So are you saying that in your daily life you never walk around with your shoulders or arms exposed?

And are you saying that your arms/shoulders are more apt to burn than the rest of your body, or you notice that they tan more easily?

Lolllll Kool-Aid man! That’s fair, I’m so used to people automatically dehumanizing homeless people (thanks reddit) that I’m ready to throw hands when the conversation comes up lol. I appreciate you being rational

I’m not a shrink lol I’m a case manager.

I disagree with the idea that so many homeless are so mentally ill that conversing with them isn’t worth it. It should take the most minimal ability to read human behavior to see when someone is having a hard time and you shouldn’t engage but there are many who don’t experience persistent psychosis who you can talk to, or at least give a nod and hello.

Care to explain what you mean by “actual professionals”?

So I work full time with homeless people who deal with mental illness and substance use issues.

If you are struggling with surviving yourself, you can only do what you can do. This world is fucked up and you shouldn’t be struggling, and those people on the street shouldn’t be in that position either, and it always seems like the burden to assist the poorest in our society is put on to other poor people, because we can actually understand what it’s like at least a little.

There may be times when you can only spare some change, other times maybe 5 or 10 dollars. Other times, nothing at all. If you have the ability at all, even the smallest amount can be helpful even if you don’t think it will be. But, if you feel hesitant, don’t beat yourself up for it. You thinking of giving ANYTHING AT ALL means you’re doing more than most people would.

Also, I think it’s important to try to let go of the moralistic thinking when it comes to people using the money for alcohol or drugs. People end up using drugs because of mental illness, people gave told me that at least when using they feel like they HAVE a reason why theyre hearing voices and seeing shit and its in their control.Because they lost their job due to becoming disabled and doctors won’t prescribe painkillers so they have to find something to numb the pain on the street. They were a foster kid who got kicked out with nothing, no family or friends and we’re physically and mentally abused for years so using drugs is the only way they know how to cope.

Another very real story I heard recently as to why someone drowned themselves in liquor for 15 years is because his nephew was playing hide and seek and hid under a pile of clothes in a closet. A fire started in the house; he was searching everywhere for the kid, and was digging and digging but couldn’t pull him out before the firemen forced him to leave. So he had to stand there and watch as his nephew burned alive because the firemen would not go back in to get him. You don’t know someone’s story and why they got to where they are. If you don’t want your money going to drugs or alcohol, you can make the choice to not give anyone money on the off chance that they happen to have a substance use issue, but remember they are people too with a lot of trauma.

Crash Bandicoot, Star Ocean 2, Legend of Legaia, Klonoa, Final Fantasy 7 of course, Kingdom Hearts 1

Earthbound, Super Mario World, Chrono Trigger, Donkey Kong Country, Sonic & Knuckles, Bust-a-Move, Vectorman

Oh I forgot to reply to this earlier, but thank you SO MUCH for this super detailed response, it should be an effort post in my opinion lol. I started to use obsidian which I liked well enough but definitely began organizing things in more of a table of contents style as opposed to going full zettelkasten. I’ll fiddle around with RemNotes and see how that does me. I like the idea of writing but I could see that being so much more cumbersome…Maybe taking all the rougjt notes and then summarizing them that way could be helpful. Anyway you rule, thanks again!

Thank you so much I’m trying hard, used to be full of piss n vinegar in terms of being real militant/public with our contract but at this point it feels like we need to capture that CBA. Other departments in my agency recently secured their union contracts and got pretty favorable raises so we’re hoping we won’t need to fight too much longer to get something similar. Gotta remember that it’s for the good of everyone and the folks coming in in the future

I can’t tell if the first part of your comment is sarcastic or not, and no I didn’t know that about Jacobin nor did I know she was a writer for them prior to purchasing the book

Proud of you for advocating for yourself with the medical system, it’s so hard! Like you try to give the benefit of the doubt that they are the knowledgeable ones…

Also working out is hard for me to maintain personally but it is so good! I notice that my lower back pain nearly disappears when I’m the slightest bit active lol. Who would’ve thought?

Hell yeah that’s a goal of mine too! It’s soooo hard though. I deleted Instagram and Reddit (again) and it’s at least helped me to pay more attention during movies 😅 step in the right direction I guess. Now I need to be less of a cave troll and touch more fucking grass. How have you done with it so far?

Lmao I’m the same way without the follow through Like I just finished a book about Capital, so now I want to read David Ricardo and some other economists to compare theories. Then of course I want to read some anthropological literature to learn more about commerce and origins of Capitalism. And then Hegel, and then the French revolution and then and then…and then I forget lol.

I have horrible memory and have thought about note taking; do you have a form that you follow that works for you?

Hell yeah! It can be so hard to keep on top of and I can only imagine that once it gets past a certain point it feels impossible to deal with so good on you! I’m sure it feels soooo nice to have a cozy clean place. I’m somewhat Obsessive about cleaning, which can be nice but also is at the expense of having energy to literally do anything else besides work lol, but I know my anxiety lifts immensely after a good pick up around the house

People’s Guide to Capitalism by Hadas Thier, which was recommended to me by a few comrades here as an easier to disgest version of Capital. I bought a bunch of Marxist lit that I meant to dive into like a year ago and just started getting into it now lol.

I’ve been off of work for a month and a half; it’s been amazing. We are bargaining a union contract and I’m one of 6 people who have been doing literally everything for the union effort and it makes me wanna cry and throw up to have to get back into it (been going hard since March 2023). Management is a fuck so there’s constant new bullshit “restructuring” goin on and I think I should maybe just find another job. Eeeeeh

Also I’m stoked you’ll be able to cuddle your pets soon! Always the best medicine

I actually managed to finish a book I started this month which is pretty rare for me, feels good! Gotta keep the momentum up. I start work back up this week, my goal is to not shrivel up and die lol

TENACIOUS D! I unironically listen to their first album a lot lol. Weird Al, obviously. Suburban Lawns, the Aquabats, Reel Big Fish, Green Day (the album Dookie in particular), Presidents of the United States of America, Primus, Mr. Bungle, the Adicts, the King Kahn & BBQ Show, Nobunny, Weedeater, Spazz, Gravy Train!!!, the Pixies, GWAR, King Diamond, Busdriver, MF Doom, Talking Heads

Your mileage may vary with some of these; some don’t mean to have a funny shtick but I just find them funny personally

Panty liners is honestly a brilliant idea! I used to go sans underpants but uh, tight jeans is not the jam for that. I think having multiple pairs of pants you rotate through+panty liners would be the best bet.

The class aspect is definitely something that pisses me off about it as well. EVs seem to be debatable when it comes to them being more environmentally friendly after all, but it seems like anything that is or appears to be better, ethical consumption choices are reserved for people with money (But also there’s no ethical consumption under capitalism obvs).

I’m fortunate enough to have been able to purchase a new hybrid rav, it was so worth it but I did also go from a 97 Mazda with peeling paint that can’t climb mountain passes and does like 17 miles per gallon lol.

I would not want to pay double for a new car to be able to do half the mileage and instead of just fueling up, having to find a fucking Walmart god knows where and sit in the parking lot for a half hour. Super inconvenient if you plan to do any long distance traveling

I agree with you, I like that it feels more cozy and there are way fewer trolls/devil’s advocate types that I’ve run into here. And that’s from my multiple different accounts that I’ve test drived on different instances. I personally think that lemmy is too confusing for people to settle into due to the nature of federation and such so its only gonna be people really committed to getting away from mainstream social media that will come over long term.