Brilliant post! I always wanted to be an actress. My poor husband has suffered through countless replays of 'Chicago', ' 'Mama Mia' movies & 'Moulin Rouge'... My daughter took theater in High School and she's quite good. I guess I'll never make it to a real show since I'm un-poisoned. I digress. I'm glad I found your Substack fellow writer. 💜 Excellent points!
As always, I loved this. I feel for you and I know what it is to not fit in. A lot to unpack but what really, really grabbed my attention was the hypocrisy of the newly woke. I might get into trouble here but I will say it - it has a Protestantism vs Catholicism vibe and it brings to mind the Whiteadder Aunt.
Aunt: `Chair’? You have chairs in your house?
Edmund: Oh, yes.
Aunt: [slaps him twice] Wicked child!!! Chairs are an invention of Satan!
In our house, Nathaniel sits on a spike!
Edmund: …and yourself…?
Aunt: I sit on Nathaniel — two spikes would be an extravagance.
Well I love this because I went through the same heartbreak with my formally alternative tribe, the herbalists... and yeah it sucked.
Just today a reminded a good girlfriend that she owes me an apology for being complicate in the mandates- I believe I called her a good German when she went to the theatre during the high of vax discrimination in Seattle.
Glad you got support and are loved and supported. But boy what an initiation.
Had to read this twice. Beautifully written, with deep emotional impact. And as always, the memes are Priceless. As you point out, curses often do end up being blessings in disguise. For me I've found it sometimes takes an effort to discover in what way a particular curse ended up being a blessing in disguise, but no doubt at all that it is worth putting forth that effort. As a reader I get the sense this post took a not insignificant amount of emotional-energy to write... well worth it.
By all means do take a lookey at mah ol' postins'--am sure ya'll find some shared experiences thar! An many thanks!
So my girls are thankfully with me but ain't happy campers--'specially my cancelled younger daughter who was also a performer--the one that got told she wasn't diverse enough etc--what the heck?! My older gal did ballet and piano (canceled from both) but wasn't an on-stage type but she too misses out on all the stuff we SAW all the time, we had friends in shows, friends in bands, I used ta git cheap tix to just about everything (includin' comps an' some broadway stuff...) So we all our out on our proverbial rears...
Yup, it used to be all 'bout ACTING (just actin', right?). Now there's so much "peecee woke-i-fried" dogma boggin' down jus' about everything that it ain't fun any more to be in that environ-mint. I love accents, costumes, cult-u-ral appropriation is my middle name! So it's the mindset an' the exile...deadly combo fer "ahrt" right?
So nice yer ma's with ya an' ya both git along!--peachy that she understands bein' a former showbiz gal herself! (My fambly thinks we'ze all bums fer refusin' jabs and goin' "po!" )
I'm with ye re the co-ed dressin' rooms--heck, my younger daughter an' I've both done shows without ANY dressin' rooms--changed in the wings, in the loo, in a storage room in cases where the venue didn't have dressin' rooms, in a tent, an' more'n a few times I've been one'a two mama bears holdin' up one side've a sheet so the tween girls could be afforded a little privacy. I never thunk twice about the polly-ticks've it--but that's rotten ya got hushed for mention'in the fun've it.
Amusin' tale (tail!), I met one'a my oldest friends (tho he's now cancelled me...) in one'a them co-ed dressin' rooms--I wuz wearin' nuthin' on the bottom but panty hose (cuz undies mean seams or bulges in yer dress...looks bad from stage...) so he met my bent over REAR END as I was steppin' inta my dress (an there wuz no chairs in the dressin' room a' course)--so our mutual friend brought him backstage ta meet me. After meetin' my rump first we became good pals fer over 25 years!
Oh yes, DO pester yer kiddos in a Tennessean accent--it's funny an' they're less likely ta grumble back!!! (I DO this at home too, u betcha!)
I have nothing to do with the theatre, but I could identity with so much of your story. Same stuff, different place and peeps. Finding a community in Substack has been a salvation. Knowing I am not alone is a priceless gift. Thanks for sharing!
Dec 8, 2022·edited Dec 9, 2022Liked by Visceral Adventure
Oh my golly Tonika, you DID IT. Brava! Double Brava! I know this was wellin' up but it was hard to find the right way to let out the geyser--but ya found the way. An' bee-u-tifully. Holdin' up a cuppa Granny's "Magic Moonshine Brew" to give ye a toast (tho' I did like that Irish one ya added 'fore the "fin" on this'un... )
Couldn't keep my own eyes dry when you wrote, "They, too, have had their glass menagerie broken." Oh gosh. Yes. True. All the Lauras in our hearts. (An' in recallin' that, it also came ta mind that even the frickin' unicorn's been co-opted by a trademarked movement... havin' meant SO much in the play...) Sigh. But anywayz... this was BEAUTIFUL.
