Unless you’re providing statistical evidence to back up your claims, I’m not interested in discussing further.

You can continue making whatever excuses you want to justify your mild transphobia, but I’m done debating with you, and haven’t even read this response because it’s nonsense.

Whatever excuse you need to justify how an individual’s request for you to respect their pronouns, their identity as a human being, is up for debate because it somehow inconveniences you.

Except for the most extreme cases you can come up with, nothing is black and white, everything is grey, and your insistence that i must be a bad guy because i challenge anything makes you not terribly worth engaging.

I’m still waiting for evidence of all of these numerous cases of people using pronouns for attention, and all these people making up sexual assault claims. You got any?

Since I’ve clearly lost the argument entirely (sure, bud, sure), you clearly must have a plethora of evidence and examples that actually support your claim.

This entire comment is attacking me, and nothing that I actually said, while using generalizations to paint this picture that I don’t understand unless I can use extremely specific examples.

What part of “This entire debate is a debate about respect” do you not understand, and what argument is there to be had about that? I’d love to hear it, I’d love for you to actually engage with anything I’ve said beyond “yOu HaVe To UnDeRsTaNd ThEiR pOiNt Of ViEw.”

I already covered the grey areas, if you actually what I wrote, you’re just being willfully ignorant about it. “No one should be yelled at for a genuine mistake, but eventually it’s not a mistake and you need to grow.” Wow, yeah, whole lot of grey area in that one too, PHEW, we’re demanding the world.

but you are not a good champion of the cause of all you can come up with is mocking straw men arguments and feigning indignance.

I asked you for statistical evidence to back up your claims and you’ve provided none, so I’ve had to argue your own ridiculous arguments that fell apart under the most basic scrutiny. Sorry you have a terrible take on this? That’s my fault too, that’s me mocking straw men arguments (so you’re admitting that your arguments are all bad faith, straw men arguments, glad to hear it) and feigning indignance?

I’m not feigning anything, once again, using preferred pronouns is basic respect to another human being, and while no one should be offended by genuine mistakes, your continued defense of not showing trans people respect if their pronouns aren’t up to your standard, is transphobic.

So, I apologize if someone who refuses to provide any evidence to back up their claims that there are so very many instances of people making up pronouns, or any instance of how someone requesting certain pronouns creates such an undo burden on the rest of society, isn’t worth me engaging with further.

Keep making excuses for why you have it so much worse than the marginalized group who’s request for respect is apparently a fucking debate.

Absolute clown.

Yes, it is not a huge burden to remember someone’s pronoun,

Then stop arguing otherwise. Stop making excuses. We get it, no one is going to get it the first time, no one is going to remember everything.

By your logic, fascists deserve a seat at the table because otherwise we can’t have a discussion about fascism. Racists deserve a seat at the table because otherwise we can’t see their point of view. White supremacists need a seat at the table because otherwise we’d only hear from those they hate.

But those things come from a real place too, and trying to bully or shame people for it is the same thing you accuse others of.

So you’re just, again, victim blaming and refusing to show any examples of this supposed attention seeking. You got anything beyond a handful of cases over the decades?

You’re right, the amount of respect a person receives should be based on the gender pronouns they use and the overwhelming inconvenience they apparently place on the general population. Yep, respect for a human being should be a debate.

When are you going to blame trans people for Harris losing like the rest of the liberal base seems ready to? I mean, we have to engage with that point of you, right, we have to tolerate the intolerant, right?

Right.

Just a guess here, but are you that desperate to get offended at something that you have to double down on everything you find?

No, I’m more disappointed that those on Lemmy, a supposed left-leaning forum, are ok with trying to justify not using preferred pronouns.

And I’m offended because your entire comment reeked of “if you defend your gender pronouns, some hick who can’t be bothered to read the name tag in front if them and gets so easily offended for being politely corrected a few times during a conversation, we deserve the right to discriminate against you.” That’s literally your last paragraph, so maybe go read what you actually wrote and are defending before getting upset about someone calling you out on it, whether or not you’re ready to recognize it internally.

