Stepped on a rake, smacked me right on the forehead. More plausible than you might think.

E

For tasks that don’t require much mental attention: daydream. Let your mind wander, or create stories in your head. I’ve been “working” on an idea for a novel for years–it’s mostly something I think about to occupy myself when I’d otherwise be bored.

Related:

There’s a saying in this line of reasoning: “eat the frog first.” The idea is that if you have to do something unpleasant (e.g., consuming a slimy amphibian), do it first thing, otherwise you’ll be dreading it all day and it’ll make your entire day worse. Get it done and out of the way, then you can enjoy your day (and the other tasks won’t feel as bad in comparison).

It’s bad in the same way cigarettes are bad. It’s not good for you, but it’s tasty on the way down (though this varies by location and one’s taste). At the end of the day, it’s wildly popular for a reason.

Personally, I prefer Rally’s or Culver’s. Neither are much better for you, but they’re better than McD’s.

What DE are you using? I noticed that under XFCE, I have to use the display-managed suspend option, rather than the “system-managed” one (not sure why there’s a distinction).

Will have shatten

I’ve had similar strong reactions to other things. In my case, I had some unresolved trauma that I wasn’t even consciously aware of until I worked through it with a therapist. Not necessarily the case with you, but it might be worth talking to a professional if you have the means.

That being said, every office seems to have obnoxious coworkers (that’s pretty much the premise of The Office, and why it did so well). And that can be annoying for sure. For me, I try to not take my work overly seriously, and I try to remember that others might find me obnoxious at times too.

Tell me you’re a 90’s kid who was designated as gifted and now deals with overwhelming anxiety and depression without telling me you’re a 90’s kid who was designated as gifted and now deals with overwhelming anxiety and depression.

Thanks, I hate it

I work in the automotive sector. Most OEMs are only getting more aggressive and invasive with respect to your privacy, and there are regular discussions about how to monetize your data. I’ve been in discussions where people proposed to analyze your driving style to track you better, and integrate that with targeted ads in your vehicle.

Also, full-autonomous (level 5) is still a long way off from general use on (non-modified) public roads. Most of what you see on the road today that advertises being “fully autonomous driving” is monitored and controlled by underpaid workers.

I believe the full(er) quote is “not a snowball’s chance in hell.”

“Wisdom has been chasing you, but you have managed to outrun it”

That’s a cool looking handheld, but… that button naming is cursed. Who puts A and B across from each other?!

Hold on, let me play the world’s tiniest violin (I don’t mean that aggressively, my arms are just incredibly short).

I dunno. Chilling all day, cuddling at night, don’t pay rent or taxes, sounds okay to me.

Give 'em the test

I’m sorry for your situation. It’s definitely a tough place to be. My wife and I recently moved back to Canada–we were planning the move before the election, but the election results only confirmed our decision.

In terms of coping, one thing I’ve done is to try to remind myself that his followers are also victims, in a sense. Not that they don’t bear responsibility (every person who has supported him is responsible for the growing dumpster fire that is the US), but it’s like you said–Trump doesn’t care about them or their interests. And despite it being tempting to think every MAGA is just stupid (which is at least partly true), there’s some rationality to how they arrived there. It’s mostly due to fear-based reasoning mixed with misguided patriotism and their upbringing (and probably other factors). It doesn’t excuse what they’re doing, but if I’m honest, I might be in the same place as them if I had experienced life in their shoes. Still wrong, but it helps me at least humanize them in my own head and it lets my anger (at them) dwindle to pity instead. I also try to remember the ways I’ve been ignorant in my own past. Again, not to excuse anyone, just to deal with my own emotions.

In terms of speaking up, I haven’t had much luck. Most of his people are all in, and there is literally nothing that will change their mind. More often, I find that disengaging is more effective–mainly for my own sanity. If someone wants to engage, I try to remember to first ask them, “what would it take to change your mind about Trump?” When I’ve asked this, 95% of the time, the person responds with “nothing.” Then I confirm that there’s no point in having a conversation about it, because at this point, there’s nothing that will change my mind about him either (due to the overwhelming evidence of his character and misdeeds). At the end of the day, our principles simply don’t line up, so a conversation would be fruitless.

Not sure what your life situation is, but if you have the means to move somewhere else, that’s probably the best you could do. It also sends the strongest possible message to your community, and leaves the MAGA crowd to their infighting (rember, their ideology is based on blaming people–if all the “libs” leave town, they’re forced to find a new out-group and they slowly eat their own). It sucks, but there’s nothing much you can do as the minority to turn your community around (aside from offering support to any like-minded people).

Here’s hoping you can get out of it.

H