So much'a what ye wrote spoke ta me. I too sawr the writin' on the wall when thee-ate-hers started to go fer all this mee-too (vir-choo!) signifyin' monkey-bunk (duz that not sound like soup #3 on the menu? MeeToo? I would've ordered MeeTooChowFun instead cuz I like ta eat!--not very peecee'a me but I ain't!). But seriously, yup, I sort a sawr it too... It warn't purdy. I saw how all them lil' "indescre-shuns" we thee-ate'er folks all engage in became weaponized like spray-foam prop swords. Folks'at live with their emotions all werked up (by nay-chur) 'r gonna sometimes git handsy 'er romanc-y 'er an' engage in viper-tongued Kiss-Me-Kate Lunt-Fontanne fugly type'a snits--I mean that IS theater an' it's sure behind the scenes as wull as in front've the curtain. So sure, back'in the day when my proverbial ass wuz more like a mini donkey I could've been spared some unwanted "pats" an' attention--but bein' able to open my big trap an' say "keep yer hooves off, Farmer Bozo" was far BETTER n' the pall this whole mee-too-no-fun mess has put on the whole energy've cast n' crew "fraternizin' " an' sure, flirtin' some too. I missed that long 'fore things got SuperFund toxic! There is too much ta unpack here but I feel there wuz more permanent HARM done to all thee-ate-her by this (bowel) movement--literally dumpin' on us all, makin' us police our every movement an' utterance. We were all ABOUT hugs, naughty jokes... Oy vey, it wuz bad...(I mean ta stifle it all--all the merriment...the messy real've it...)
An' then came the woke part an' the bipoc-disability-baloney castin'. I won't go there now, I've dunnit a bit in more'n one've my postin's but the pernt is this was like one more nail'in the coffin' 'fore the final one--"covidCon".... right? Hard 'nuff fer me (bein' an ostensibly undisabled non-intersectional white laydee--an' "straight" too --whut is this CIS? a gender, nu?--I know from cisterns...sis is fer sister, the rest is made-up lingua funky--SO anywayz, it was HARD 'nuff fer me to not git work or to be told ta shut my trap cuz I was no longer "any buddy" on the new food pyramid (I literally wuz once told that as a "white woman" I should cede my turn to speak up cuz white conver-say-shuns dom-in-nated bipoc voices...BERK barf!)...
So anywayz, this DIE message (Diversity Inclusion Equity to me means DIE theater, DIE!) wuz hard 'nuff fer me but my younger daughter took this bitter pill even' harder. Fer example, imagine auditionin' fer something based on "voice" an "age"--an' then bein' told that she didn't git the part cuz she was "not diverse enough." True story. Show wuz off-bway an' they cast a non-bio-nary "gurl" who appears to be black (not sure whut her color flag identity is...). Sigh. Mebbe she wuz better? I'll never know... Happen'd again for a singin' bit on the RuPaul Drag Race show (which, btw, I hadn't wartched then but did after we got the nooz DD warn't diverse enuf from that producer AND oh my lordy, what a pile'a dung, it made TeleTubbies look like Apostrophes!--never seen more brain-dead folks in one place). But anyway, kids take it harder and they wunder, why bother? Why practice, why even audition? Why do they not SAY (they do sometimes...) if they want a rainbow furry? Anyone not in the thee-ate-her biz knows that EVERY audition you have stomak ache an' butterflies an' anxiety an' ya go thru all this motion sickness JUST so you can hopefully git a chance at doin' what ye love best... but to MAKE kids (adults too but kids have fewer defense mech-a-nizms) go thru this fer nuttin' --is MEAN. It's downright mean.
An' then came "CovidCon" an' we all were banned on TOP of all that LANDFILL. So, as ye know Tonika, I'm DONE too. And yet I HOPE hope hope! thee-ate-her will be theater agin' !
Thank ya SO MUCH for the kind and special mention--I'm SO flattered and honored! I'm so glad ta have found ya too--we all are reachin' out over this crazy void... with WORDS (an' woids). I wouldn't be on substack if I wuz workin' either but this is like our lil' OASIS (whoa!, Asus! -- asus bein' short fer Pegasus, which mebbe what we got...some fresh water fer our own winged horses!)