Where in my comment did you find an opening for someone politely correcting a preferred name, to turn it into a snarky taking over the person.

I’ve never once said people can’t make mistakes, but this complete “well it’s difficult and ignorance is always an excuse” that all of you seem to be conveying is ridiculous. And it’s absolutely a taking over of a person: pronouns are part of how a person identifies, akin to their name. Your example used a convention full of people wearing name tags that had their names and their pronouns on them. So, you can’t read? You can’t listen and hope you hear someone use the pronoun in a sentence? You can’t go, “Hm, lemme do a quick Google and see how people use zhe/zher in a sentence.”

Again, that would be like saying, “I can’t pronounce Rajesh, even though you’ve politely corrected me several times, but this time you got upset so now I’m either calling you Steve or potentially just never bringing you up again.” That was your entire comment, “This is too difficult for some people, so they don’t have to ever learn.”

Nor have I ever said that trans folks are justified in overreactions to people making genuine mistakes, but the attitude in this thread seems to be “it’s ok to not take them seriously or dismiss them,” which isn’t ok.

We can argue the minutiae of very specific situations where it is or isn’t justified, but overall, I don’t see a situation where there should be confusion around “they.” If you’re having a conversation with or about someone, you likely understand the context around the conversation and should, without much difficulty, be able to follow and understand who “they” is referring to in regards to being a singular or plural pronoun. Especially if you’re at a convention, assuming business/professional since you mentioned name tags, you should be smart enough to figure it out quick enough.

If you’re reading and can’t understand “they,” you’ve either missed context or the author has failed to adequately define who “they” is in that instance. In 2024, I imagine you can look it up for a book, or maybe ask the person in the conversation to clarify if you’re not sure. It’s not hard, it’s laziness on the part of those who “just can’t get with the times.”

You may want to dismiss or ignore those that take advantage of the gender topic purely for the attention, or lie about sexual abuse for revenge or money, but that doesn’t make it disappear.

Doesn’t make what disappear? Can you show me actual, statistical evidence to back up how many people are lying and just seeking attention? This reeks of conservative victim blaming and dismissal of actual victims.

Does it happen? Sure, but I highly highly doubt it happens in any meaningful amount for your statement here to bear any wait beyond, again, victim blaming.

but you’re using the vocal objections as false flags just as much as the media used the false arguments as reasons to minimize the groups themselves.

I have no idea what you’re trying to convey here beyond something akin to “well, not all men.” I’m not accusing every person of being transphobic that struggles to adapt to new pronouns, but they’re also words, you can learn them quickly, especially in your native language. And being offended if someone continues to correct you is more of a reflection on you, the individual who can’t or won’t adapt, to understand that “this is too complicated” isn’t a valid excuse after a certain point.

And my entire thing, this whole comment chain, has been about how using proper pronouns is showing respect for someone, and y’all are making any excuse you can possibly think of to try and find situations where disrespect is justified due to your own failings or inability to grow.

Trans people have enough to deal with, is asking other people to use breath expelled from their lungs to show them respect, even with grace periods for adapting, really asking for the fucking moon here? Like, seriously, all of the controversy around trans people, and pronouns is the hill y’all want to die on? Seriously?

And as I pointed out in my original comment, you’re allowed to not use new pronouns or respect them or whatever, but you’re not allowed to be upset when society treats you in kind.

To win an election, you have to convince the conservatives that it is in their best interest to vote for the progressive candidate.

I disagree with you, to win an election, you need to convince voters to vote for you. That’s it. Democrats have tried to win over conservatives in at least 2024 and the start of the 2020 campaign (before Biden worked with Bernie’s campaign to run on more progressive stuff).

And they keep losing. If what everyone on Lemmy keeps saying is true, roughly 1/3rd of the country voted Dem, 1/3rd voted Rep, and 1/3rd didn’t vote. And if we’re to believe people who say “both parties” genuinely feel that way, and those people are likely to belong to the 1/3rd who don’t vote…

Why are Dems trying to win over the conservatives at all? Show the 1/3rd of the populace who doesn’t vote that you’re not both the same. No, you’re never going to get 100% voter turnout, but if 77 million (Trump’s popular vote count) is 1/3rd, that means there’s roughly 77 million people that can be won over to vote.

