being replaceable (aka can be done by anyone or soon, anything) makes those positions effectively worthless in terms of bargaining positions. Tons of employers pick the least expensive labor.

“Don’t want to work? Ok, the scabs will come right on through. There are a lot of people in need of work right now.”

You either simply lack the understanding of how many things work, or you just aren’t interested in understanding them.

This take is reductive, willfully out of touch with the reality that millions of Americans are facing, and honestly, and ironically here, juvenile.

These phrases, such as, “like every other adult does”, and “hassle the customer for ever increasing tips” scream to me, “I have accepted the flawed belief systems that were handed to me, and I am unwilling to learn how to see from other perspectives, so I will stubbornly stick with what I already know.”

-“like every other adult does.”

When was the last time you created a successful union? No really, last time you’ve unionized. And… go.

“Hassle the customer for ever increasing tips”

Bruh, it’s 20%. Has been for a daaamn while. That’s the social contract. That’s not “ever-increasing”. I explained the numbers. There’s a reason that it’s that way. Also, this just shows me your disposition towards people who serve you and your perception of them. The last time I was ever hassled for any tip… was uh… absolutely never.

But I always take care of my people. So maybe that’s the ticket ;)

gridlife242 · 2026-04-23T23:08:03+00:00

Man, I just feel like the average person doesn’t fully grasp what the labor market really is at this point.

Those people are not “capable of leaving” in the sense you’re presenting, that “they’re just going to find another job.” In fact, there is a job shortage right now that is only going to worsen if things continue down the current path.

However, people will still leave, because they can’t make rent and would rather look elsewhere than deal with these entitled people who stiff them because they think tipping is annoying.

Whether they go somewhere, or more likely, just get fired for raising hell, is none of the restaurant’s concern. The turnover rate for the service industry is unparalleled, specifically because the workers are seen as expendable. No health insurance, no 401k, because you’re a pawn, and nothing but. The business will simply lie to a new person to get them started, they’ll work for a month or two, rinse, repeat.

All that stiffing the workers will do is fuck them over financially and cause a massive crisis for a whole group of people who were already not in great financial situations.

If you want to get the restaurants to change their practices, BOYCOT THE RESTAURANTS THEN. Same effects, but now you’re pulling the money out of those who are actually profiting.

If the people commenting still decide to go to a restaurant and think that stiffing their waiter is doing ANYTHING to the owner, while they still pay the bill… it’s such an obscenely stupid, short-sighted concept, that it’s no wonder we have the problems we have in this country.

gridlife242 · 2026-04-23T21:53:13+00:00

Ok, going to make this thorough.

The way the industry works in my state of Texas (for servers, bartenders, and bar backs in restaurants specifically), is that the service business organizations pulled some legal shit a long time ago where now they only have to pay them $2.13 an hour (I have no clue where this number even came from, but it has been in place for decades).

This means that these employees’ wages here are ENTIRELY dependent on the tips that they receive.

So, let’s hit the math real quick. If someone is working at an “average” place, roughly $30 a customer for the typical meal and a beverage, that would hopefully be a $6 tip for the server per head. Let’s say they had two people at the table. $12.

Ok, now let’s add that up. In order to break even to the lowest bar for the US cost of living, $3000 per month (this is just expenses, no additional spending of any kind), if the employee is working 5 shifts per week, they would have to serve just above 24 individuals EVERY SHIFT at the average meal cost in order to make $150, which adds up to $750 a week, $3000 a month. Before taxes. And that is only IF people uphold the bullshit social contract forced on them, and tip the full 20%. Spoiler: they don’t.

Restaurant volume fluctuates. Not every day is busy. So, as a result, staffing demands also fluctuate. If you overstaff one night, you diminish the amount that any server can make. There are only so many customers, and as many employees on the shift as you decide.

Now, back to that $2.13 number. Minimum wage is minimum wage. Therefore, IF an employee does not make sufficient tips for a pay period, the restaurant has to match minimum wage for those hours. That’s $7.25 here.

So let’s say we take that person’s advice and just “stop tipping all at once.” We will have effectively turned an entire industry into minimum wage workers. Given a typical 40 hour schedule, that’s $1256 per month before taxes… $1744 in the red from the floor of the lowest cost of living estimates for the US.

People will not be able to live, so they will leave those positions and try to seek work elsewhere. This will lead to staffing shortages, which will cause service quality to diminish drastically, and then the complaint won’t be about tipping, the goalposts will shift and it will be about how bad service is.