Anywayz agin', I'm SO glad ya got this outta yer system an' into the ETHER. I fer one am grateful--as WE the ousted DO need a listen. I know it warn't easy, it's a long drink but it's a good'un. So cheers back! Raisin' (raisins!) another cuppa Magic Moonshine Brew to ya Tonika!
with warmest thoughts,
Daisy
ps just a dab'a stack-lore that Daisy Moses (my thee-act-trickle namesake ha ha ) hails from them Smoky Mountain's a' Tennessee (close 'nuff ta Texas in spirit! an' I DO wish we had sum Texas Tea, aka oil, income.... seems like our sorry ol' gov-a-mint don't want no Texas Tea fer any've us here'bouts--I do bee-lieve they'z wantin' us ta freeze!) Anywayz, once agin' I'm EVER so grateful fer yer kind "woids" 'bout my lil' ol' corner've the sky....
Many years ago, I witnessed John Malkovich storm the Broadway stage as the curtain rose on Burn This. Spit flying, hair flinging, he didn't just deliver the opening monologue; he incinerated it.
You, my new friend and compatriot, have done just the same. With scorching, courageous, take-no-prisoners honesty, you have blown the doors off the hypocritical organization I once loved enough to spend the best part of my life supporting.
Thank you for this blast of fresh air. May its authenticity and truth blow open some minds and hearts.
And THANK YOU for the shout-out to my Stack! (After I offered you my phone number, I had a moment of -- hang on, what did I just do? -- but thank god I followed my instincts. Funny, that's one of the best lessons I ever learned from the theatre.)
I'm so grateful for your voice, Tonika. You continue to inspire me to shout louder and louder, even if the spit starts flying! You're a balm and a blessing, and I'd give you a Tony if I could... xox
Tonika you speak here for all of us who once found comfort among the weirdos only to find ourselves standing at the end of the outstretching finger of judgement. It’s been a helluva ride. So grateful for voices like yours that sound out through the dark of the twilight’s last gleaming. Now we know who moves toward us, and who moves away, when the scary stories come. That is critical information in the days ahead. With love and gratitude sister of the soul. 🙏
I find this post absolutely breathtaking, no exaggeration (Disclosure: you and I have struck up a correspondence since I came across The Sound of Silenced Science but I won’t let that colour my response to your posts.) This is painfully beautiful, more so for me since I am in the UK and some of these insane restriction you cite never surfaced here (well not in my experience, but I don’t get out much.) I had to stop reading and start this comment when I got to the Apollo Theater masking restrictions because it left me cold and staggered. Why would you want to attend art with those strictures? Why would you support art wedded to such tyranny? I have been a theatre practitioner for almost fifty years and this shite runs counter to everything I thought my profession stood for. Most of all it runs counter to love. (Incidentally I have a hit list of musicians I used to love and can’t listen to anymore because they joined the hue and cry. All you need is love? I should coco.) Moreover those strictures and demands reek of stupidity and ignorance. This post is beautifully painful, must have taken a lot of courage to write and is totally, completely necessary. And the writing itself is such a pleasure to devour. And I learnt a new word: mysophobia! Thank you for all of it. Perhaps it’ll go some way to stem the flow of anonymous cattle trucks chuntering through bleak suburbs in the dead of night. What's more, on a personal level, how nice to establish a (yes) friendship without exchanging a spoken word.
I feel the same way about the Canadian medical sector. I worked for CBS and be standard corporate training was enough to question the prevailing narrative. Including the mission statement "To meet *every need* and serve *every* Canadian". That mindset doesn't exist in Canadian healthcare.
I'm brand new to your stack. What a find! Your essay here is powerful, your sentiment a force to be reckoned with. Thank you.
You're the diamond.
Brilliant post! I always wanted to be an actress. My poor husband has suffered through countless replays of 'Chicago', ' 'Mama Mia' movies & 'Moulin Rouge'... My daughter took theater in High School and she's quite good. I guess I'll never make it to a real show since I'm un-poisoned. I digress. I'm glad I found your Substack fellow writer. 💜 Excellent points!
As always, I loved this. I feel for you and I know what it is to not fit in. A lot to unpack but what really, really grabbed my attention was the hypocrisy of the newly woke. I might get into trouble here but I will say it - it has a Protestantism vs Catholicism vibe and it brings to mind the Whiteadder Aunt.