So the Dems need to go after them, and they need to start running on actual progressive policy and positive change for the average American. They need to stop letting Republicans control the narrative for them on their ideas and policies. Obama won on the message of Hope, Biden won on the back of Bernie’s progressive policies, and Trump has won twice now on change.

The common denominator is change, the current system isn’t working for the average American, and people aren’t going to support the status quo. We can sit here and insult Magas and conservatives and comment on how empty their brains are or how selfish they may be or ignorant or incestual or whatever. I get it, I’ve done it, but I bet you at their core, they want something in this country to change for the better.

So they gambled on Trump in 2016, and regardless of your opinion on it, Trump spent four years showing people that you can change things, you can get things done, you just have to break all the rules and norms to do it. Biden gave people hope in 2020 (plus the COVID handling by Trump) so they rebuked Trump.

After four years of the average American seeing no material improvement to their lives (that’s all I’m arguing here, not whether or not Biden actually got anything done), and the Dem candidate running on “I’m going to maintain the course,” people stayed home. They showed the Dems in 2020 that progressive policies win, and yet the Dems still tried to win over voters from the other side as opposed to winning over the roughly 77 million who stay home.

It almost feels like willful ignorance on the behalf of these so-called liberal elite. The simpler explanation, though, is probably money, and that’s why people say “both sides are the same.” It’s because money: both sides of the aisle still insider trade despite it’s unpopularity with Americans, both sides of the aisle still hold expensive campaign dinners with the wealthy elite, and both sides still accept billions of dollars in campaign funds from the oligarchs. My cousin supports Bernie with his heart of hearts, but will not vote because “both sides are the same, I want actual change.”

Progressives need to take the helm from the liberals of the DNC and get PAC and oligarch money out of their organization (which will never happen). They need to show the American people that they not only believe in change, they will get it done, and it will benefit the people. They need to ditch this air of superiority and moral enlightenment and just get things done, stop condescending to your voting base, and make your constituency feel like you hear them.

Anecdotally, my dad and I were talking the other day about the election. He supported Trump in 2016 with some enthusiasm (just because Trump wasn’t a politician and “I make more when Repubs are in office”). Him and I stopped talking for almost 2 years after the election. But the other day, he kinda surprised me by saying, “Y’know, I don’t like Trump, I think he’s an asshole, I didn’t want to vote for him… But I just can’t vote for those pompous Democrats.”

I told him how disappointed I was in the DNC, and he said he liked Kamala, but didn’t trust the Dems (I know, the irony is not lost on me). I asked him how he felt about Bernie, and surprisingly, he made a joke about how we’d all have to learn to talk with our hands if he won. But talking policy ideas, my dad supports all of Bernie’s stuff, he just thinks the Dems are out of touch with blue collar folks like himself.

He doesn’t care that you’ve written a letter condoning the breaking of precedent to the Parliamentarian, and through the process of Habeas Corpus and Secretariat, after 12 years maybe they’ll acknowledge they did wrong. Doesn’t make sense to you, right?

Well, that’s because it’s nonsense, which is basically what the average American hears whenever the Dems get on their pulpit and start finger pointing and blaming everyone but themselves about why they couldn’t get things done. The average American living paycheck to paycheck, who doesn’t have a college degree, and likely hasn’t taken a civics class since high school, doesn’t care about all of these little caveats and the intricacies of an arbitrary system of rules and norms that they created. They aren’t going to sit down and research various political theories and then do a deep dive on the various roles and powers each different tiny figurehead amongst the federal government has and does not have, rounding out the night with a hefty portion of the history and precedent surrounding constitutional law.

They’re just not, and we need to stop pretending they will, or that people will even do the bare minimum of understanding how a bill becomes a law. So run on things they understand, and then actually get them done.

