What a profoundly condescending comment. Has it occurred to you (as you ironically type this useless comment from… behind a keyboard lmao) that I also exist in the real world, have real world conversations, and have real world connections to real world people who have really echoed these sentiments?

Glad you don’t need to hear people say these things. Must be nice. But guess what, I have! In the flesh! The fun thing about nuance and multiplicity is that I can both type an essay/exist on social media AND have real life conversations and interactions. Isn’t that fabulous?

Have you also considered that the place you live and your proximity to a generally more conservative-leaning populace makes your environment less violently radical than the PNW? The likelihood that you know veterans is higher than the place where I grew up (I never met one! I don’t recall many people in my high school needing to go to the army in order to afford college. If there were any, it was a minority).

Hard to say what exactly triggered you about my writing (perhaps you have been engaged in some of this same behavior on a more subtle plane without even admitting it to yourself), but I hope you feel nice about coming to my Medium after the labor I painstakingly offered in order to provide material examples (SOMEONE SAID SOMETHING TO ME anecdotes tragically don’t qualify as primary sources) just so you could gaslight a Jewish person and tell me I’m merely a keyboard warrior in a bubble when you were triggered and challenged by what I wrote. And that, my friend, underscored the importance of providing the data and the perspective that I have.

Next time you’re inclined to judge a vast nation of 330M+ people based on your Carolina bubble, don’t. That not only lacks nuance, it’s asinine. You aren’t the center of the world. Be well.