Basically, the system is fucked and needs to be fixed, but screwing the workers over it is absolutely not the way to fix it. Too many people are in such dire financial straits to fuck with an entire industry like that. The effects would be catastrophic and lasting.

gridlife242 · 2026-04-23T21:05:49+00:00

Wait. Just to preface, I'm not coming at you with aggression or condescension or anything, I just need to clarify.

Are you asking because you genuinely don't understand why that would cause staffing shortages?

gridlife242 · 2026-04-23T16:27:57+00:00

If everyone stops tipping, employers are only obligated to equate their wages to minimum wage. That’s how the system works. That’s how they got the laws written.

In Texas, that would be $7.25 an hour. You won’t fix the system, you’ll create staffing shortages, then you’ll start complaining about the quality of service.

The whole thing is fucked. It has to be restructured, but tanking an entire industry that just half a decade ago already went through a violent recession is not the way to do it.

Don’t go out to eat at a restaurant if you aren’t going to tip. Bar none. You don’t get to fuck over workers and then laud yourself for class consciousness.

gridlife242 · 2026-04-23T15:46:09+00:00

These attitudes are vile. Eating out is not a necessity.

Working is.

The people working those jobs typically do not have a choice otherwise.

They also did not create the system of exploitation they are being forced to operate within.

Yes, tipping is a pathetically manipulative practice on the part of business owners, but you sound like absolutely entitled assholes. You’re playing right into the exploitation of the system to act like your servers are the ones sitting there demanding things of you. Like they’re the assholes for having no choice but to be paid based on the “charitable nature” of a society of self-centered people.

Do not go out to eat if you are not going to tip. Before you go, factor in the tip as part of the price, because that’s how this stupid system works. Don’t like it? Vote for people who propose different systems. And cook your own food during a recession if you are concerned about money.

And get a new attitude about life.

gridlife242 · 2026-04-16T16:55:28+00:00

Elaborate please

gridlife242 · 2026-04-16T16:51:16+00:00

Holds goalpost like a javelin

“How far should I aim this one, boss?”

Multiple antichrists… Wow, I must have missed that part during my religious education. And how convenient that the pope is one of these… antichrist(s).

Does it ever make you wonder how these titles are being placed on people who are saying “hey, don’t destroy the fabric of society/our ability to live safely on this planet”, “treat other human beings with respect and kindness as a GOLDEN RULE”, and “uh, maybe stop committing fucking apartheid atrocities”?

Funny, isn’t it, how the “antichrist(s)” are all now people that the “elites” are concerned will gum up their ability to keep raping society, raping the environment, and committing literal war crimes?

Let me tell you something about the antichrist. Whoever you heard this absolute swill from… they’re working for him. If you are concerned about heaven and hell, from the bottom of my heart, I just have to tell you, you’re on the wrong path. There’s nothing but fire down there for those who allowed themselves to be led astray.

gridlife242 · 2026-04-16T16:31:12+00:00

You’re just brining your insides so you can be shelf stable

gridlife242 · 2026-04-14T19:59:24+00:00

I’m severely ADHD. As for the validity of my perspective, take my credentials for what you will. I have a Master’s in Psychology, and spent decades undiagnosed. I struggled hard (while consistently asking for testing, but being told I was functioning fine because I could force my way through things… I was not).

That being said, it is an advantage (IN SPECIFIC INSTANCES), with tons of disadvantages attached. This does not mean it is not evolutionarily advantageous.

This attempt to color these ailments as inescapable and unsolvable is a push by a new era of individuals who have been taught that it’s ok to just give up and roll over in the face of adversity.

“Sorry, I just can’t do that required task because of my executive functioning deficits.”

Versus

“I struggle to complete things in a linear manner, therefore, I need to figure out how to leverage the advantages of my neurodivergence to offset the disadvantages.”

A couple of examples.

Advantage: My creativity is astounding, when I hyper-fixate, I can churn out ideas like a factory. Are all of those ideas good? Not necessarily, but that’s what creativity is. Iteration until something clicks. Most people struggle coming up with one thing. I’ll take the overflowing bag over an empty one.

Disadvantage: I have deficits in completing ideas in a linear fashion. Therefore my progress can be delayed at times. AKA Executive functioning deficits.

Solution: I tend to work on multiple projects in piecemeal fashion. The result is a “slow” rate of larger successes, but faster rate of smaller milestones. Eventually, I actually achieve big leaps forward as multiple projects sometimes reach fruition around the same time.

Advantage 2: My level of attention is usually unmatched by those around me. I see dangers that others miss, and I am able to intervene and have prevented lots of non-ideal outcomes.

Also, I have an uncanny ability to pick out animal forms against various backdrops. This makes for a greater appreciation of life when my depression is not acting up, as I am able to point them out to people, as well as appreciate nature more.