But lying? Nah, look at the division Biden pardoning his son has caused on Lemmy, lying isn’t the answer. They need to run on actual, positive change, and then work to actually make it happen, not these half-assed attempts we keep getting like the ACA.

This turned into a book, but I liked your write up.

it should be “Trump returns to White House despite the 14th Amendment saying he can’t.”

I agree, if only there had been someone in charge of a government agency with the mandate to go after people like that, using a system of laws and justice, administered in some kind of court… Ideally someone the offender didn’t appoint themselves, with a time period of roughly, idk, 4 years to get it done?

Correct: I have had two jobs where I only worked 32 hours/week, but was considered a full time employee with benefits and all that.

However, just because your employer considers you full-time doesn’t mean other organizations will. When I was getting my mortgage, it was with one of those 32 hr/week jobs, and my loan company would not sign off on an approval until I could show a paystub with 40 hours/week.

I told them I’m considered full time at my company at 32 hours, and they basically said that’s great, but their policy is 40.

Just got a commission to make a charcuterie/cutting board for a friend of my brother’s.

Beyond that, little gifts for friends/family that are long overdue, most notable being a rosary bead holder for my mom.

Finding out who the true allies are to the LGBTQ+ community.

Once I lose my VA disability, I’ll be priced out of existing, I won’t be able to afford my debt, mortgage, bills, and then food and such. I’d have to double my income overnight, and I have zero training or certifications or degrees beyond an AS in General Studies, so it’s not going to happen.

I’m less worried about the national guard than I am about local law enforcement across the country, Trump will give them the green light with impunity.

My biggest fear, though? They’re going to ban all LGBTQ±related healthcare using the same mechanisms as the Federal Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984. “Sure, the states can choose the drinking age types of LGBTQ+ healthcare they offer in their state… They just won’t have access to federal funding if it isn’t 21 absolutely none.”

I know who you’re talking about, drag, drag has called me a racist, Trump supporting fascist who wants drag and all of drags friends dead because I had the audacity to criticize Harris and the DNC. Drag backed off that when I pointed out to drag that I’m a trans veteran who voted for Harris.

I’ve never had difficulty understanding drag, and as much as I think drag is full of hot air, I respect drag enough as a fellow human to refer to drag in drag’s preferred way. Drag is using the third person, this has been a trope in popular media for years and no one has complained about it.

Did y’all have a hard time relating to and understanding The Boulder in Avatar the Last Airbender? He refers to himself as “The Boulder” instead of his pronouns, where’s the uproar around that?

Let’s take it to real life: I googled it, pro wrestlers The Rock, The Big Guy, Santina Marella, Kanyon, and Stone Cold Steve Austin all regularly used the third person to refer to themselves. They used other pronouns as well, I’m not denying that, but you all act like this is some completely unheard of new thing that only these woke leftists are doing.

It’s respect, full stop. It’s the equivalent of someone saying their name is Rajesh and you say, “Eh, Steve is easier, I’m used to the name Steve, I can’t pronounce whatever you just said so the only way we’re equals is if I can just call you Steve.” That’s insane, y’all need to stop making excuses as to why showing respect to another individual is sooooooo hard.

And FYI, in writing this, I only had to go back and make three changes where I used an improper pronoun in when referring to drag. Again, if I can show basic respect to someone who called me a fascist nazi, why can’t y’all do it for your friends, family, and coworkers? It’s not hard, and I’m 30, so it’s not like I was brought up with zhe/zher/zhers and all this other stuff either my entire childhood, I didn’t learn what transgender was until I was in the Navy.

Edit: Drag told me I insulted drag and lied to Lemmy by defending drag here, so I’ve crossed it out and will let drag defend drag’s pronouns alone. Drag doesn’t want my help because, in drag’s own words, I’m a Nazi who purposefully misgendered drag and only wrote the above to insult and hurt drag.

Yet refuses to apologize for falsely calling me a Nazi:

We’re still in the growing pains version of it, though, where there are far too many people taking advantage of a legitimate position just for the attention.

I would argue “who cares?” And please, explain to me how many “far too many” is? Because the trans population makes up under 1% of the US population, so I’m really trying to wrap my head around <1% is “far too many” of anything.

