when ___--friendly excludes you.
Jan. 5th, 2010 05:57 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
serynI mailed 2 boxes. I went to lunch. I returned my library books.
There was a knitting thing tonight, I am dressed. I have all my stuff in its traveling bag. But I'm still home. The event was described with the dreaded phrase, "kids welcome". That's even worse than "children welcome".
The only thing that would be worse is "family-friendly"; because it's a knitting thing and if they said that, they'd be lying. There is a huge stigma against male knitters. Everyone assumes they're gay. So men at a knitting event must be gay, and "everyone knows" the implied association between homosexuality and pedophilia... (I think that was started by the Catholic church's unmarried priest rule... All parents protect daughters, but sons are expected to defend themselves... it's a situation ripe to encourage a small fraction of people to take vows of apparent chastity.)
Whenever something says kids are welcome, I feel unwelcome. I told someone else tonight it's because I'm contrary like that.
But there are some societal expectations from my childhood that current parents do not concern themselves with. In fact, most parents blame me when their monsters rush up and try to tackle me. As if. If they were cats, I'd be the allergic person the cats home in on. Gross, sticky, nasty children glom all over me. If I'd done that as a child, I would have been sent to wait in the car. I walked by a school today when the children were at recess. It sounded like the school was on fire and infested with rabid weasels while hail rains down outside and poison gas clouds randomly drift toward anyone silent. Screaming, constant, constant screaming. My mother said anyone screaming like that better be being murdered or she would make it so.
Kids have even fewer societal expectations than "children" do. Everyone knows you only use a nickname or slang in casual situations. So for something knitting-related to be "kids welcome" means someone's bitchboy fucktrophy will run up and steal your handspun yarn and dart off to wrap it around service dogs and furniture and homeless people while its minder will sit back smirking and saying "Isn't that just precious! Look how fast he can go! You should have kept better track of your stuff. Snotleigh gets into everything at his age; he can't help it. While you're untangling everything, could you bring him back with you?"
Yeah. I think I talked myself into staying home. Or if I go out, it will be to my local bar. Just describing that made me feel like I need a stiff drink. *shudder*
--
ETA: If you're in America, happy Penny-Nickel-Dime! (1/5/10)
There was a knitting thing tonight, I am dressed. I have all my stuff in its traveling bag. But I'm still home. The event was described with the dreaded phrase, "kids welcome". That's even worse than "children welcome".
The only thing that would be worse is "family-friendly"; because it's a knitting thing and if they said that, they'd be lying. There is a huge stigma against male knitters. Everyone assumes they're gay. So men at a knitting event must be gay, and "everyone knows" the implied association between homosexuality and pedophilia... (I think that was started by the Catholic church's unmarried priest rule... All parents protect daughters, but sons are expected to defend themselves... it's a situation ripe to encourage a small fraction of people to take vows of apparent chastity.)
Whenever something says kids are welcome, I feel unwelcome. I told someone else tonight it's because I'm contrary like that.
But there are some societal expectations from my childhood that current parents do not concern themselves with. In fact, most parents blame me when their monsters rush up and try to tackle me. As if. If they were cats, I'd be the allergic person the cats home in on. Gross, sticky, nasty children glom all over me. If I'd done that as a child, I would have been sent to wait in the car. I walked by a school today when the children were at recess. It sounded like the school was on fire and infested with rabid weasels while hail rains down outside and poison gas clouds randomly drift toward anyone silent. Screaming, constant, constant screaming. My mother said anyone screaming like that better be being murdered or she would make it so.
Kids have even fewer societal expectations than "children" do. Everyone knows you only use a nickname or slang in casual situations. So for something knitting-related to be "kids welcome" means someone's bitchboy fucktrophy will run up and steal your handspun yarn and dart off to wrap it around service dogs and furniture and homeless people while its minder will sit back smirking and saying "Isn't that just precious! Look how fast he can go! You should have kept better track of your stuff. Snotleigh gets into everything at his age; he can't help it. While you're untangling everything, could you bring him back with you?"
Yeah. I think I talked myself into staying home. Or if I go out, it will be to my local bar. Just describing that made me feel like I need a stiff drink. *shudder*
--
ETA: If you're in America, happy Penny-Nickel-Dime! (1/5/10)
