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Remembering the time I posted on Reddit about a waitress at a chain restaurant treating a blind person like she didn’t exist, repeatedly, despite very pointed suggestions from both the blind and sighted customer that she not do that. I got a lot of interesting responses from all over the map, and most of them sided against the waitress, but there were two diametrically opposed arguments that were repeated many times:
1. “She probably didn’t know how to make eye contact so she felt awkward and didn’t know how to address a blind person.”
2. “I’m not blind, but am <insert disability here>. This happens to me all the time.”

Some non-disabled people will defend ableism at all costs. Obviously, there are lots of solutions to argument #1, but it’s clear that isn’t even the problem. What would happen if I substituted “blind” with some other disability? Would people find another way to apologize on behalf of the abled, or is blindness just at the bottom of the totem pole?
We all need to learn to call this out when we see it. We are never in the wrong when we demand autonomy.
#disability #blind #blindness #ableism

—@simon

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[Interior – Olive Garden, festive Italian music playing]

Me: Is it true that when you’re here, you’re family?

Waiter: Absolutely! We strive to make everyone feel welcome and like they are part of the family. Mangia! Hahaha!

Me: That’s awesome.

[intense music]

Me: I really need your help. I’m in debt way over my head, and I don’t have any one else to ask. Can you spot me the money?

Waiter: Oh, here we go again! I can’t just bail you out. You need to learn personal responsibility.

Me: Look, the thrill of gambling got the best of me. Instead of winning, I lost, big time. I owe money to some very scary people. Can’t you just help me out this one time?

Waiter: I can’t keep bailing you out all the time! It won’t solve the underlying problem. Maybe you should chalk it up as a growth opportunity?

Me: Oh, c’mon! You helped Debbie when she got in that car accident!

Waiter: Don’t you take that tone with me young man! That was different, she wasn’t at fault, and she needed a car to get to work. This is just like you! How dare you try to guilt trip me!

Me: Whatever, you are being an asshole like always! Bad things will happen to me if I don’t pay back the debt. I know you have never given a shit about me, but do you think could try at least once in my life?

Waiter: That’s a lie! I care deeply about you, and it pains me to see you like this. But if I keep letting you avoid the consequences, you’ll never learn. Let’s find a solution together. Have you ever though about seeking professional help or credit counseling?

Me: I guess I was hoping you could wave your magic wand and solve this for me. You’re right; I need to clean up my own mess.

[cheerful upbeat music]

Waiter: That’s the spirit! I’ll support you through this process. Let your mistakes be your teachers. I want you to grow and become the man you are supposed to be.

Me: Thanks, it’s a bitter pill, but it’s about time I finally man up. Can I at least have a hug?

Waiter: Sorry, the best I can do is more breadsticks and salad!

Me: Hahah, bring them on!

[I walk into the bathroom and shimmy out the window and curl up in the fetal position to hide in a dumpster]

Voiceover: Olive Garden, because when you’re here, you’re family!

—@StefanThinks

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The need to preserve private communication is more severe than ever. Encrypted communication remains a crucial cornerstone to safeguarding freedom and human rights worldwide.
But what makes a secure messenger secure and private?

@justinhendrix, @cooperq, Caroline Sinders, Leila Wylie Wagner, @TimBernard, Ami Mehta did a deep dive into the design and technical security of encrypted apps.

(🧵1/2)

https://techpolicy.press/what-is-secure-an-analysis-of-popular-messaging-apps/

—@cityroler

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Once upon a time, there was a community called Little Details on LiveJournal. It was a place where fiction writers of all kinds could ask for help with their fact-checking and research. It was anb amazing resource before the collapse of LiveJournal took it down.

I recently decided to try resurrecting it on Dreamwidth. It’s now open and ready for questions. Come check it out, and boost if you’re so inclined!

https://little-details.dreamwidth.org/

#writing #fanfiction #fandom #dreamwidth

—@pompelon

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Jax stared at the alien on his doorstep — a short being in a silver suit, with grey skin, a big head, and dark eyes.

“Your music,” the alien said, “is too loud. We can hear it from the dimension next door….”

“Whoa!” said Jax. “From another dimension?”

Behind the alien stood a beautiful elf with pointed ears. “Yes. We hail from the world bordering yours on the other side. It’s quite loud.”

Jax glanced back at his friend. “Dude, I TOLD you this new sound system rocks!”

#microfiction

—@vanellopemint

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One of the easiest ways to be courteous when arranging a call with another person in a different timezone is to specify times in their timezone, or at least be really clear which you are referring to.

This is a subtweet of all Americans who have ever asked me if we could do a call “in the morning”. I’m only mildly sadistic but generally this does make me suggest 11am… CET.

—@solar_chase

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“Lately I’ve been really annoyed with the things I’m seeing in my feed, you’re all being so—“

Of all the things that annoy me the most, someone tone policing the Fediverse because they don’t know how to unfollow, filter, or Mute is at the top.

It’s controlled by who you follow.

So change who you follow.

—@oliphant

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⚡ Heard of @gotosocial ?

GoToSocial provides a lightweight, customizable, and safety-focused entryway into the #fediverse, you can keep in touch with your friends, post, read, and share images and articles.

Consider #GoToSocial instead of Pixelfed if you’d like a safety-focused alternative with text-only post support that is maintained by a stellar developer community!

We ❤️ GtS, check them out!

🌍 https://gotosocial.org/

🔍 https://fedidb.org/software/gotosocial

—@pixelfed

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We need to move past only talking about accessibility to recognising that understanding and coming to terms with how ableism works is necessary to even do accessibility well.

Accessibility is the work to remove barriers constructed for disabled people produced by ableist systems.

If you fix the barriers without addressing the systemic issues that produced the barriers they’ll just come back again.

—@nickcolley

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my friend andy and I had flag duty in 7th grade for a week, which meant we were responsible for bringing the us flag from the school office, putting it on the flagpole, raising it, saluting it, and going back inside

we got in trouble one day because no one told us we were supposed to fly it at half-mast and neither of us had this knowledge innately, and that was how I started to figure out maybe worshipping a length of colorful fabric might be kinda problematic

—@biscuit_tornado

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This is not targeted at any one person, just running commentary that people’s posts are less frequent, more angry, more off-topic… it’s not an excuse to be a jerk but keep in mind that maybe around a rough quarter of US private sector cybersecurity people are dealing with impactful budget cuts, have been laid off, or had colleagues laid off and had to take over all their work, or had to actually lay off employees (or worse), and it’s definitely impacting mental health, burnout, and morale. Just my two cents. And we are privileged – it’s way worse in other IT niches and professions. Look out for one another. Be kind.

—@hacks4pancakes