This is just excuses, I’m sorry. I get “zhe/zher/zhers” is awkward to see, but watch this: “Debra is amazing, have you had zher apple pie?”

Phew, nearly suffered an aneurysm on that one. 🙄

Another issue is that there is a component of needing to be vocal and firm or no one will take you seriously, but it’s a fine line between that and being obnoxious and over-asking…reminding someone who wants to be considerate is good, being offended at someone intentionally mis-labeling may be necessary, but being offended by honest mistakes or berating someone for not realizing zhe or zher or some newly defined label was a thing definitely hurts the cause.

First, your last line is bullshit, it’s the same logic that’s been used for every single oppressed group asking for basic respect from their oppressors.

When women standing up against sexual harassment really started to gain national attention, the news anchors made the exact same arguments you’re making now. “Oh, it’s just a man being friendly! Now men won’t want to hire women because they’ll be sued! We’ve behaved this way for decades and now it’s a problem? God, Debbie is such a cunt for reporting me for rubbing her shoulders, I was just trying to be nice!”

When women reported it, it was often, “They’re just looking for a payout/attention! Why didn’t they bring this up for the last X amount of time?! Why do women have to be so rude about it?!”

When gay marriage was being fought for, what did we hear? “Oh, can’t they keep that behind closed doors? It just makes me uncomfortable, I don’t think the children should see that! It’s always been Adam and Eve for me, I’m 40 years old, how am I supposed to learn to use the word “partner” instead of “husband/wife”?!”

Notice how it’s always the oppressed who are asking for too much, always? Always, it’s always the oppressed asking for too much. But when they say, “Hey, society, can you do XYZ to show me some basic dignity and respect?” what are we met with?

“We’re still in the growing pains, people are taking advantage, we need to be patient, you need to know your place and when it’s ok to speak up, but make sure you know the correct amount to speak up, otherwise they have the right to just not respect you.”

For fucking words, that’s what y’all are doubling down on, something that costs you no money or effort beyond treating someone like a person, and respecting their reasonable request. They’re not asking for you to paint their face from memory, or have their star-chart memorized and they yell at you for not knowing that Mercury was in retrograde, or chastising you for not knowing the exact date and time they were born.

If they’ve introduced themselves and their pronouns, and you can’t be bothered to respect that, you’re just a dick at best and transphobic at worst. It’s really that simple, it’s a sign of respect, and any excuse for why you can’t use words is just an excuse to disrespect those you don’t feel deserve it. And that’s an internal issue the individual needs to get over, but the LGBTQ+ community doesn’t need to coddle a society that can’t be bothered to show them the respect of using proper pronouns.

Okay, first of all, if you counted how many pronouns you use, per day, it would likely surprise you. Second, it once again, costs you nothing to use someone’s pronouns after they’ve been identified to you. If you’re arguing “it’s not fair to be yelled at for something you aren’t aware of” then that’s completely reasonable.

If your argument is “I don’t want to be bothered learning 3 new words in a language I’ve spoken my entire life,” then I have no sympathy for you, and you’re at best just someone who’s disrespectful to those they (WOW I used they as a singular, THAT was hard, cost me $400 to write that just now) don’t feel deserve respect. It’s that simple.

If someone introduces themselves as Jennifer, and you immediately start calling them Jen/Jenny/Etc, and they ask tell you it’s Jennifer, do you double down because, well, Jen is just easier, Jen is just easier, I’ll just stop bringing up Jen.

Perhaps an undesirable outcome is that if the pronoun is a hurdle to overcome, it’s easier for Bob just not to bring Sally up at all, a possibly unfortunate result because it might have been an interesting conversation that is now simply avoided.

And then you sit there, while explaining this to me, and act like what you’re describing isn’t blatant discrimination. The exact same “LoGiC” that has been used to discriminate against “difficult women,” y’know, the ones that were sexually harassed in the workplace for decades.