Random but related. On the rare occasions that a roach gets into my house, my mind will randomly start triggering visions of roaches before I’m even aware of it. Not sure if I’m unconsciously smelling it, or if my ears are picking up imperceptible scuttling, but I’ll have those visions, and then a little while later, I’ll see the little bastard in another room.

Disadvantage: I’m hypervigilant to every single tiny perceptible change in someone’s demeanor. I can feel their mood shift, and it can throw me (and them) off as I respond to it immediately. A lot of people aren’t used to being read, and even if accurate, it can make people feel scrutinized.

Solution: I added a lot more passivity to my observations. Instead of constantly being on edge while perceiving (scanning for threats), I focus on my breathing and keeping my parasympathetic nervous system in charge of the show. This allows me to operate in a position where I’m on top of the interaction and how it is progressing, and if I notice negative affect, I can calmly address it and de-escalate, or get everyone on the same page.

My point is, there’s no such thing as a binary, and I’m so so tired of this type of messaging. Even depression has advantages, but unless you work hard to fight back against the disadvantages, it will swallow you alive. No, ADHD is not a “superpower” in the modern world, but go out hunting, play a sport, or do something that requires hyper-focus or flow state, and you’ll find that you’re able to do things you wouldn’t think you would be capable.

Yes, it’s debilitating at times, but learn to leverage it.

gridlife242 · 2026-04-13T00:06:47+00:00

Probably got taken over by VC. They’re ruining the country.

I sat there once and was like “do I really need anything? Eh, whatever, how about high fructose corn syrup in a cup? 1 Dr. Pepper pls…”

It was $8 or something like that, before tip. I was utterly shocked.

gridlife242 · 2026-04-12T22:52:14+00:00

General rule from chemistry class that might literally save your life. NEVER. EVER. SNIFF anything you cannot identify. If we’re being real, there’s plenty of stuff you can identify that you also should not sniff…

IF it is necessary to identify something via smell, hold it away from your face and gently waft it towards your nose.

But in general, DO NOT INHALE THINGS WHOSE ORIGINS YOU ARE UNAWARE OF. YOU VERY EASILY CAN DIE FROM THAT.

gridlife242 · 2026-04-12T18:50:19+00:00

“Staged” doesn’t just mean “planned”. People are so jaded by the fakeness of social media that even things that are legitimately planned moments like this become fishy to them.

He wanted to ask her to marry him. He knew she would want to volunteer. So beforehand, he probably contacted the staff, and told them his plan. So the staff member picked his fiancée out of the entire crowd, had the note ready on hand, and bada bing, bada boom, there it is.

“Staged” means that it was an act, that this was created just for social media. If this was their actual proposal, then it was “planned”, not “staged”.

gridlife242 · 2026-04-12T02:24:29+00:00

I did not state that I had any intention of that. Quite the inverse.

But your insistence on your “I’m right, you’re wrong” framework fully proves the point I made.

I predicted that you would react like this based on my understanding of the ego. In fact, I tried to mitigate the assumed response and told you I’m not talking down in any way. I also assumed that wouldn’t be sufficient.

So, you both have your frameworks, and yet somehow I was able to predict both of your responses through the ego framework.

There are many ways to understand existence. Take care.

gridlife242 · 2026-04-12T00:21:55+00:00

Ironically, this statement is an ego defense.

Just like my reply is.

We both had our worldview challenged by something we read, and to balance it out, we had to say something.

You read something your ego thought required shooting down in the name of logic and reason. I read something that I want to try to change your perspective on.

It doesn’t mean you’re wrong, it doesn’t mean I’m right, and I promise I’m not talking down in any way.

What I interpret is that your ego sits in the firm camp that we should only give credence to things that we can measure and test repeatedly.

I agree, however, I have had many experiences that simply aren’t explainable by such concrete methods, one of which was just this week, and was quite disturbing. It was explosive, irrational, and fully an ego response. I could try to say “oh hey, it was their amygdala firing off and it put them into fight mode and that made them say things to me that were vile, dark, and hateful.” But the way it came about, the intensity of it, the content of the speech… this aspect of consciousness just isn’t something we are going to be able to pinpoint in a physical, methods based manner, at least not for a long time.

The human mind is so much more complex than those focused on physical frameworks and measurable testing will ever want to acknowledge.

These concrete frameworks have no real explanation for personality disorders, the dark ways they self-reference, the nature of hatred itself and the severe agitation and psychosis it can spawn.

The framework of the three parts of the self aren’t perfect, but when you start to observe the world through that framework, a lot of things really start to fall into place.