Aunt: `Chair’? You have chairs in your house?
Edmund: Oh, yes.
Aunt: [slaps him twice] Wicked child!!! Chairs are an invention of Satan!
In our house, Nathaniel sits on a spike!
Edmund: …and yourself…?
Aunt: I sit on Nathaniel — two spikes would be an extravagance.
Well I love this because I went through the same heartbreak with my formally alternative tribe, the herbalists... and yeah it sucked.
Just today a reminded a good girlfriend that she owes me an apology for being complicate in the mandates- I believe I called her a good German when she went to the theatre during the high of vax discrimination in Seattle.
Glad you got support and are loved and supported. But boy what an initiation.
Had to read this twice. Beautifully written, with deep emotional impact. And as always, the memes are Priceless. As you point out, curses often do end up being blessings in disguise. For me I've found it sometimes takes an effort to discover in what way a particular curse ended up being a blessing in disguise, but no doubt at all that it is worth putting forth that effort. As a reader I get the sense this post took a not insignificant amount of emotional-energy to write... well worth it.
By all means do take a lookey at mah ol' postins'--am sure ya'll find some shared experiences thar! An many thanks!
So my girls are thankfully with me but ain't happy campers--'specially my cancelled younger daughter who was also a performer--the one that got told she wasn't diverse enough etc--what the heck?! My older gal did ballet and piano (canceled from both) but wasn't an on-stage type but she too misses out on all the stuff we SAW all the time, we had friends in shows, friends in bands, I used ta git cheap tix to just about everything (includin' comps an' some broadway stuff...) So we all our out on our proverbial rears...
Yup, it used to be all 'bout ACTING (just actin', right?). Now there's so much "peecee woke-i-fried" dogma boggin' down jus' about everything that it ain't fun any more to be in that environ-mint. I love accents, costumes, cult-u-ral appropriation is my middle name! So it's the mindset an' the exile...deadly combo fer "ahrt" right?
So nice yer ma's with ya an' ya both git along!--peachy that she understands bein' a former showbiz gal herself! (My fambly thinks we'ze all bums fer refusin' jabs and goin' "po!" )
I'm with ye re the co-ed dressin' rooms--heck, my younger daughter an' I've both done shows without ANY dressin' rooms--changed in the wings, in the loo, in a storage room in cases where the venue didn't have dressin' rooms, in a tent, an' more'n a few times I've been one'a two mama bears holdin' up one side've a sheet so the tween girls could be afforded a little privacy. I never thunk twice about the polly-ticks've it--but that's rotten ya got hushed for mention'in the fun've it.
Amusin' tale (tail!), I met one'a my oldest friends (tho he's now cancelled me...) in one'a them co-ed dressin' rooms--I wuz wearin' nuthin' on the bottom but panty hose (cuz undies mean seams or bulges in yer dress...looks bad from stage...) so he met my bent over REAR END as I was steppin' inta my dress (an there wuz no chairs in the dressin' room a' course)--so our mutual friend brought him backstage ta meet me. After meetin' my rump first we became good pals fer over 25 years!
Oh yes, DO pester yer kiddos in a Tennessean accent--it's funny an' they're less likely ta grumble back!!! (I DO this at home too, u betcha!)
I have nothing to do with the theatre, but I could identity with so much of your story. Same stuff, different place and peeps. Finding a community in Substack has been a salvation. Knowing I am not alone is a priceless gift. Thanks for sharing!
"Winter blew through and froze my bones
The angels throwing hailstones
We’ve crossed Juno, just so you know
And she’s notching icicles in her crossbow
The best laid plans of men and mice
Left us highways paved with ice
Snowballs rolling big and bold
I hope that jack-shack’s gonna hold
A flawless design
In the cloister of the mind
But will the pattern unwind
When put to the test
When the fabric meets the flesh
And veils fall in soft caress
When art devours artifice
And we stand naked nonetheless
When the meta is consumed by meat
Theories are great, but when do we eat?