How did the News react to women standing up against harassment and discrimination in the workplace? Oh, that’s right, they said things like, “Well, now men aren’t going to promote women into managerial positions because they’ll be afraid of being sued! Now men can’t even have conversations with their coworkers without fear of reprimand! Won’t anyone think of how the poor men feel?!”

Notice a pattern? It’s always the oppressed asking too much, because they don’t understand the undo burden of checks notes for this discussion not harassing women and, wow, big ask here, using the names and preferred pronouns of your coworkers.

You’re right, I didn’t think how hard that must be on the average person, completely unreasonable ask on the part of the LGBTQ+ community, next they’ll want equal rights under the law! Disgusting. 🙄

But if someone asks me to refer to them a particular way, sure what not? It means more to them than it means to me.

And it costs you nothing. :)

Using someone’s preferred pronouns is a sign of mutual respect, your refusal to do so is a sign of disrespect to those around you. It’s really that simple, bud.

Do you call people Johnny when they tell you their name is John? It’s literally the same thing, they’ve explained how they’d like to be addressed, and deviating from that uninvited is just rude.

I get that they matter a lot to some people, and of course it’s super annoying (if not worse) to be referred to in the wrong way

It’s dehumanizing and disrespectful, it’s not annoying. I’ve had family members refuse to use an individual’s pronouns, but in a heartbeat correct themselves for referring to a pet by the wrong pronoun. I’ve had people go out of their way to call me “man, guy, dude, bruh” when I’m fem presenting, and I’m the only woman they’re speaking to that way while I get the “I talk like that with everyone, bruh,” excuse.

and if one group of people can try to force a change they prefer, I’m as much in my right to resist it if I don’t like it.

Correct, but then you don’t get to complain, like you are, that people get upset with you about it. You’re not free from the consequences of those around you simply because you have the right to feel differently on something like basic human respect for your fellow people.

I don’t get to complain that no one wants to have dinner with me just because they don’t like me taking food off their plates, even though I don’t agree with that societal norm.

I personally believe we should have the right to die, moreso as an individual choice than one a relative should make. We as individuals, who did not consent to living in this absolutely broken society, should have every right to just say one day, “Y’know what, I’ve had enough, I’m done.” This comment will likely be controversial, and I am not encouraging anyone to commit suicide, seek help where and how you can, suicide can be a permanent solution to a temporary problem.

A friend of mine told me once she considered those who commit suicide (outside of terminal illness) to be cowards, taking the “easy” way out and leaving their loved ones to suffer. I argued back that how is it unacceptable for loved ones to suffer, but it’s perfectly acceptable for the individual to suffer to keep the loved ones comfortable? And that’s what mental health (tin foil hat time) is entirely about: not comfort for the individual, but comfort for the society.

It doesn’t matter if you are completely disenfranchised with society, struggling to make ends meet, working multiple jobs with no benefits, eating the same meal 2-3 times a day every day to save money, none of that matters because you’re not contributing to society/capitalism they way you’re supposed to. When the VA was trying to force me onto SSRIs despite my objections due to the side effects they can have, I told them flat out I wasn’t taking a pill just so I could be “productive” for a society that will let me die in the streets at the earliest and cheapest convenience. And no “pill” is going to fix how sick and broken we are as a society.

We as a species weren’t designed for this kind of society, we’re an analog species trying to adapt to a digital world we haven’t had time to properly adjust to. We aren’t designed to work 40 hours/week, 8 hours/day, 50+ weeks per year. We aren’t designed to work ourselves to exhaustion and forego social interactions in the pursuit of more money to try and keep the lights on. And we are watching the largest transfer of wealth to the ultra-wealthy, making the Gilded Age look like child’s play.

So I guess, to sum it up: I think everyone should have the right to end their own life, regardless of the reason, but I don’t believe anyone should have the right to end someone else’s life outside of already-established practices (DNR orders, “pulling the plug” as PoA, etc). We are too broken as a society to trust ourselves to choose when others should die, but we should absolutely be allowing individual’s to end their own lives.

garbage disposal soup

We called this “Moscow Soup” at the last couple kitchens I worked in.