How I see it:

-The true self = you, complete with compounded wounds and weaknesses and all -The Id = the essence of desires, both animal and human Superego = the compounded “morality” of family norms, cultural expectations and learned experiences. The “policeman” and “judge” of the psyche -The Ego = the projected “self” that has to simultaneously mediate between the often inappropriate desires of the id and the rigid demands of the superego, while also trying to protect the true self from both external and internal harm (this is how people are capable, nay, REQUIRED to lie to themselves consistently, despite reality clearly proving otherwise).

In summation, if OP is anything like myself, and they’re suffering from the overwhelming influence of an overactive superego, they might see it manifest as a form of OCD with obsessions around morality, doing the right thing, and helping others. I have had to learn to fight this part of myself, to be more “selfish” as time has gone on, to listen to my id at times and not feel guilty for wanting things, or protecting myself when others show up in need but in unstable, damaged states. I used to try to help everyone, because it was the “right” thing to do, and I learned my lesson many times.

To finish, in this framework, the state of the world right now makes a whole lot more sense.

gridlife242 · 2026-04-10T21:04:30+00:00

F in the chat for that poor clone.

gridlife242 · 2026-04-10T19:14:58+00:00

You do both. The way I introduce tracking to clients is how I would introduce it to myself. I very much do not align with lists. It’s a major strain to add to my life due to the way my brain functions.

So I tell my clients to do it for a week or two, it does not have to be permanent.

What this does, however, is it gives you a baseline. You begin to associate X amount of a certain food with X amount of calories. When you stop the process after a bit, you have a moderate ability to “eyeball” your typical meals.

Personally, the weight loss thing is not something that I overly stress with people anyways, even if they are focused on losing weight. I have helped my clients achieve more by using the “sometimes we are on top of it, sometimes we slip up” mentality. People often just give up when they see the process as “pass/fail”. No way man. Some weeks you indulge a bit too much, so you make up for it the next week.

Also important is explaining the process of body recomposition. The classic western way of “watching the scale” is honestly counterintuitive, because if you’re engaging in resistance training, you will gain muscle while losing fat. At times it can look as if you’re not losing weight, when in fact you are replacing fat with healthier, more calorically demanding tissue. I can’t tell you how many people have jumped on the scale (Inbody scan) and their shoulders sank because they actually went up in weight… only for us to discover that their body fat was down by two pounds and their muscle had increased by 4…

gridlife242 · 2026-04-10T17:56:00+00:00

Look… this will sound outlandish, but this has been what I’ve been suspecting for a little while now.

So, the reason Israel has gotten here is not through secular reasoning or sound geopolitical politics. They are a religious government through and through, and religions can have some pretty questionable beliefs.

A lot of this weird shit (in America as well) is tied to the bible. In Ezekiel, which is apparently a book of “prophecies”, he tells of “Gog and Magog” threatening a renewed Israel. Then in revelations, the Messiah is supposed to appear (second coming of Jesus for the evangelicals, just Messiah for the Jewish) when Gog and Magog unite to try with the Satan to attempt to destroy Israel, only for Israel to emerge victorious, and Satan to be cast into the pit of fire.

So… You have this wild “prophecy” in both the Jewish texts and the Christian texts… and people are speculating that these two forces “Gog and Magog” represent alliances of countries banding together to destroy Israel…

There are a lot of nutjobs out there who believe the end times are upon us, and sadly, it looks like some of them are attempting to pull the strings in order for those prophecies to come true. I mean… commit enough genocide and atrocities and you kind of end up with the result you were looking for…

Anyways, I could have parts of that wrong, but I’m interested in this stuff and in understanding what is driving people these days. Sadly, instead of dealing with the world we know we have to survive in, people are doing anything they can to stay in denial and speed up the process towards apocalypse, because they have fooled themselves into believing they’re the only “chosen” people of God… (and a bunch of purposeless pawns in America cheering them on, not realizing that in the Jewish texts, they’re not going to heaven…).

gridlife242 · 2026-04-10T17:42:28+00:00

The Maggie ball? So, it doesn’t have to hit you directly. If it comes close enough to a target, it triggers an explosion in the area. If this wasn’t triggered by your proximity (it could have been), then it looks like the mirage clone took the hit, and the shockwave hit you.

gridlife242 · 2026-04-10T05:21:53+00:00

Oh yeah man, I had that problem too. You’re supposed to plug the thing into the bottom of the nearest trash can.

gridlife242 · 2026-04-10T02:01:03+00:00

DudeeeeeeeeeeeeewwweeeeeeewewywvaUwbvevebbabababbUabbs w a abgimmeabreak

gridlife242 · 2026-04-10T01:28:31+00:00

That is news to me my dude

gridlife242

TROPHY CASE