You can lead minds to the kitchen sink
But I don’t believe you can make them think
Back to the old drawing board
See if this one strikes a chord
The blueprint’s only paper-thin
When the human element enters in
A flawless design
In the cloister of the mind
But will the pattern unwind
When put to the test
When the fabric meets the flesh
And veils fall in soft caress
When art devours artifice
And we stand naked nonetheless
If you’d plan to span the globe
Clad in royal threadbare robes
Well, every strength comes along
With weakness born of being strong
When ideas hit hard reality
Dragged by tractor-beams of gravity
And the parachute snags and tears
Remember we’re always halfway there
A flawless design
In the cloister of the mind
But will the pattern unwind
When put to the test
When the fabric meets the flesh
And the veils fall in soft caress
When art devours artifice
And we stand naked nonetheless
http://www.airliftunderground.com/airlift/fabric-meets-the-flesh/
Oh my golly Tonika, you DID IT. Brava! Double Brava! I know this was wellin' up but it was hard to find the right way to let out the geyser--but ya found the way. An' bee-u-tifully. Holdin' up a cuppa Granny's "Magic Moonshine Brew" to give ye a toast (tho' I did like that Irish one ya added 'fore the "fin" on this'un... )
Couldn't keep my own eyes dry when you wrote, "They, too, have had their glass menagerie broken." Oh gosh. Yes. True. All the Lauras in our hearts. (An' in recallin' that, it also came ta mind that even the frickin' unicorn's been co-opted by a trademarked movement... havin' meant SO much in the play...) Sigh. But anywayz... this was BEAUTIFUL.
So much'a what ye wrote spoke ta me. I too sawr the writin' on the wall when thee-ate-hers started to go fer all this mee-too (vir-choo!) signifyin' monkey-bunk (duz that not sound like soup #3 on the menu? MeeToo? I would've ordered MeeTooChowFun instead cuz I like ta eat!--not very peecee'a me but I ain't!). But seriously, yup, I sort a sawr it too... It warn't purdy. I saw how all them lil' "indescre-shuns" we thee-ate'er folks all engage in became weaponized like spray-foam prop swords. Folks'at live with their emotions all werked up (by nay-chur) 'r gonna sometimes git handsy 'er romanc-y 'er an' engage in viper-tongued Kiss-Me-Kate Lunt-Fontanne fugly type'a snits--I mean that IS theater an' it's sure behind the scenes as wull as in front've the curtain. So sure, back'in the day when my proverbial ass wuz more like a mini donkey I could've been spared some unwanted "pats" an' attention--but bein' able to open my big trap an' say "keep yer hooves off, Farmer Bozo" was far BETTER n' the pall this whole mee-too-no-fun mess has put on the whole energy've cast n' crew "fraternizin' " an' sure, flirtin' some too. I missed that long 'fore things got SuperFund toxic! There is too much ta unpack here but I feel there wuz more permanent HARM done to all thee-ate-her by this (bowel) movement--literally dumpin' on us all, makin' us police our every movement an' utterance. We were all ABOUT hugs, naughty jokes... Oy vey, it wuz bad...(I mean ta stifle it all--all the merriment...the messy real've it...)
An' then came the woke part an' the bipoc-disability-baloney castin'. I won't go there now, I've dunnit a bit in more'n one've my postin's but the pernt is this was like one more nail'in the coffin' 'fore the final one--"covidCon".... right? Hard 'nuff fer me (bein' an ostensibly undisabled non-intersectional white laydee--an' "straight" too --whut is this CIS? a gender, nu?--I know from cisterns...sis is fer sister, the rest is made-up lingua funky--SO anywayz, it was HARD 'nuff fer me to not git work or to be told ta shut my trap cuz I was no longer "any buddy" on the new food pyramid (I literally wuz once told that as a "white woman" I should cede my turn to speak up cuz white conver-say-shuns dom-in-nated bipoc voices...BERK barf!)...
So anywayz, this DIE message (Diversity Inclusion Equity to me means DIE theater, DIE!) wuz hard 'nuff fer me but my younger daughter took this bitter pill even' harder. Fer example, imagine auditionin' fer something based on "voice" an "age"--an' then bein' told that she didn't git the part cuz she was "not diverse enough." True story. Show wuz off-bway an' they cast a non-bio-nary "gurl" who appears to be black (not sure whut her color flag identity is...). Sigh. Mebbe she wuz better? I'll never know... Happen'd again for a singin' bit on the RuPaul Drag Race show (which, btw, I hadn't wartched then but did after we got the nooz DD warn't diverse enuf from that producer AND oh my lordy, what a pile'a dung, it made TeleTubbies look like Apostrophes!--never seen more brain-dead folks in one place). But anyway, kids take it harder and they wunder, why bother? Why practice, why even audition? Why do they not SAY (they do sometimes...) if they want a rainbow furry? Anyone not in the thee-ate-her biz knows that EVERY audition you have stomak ache an' butterflies an' anxiety an' ya go thru all this motion sickness JUST so you can hopefully git a chance at doin' what ye love best... but to MAKE kids (adults too but kids have fewer defense mech-a-nizms) go thru this fer nuttin' --is MEAN. It's downright mean.