Us: Uh, Chef, that’s a lot of different ingredients and leftovers you’re throwing in that soup pot…

Chef: I’m making Moscow Soup! You know how to make Moscow Soup? It’s easy: whatever you’ve got on hand, goes in the pot!

Fun fact: ever had soup at a restaurant, and then made it at home but it didn’t taste quite the same or as good? There’s two main reasons:

1. If it’s a restaurant that actually makes their own soups (versus them being shipped in in a bag to be reheated), they’re very likely using leftovers to make your soup. So unless you’re using the exact same ingredients as the restaurant, it’s not going to taste the same.

2. The bigger reason being that they likely made the soup you’re eating at least the day before it’s served to you. This gives the ingredients of the soup time to marry, this is that “blend together” they’re talking about. This takes time, regardless of what you’re cooking, but it gives the ingredients the necessary time overnight to just… Become a better soup.

The leftovers they use have likely been marrying their flavors for a day or two before they’re put into the soup, so all of that blended flavor deliciousness is going to blend even more in the soup.

We were taught about it, but most Americans don’t view westward expansion with the same… Reverence? Notoriety?

Like, I remember learning about it across multiple grades, but… Oregon City being the final destination, that’s not something I would probably remember a year or two later, nevermind a decade or more.

Yep, and I have friends who have a lot of their social events and stuff there. I usually politely decline if I’m invited.

I wasn’t fired, but I resigned from a brewery/coffee shop I worked at after only 7 shifts. Context: I’m trans and in the closet still.

Hired as a cook for this brewery, and based on the interview, I’m one of the more “experienced” cooks on the team, and they (owners) were hoping I’d be able to help make the kitchen more professional. It’s a part-time gig, so sure, I’ll do what I can.

Well, the kitchen was too small for the facility. They would have to stop taking orders on busy nights an hour before close because they didn’t have the space to get through the 40+ orders that came in within 5 minutes of each other. Orders from both the bar, the cafe they had, and to go orders.

They’re menu was fine, surprisingly, they didn’t stretch themselves too thin. But the staff were… Rough. The kitchen supervisor couldn’t believe I owned a chef’s coat, nevermind actually showed up to work in one since everyone just wore t-shirts (no aprons, as far as I could find). I told the owners they should have chef coats, it’s a safety thing, etc, idk if that ever happened.

Anyway, the kitchen supe would spend 90% of the shift video chatting with various friends/family/etc during his shift, loudly dropping the n-word every other word while we’re cooking and cleaning and prepping. All on the line, not even in an office or something, in the middle of the kitchen. I’ve had managers who are lazy, that’s fine, but I’ve never had one that unprofessional.

There were like 2-3 shifts though where the bulk of the conversation amongst the kitchen staff were LGBTQ+ focused: I’m not sure I could love my daughter if she was a lesbian, I don’t understand this stuff, it’s a mental illness, trans people, etc. If it had happened once, fine, whatever. But over 2-3 different shifts, and the supervisor is taking part? No, I’m not cool with that.

My last shift, I’m annoyed and pretty over my coworkers based on their views I got to listen to, but trying to just get through it. I’m working the deep fryer, reheating some chicken wings. Pull the basket up and grab the thermometer to temp them when the supervisor calls over, “Oh, no, you don’t need to temp those, they’re already cooked!”

I pulled him aside after and asked him about that, and he goes, “Yeah, we already cooked them to 165°F before we cooled and stored them. You’ve just gotta get em heated up again, you don’t have to temp them.”

I send an almost 2-page long resignation to the owners the next day, explaining that I did not appreciate the conversations taking place in the kitchen and the opinions about people my coworkers had, people who may very well he standing in the room with them.

But I really harped on the fact that the kitchen supervisor, the supervisor, didn’t seem to be familiar with health code policies. Any good that’s already been cooked and then cooled must be brought back to 165°F when being reheated, that’s, like, one of those food safety things every pro cook should know, nevermind a supervisor.

I advised they may want to send their supervisors for food safety retraining before they made a customer sick, and that there were too many issues within the kitchen for me to help them without basically cleaning house and starting over.