An' then came "CovidCon" an' we all were banned on TOP of all that LANDFILL. So, as ye know Tonika, I'm DONE too. And yet I HOPE hope hope! thee-ate-her will be theater agin' !
Thank ya SO MUCH for the kind and special mention--I'm SO flattered and honored! I'm so glad ta have found ya too--we all are reachin' out over this crazy void... with WORDS (an' woids). I wouldn't be on substack if I wuz workin' either but this is like our lil' OASIS (whoa!, Asus! -- asus bein' short fer Pegasus, which mebbe what we got...some fresh water fer our own winged horses!)
Anywayz agin', I'm SO glad ya got this outta yer system an' into the ETHER. I fer one am grateful--as WE the ousted DO need a listen. I know it warn't easy, it's a long drink but it's a good'un. So cheers back! Raisin' (raisins!) another cuppa Magic Moonshine Brew to ya Tonika!
with warmest thoughts,
Daisy
ps just a dab'a stack-lore that Daisy Moses (my thee-act-trickle namesake ha ha ) hails from them Smoky Mountain's a' Tennessee (close 'nuff ta Texas in spirit! an' I DO wish we had sum Texas Tea, aka oil, income.... seems like our sorry ol' gov-a-mint don't want no Texas Tea fer any've us here'bouts--I do bee-lieve they'z wantin' us ta freeze!) Anywayz, once agin' I'm EVER so grateful fer yer kind "woids" 'bout my lil' ol' corner've the sky....
Many years ago, I witnessed John Malkovich storm the Broadway stage as the curtain rose on Burn This. Spit flying, hair flinging, he didn't just deliver the opening monologue; he incinerated it.
You, my new friend and compatriot, have done just the same. With scorching, courageous, take-no-prisoners honesty, you have blown the doors off the hypocritical organization I once loved enough to spend the best part of my life supporting.
Thank you for this blast of fresh air. May its authenticity and truth blow open some minds and hearts.
And THANK YOU for the shout-out to my Stack! (After I offered you my phone number, I had a moment of -- hang on, what did I just do? -- but thank god I followed my instincts. Funny, that's one of the best lessons I ever learned from the theatre.)
I'm so grateful for your voice, Tonika. You continue to inspire me to shout louder and louder, even if the spit starts flying! You're a balm and a blessing, and I'd give you a Tony if I could... xox
Tonika you speak here for all of us who once found comfort among the weirdos only to find ourselves standing at the end of the outstretching finger of judgement. It’s been a helluva ride. So grateful for voices like yours that sound out through the dark of the twilight’s last gleaming. Now we know who moves toward us, and who moves away, when the scary stories come. That is critical information in the days ahead. With love and gratitude sister of the soul. 🙏
I find this post absolutely breathtaking, no exaggeration (Disclosure: you and I have struck up a correspondence since I came across The Sound of Silenced Science but I won’t let that colour my response to your posts.) This is painfully beautiful, more so for me since I am in the UK and some of these insane restriction you cite never surfaced here (well not in my experience, but I don’t get out much.) I had to stop reading and start this comment when I got to the Apollo Theater masking restrictions because it left me cold and staggered. Why would you want to attend art with those strictures? Why would you support art wedded to such tyranny? I have been a theatre practitioner for almost fifty years and this shite runs counter to everything I thought my profession stood for. Most of all it runs counter to love. (Incidentally I have a hit list of musicians I used to love and can’t listen to anymore because they joined the hue and cry. All you need is love? I should coco.) Moreover those strictures and demands reek of stupidity and ignorance. This post is beautifully painful, must have taken a lot of courage to write and is totally, completely necessary. And the writing itself is such a pleasure to devour. And I learnt a new word: mysophobia! Thank you for all of it. Perhaps it’ll go some way to stem the flow of anonymous cattle trucks chuntering through bleak suburbs in the dead of night. What's more, on a personal level, how nice to establish a (yes) friendship without exchanging a spoken word.
❤️
🔥
I feel the same way about the Canadian medical sector. I worked for CBS and be standard corporate training was enough to question the prevailing narrative. Including the mission statement "To meet *every need* and serve *every* Canadian". That mindset doesn't exist in Canadian healthcare.