Ken WhiteFeb 3, 2023

A mentally ill homeless guy walked onto a high school campus in my suburb, wearing all black, carrying a big duffel bag. Now, it’s reasonable to be concerned about that and want to identify who it is, assure he’s not carrying weapons onto the campus, and so forth.

But the community (as, perhaps, poorly represented on Facebook) is coming completely unhinged.

/1

Show threadKen WhiteFeb 3, 2023
/2 The cops found him at a local Starbucks, identified him, determined he had no weapons, and gave him a trespassing ticket. The community is OUTRAGED. They’re stalking him around the community and taking pictures of him at Starbucks and McDonald’s and demanding that he be kicked out. They want him jailed or institutionalized.
Show threadKen WhiteFeb 3, 2023

/3 They’ve found his Twitter and Facebook accounts and are printing out the stuff there - kind of crazy, not notably crazy on Twitter — taking it to the police demanding he be arrested. They’re keeping meticulous logs of his activities.

I am considerably more afraid of my neighbors than I am of this mentally ill homeless guy.

Show threadKen WhiteFeb 3, 2023
/4 The real question is .. will I keep my mouth shut and stay out of the neighborhood group where people are wigging out? Or will I comment?
Show threadKen WhiteFeb 3, 2023
/5 It is … not going well.
Show threadKen WhiteFeb 3, 2023
/6 when people unclear on the concept try to insult me
Show threadKen WhiteFeb 3, 2023
/7 Still not going well. However, I have worked very hard to be polite. I just had a donut, which I awarded myself for refraining from the phrase “mob of crazed torch-waving Karens”
Show threadKen WhiteFeb 3, 2023
/8 People have an absolute right to have fears, and voice them, even if the fears are irrational in nature or proposed remedy. But some people seem to thing that fears, particularly about children, should be above dissent or critique, which is weird.
Show threadKen WhiteFeb 3, 2023
/9 I give them this: they’re up front about it.
Show threadKen WhiteFeb 3, 2023
/10 I am informed my attitude reflects male privilege.
Show threadIpstenu (Mika E.) 🏳️‍🌈

@Popehat This is why I 'quit' next-door.

There was a guy living out of his car, and I went and gave him a hot meal. My neighbours went BALLISTIC. They didn't know it was me, and Nextdoor was filled with people ranting about the obvious lefty who hated law and Order.

Honestly I was tempted to reply how I've not watched it since Lenny Brisco.

Feb 3, 2023 at 7:59pmWeb
Show threadGary E. WalkerFeb 3, 2023
@ipstenu @Popehat yeah. In a nutshell. I moved out here into the valley at least half to annoy the red state Virginians.
Show threadLocksmithFeb 3, 2023
@ipstenu @Popehat I live in Texas. We are just out of a Winter Storm that froze everything, cut power, destroyed trees and possibly incentivized Ted Cruz to go to Cancun again. I was very tempted to post to the neighborhood app, for those clearly Texan republicans, that they should pay much attention to the crews who were doing the clean up of trees since early morning. Those are the people republicans love to want to send away at the border.
Show threadBuckFeb 3, 2023
@ipstenu @Popehat NextDoor is so toxic…. It’s shocking how it ramps up the paranoia and brings out the worst in otherwise, likely, good people.
Show threadGil Friend, sustainability OGFeb 3, 2023
@ipstenu @buck @Popehat I can’t bear it. Could be useful in theory, but just filled with fear and whining. #FearCrowdsOutLove
Show threadLil ScreendoorFeb 4, 2023
@gfriend @ipstenu @buck @Popehat sort of useful for knowing about minor issues going on in the neighborhood. But past that it’s a ton of bs.
Show threadBuckFeb 4, 2023
@lyleleander @gfriend @ipstenu @Popehat Very much location dependent I would guess. Here in Idaho, it quickly came across as old white paranoid racists logging their "concerns"
Show threadIpstenu (Mika E.) 🏳️‍🌈Feb 5, 2023
@buck @lyleleander @gfriend @Popehat I’m in right wing SoCal, muchly the same.
Show threadKatragsFeb 4, 2023
@buck @ipstenu @Popehat
When someone shows you who they are, believe them.
Show threadIpstenu (Mika E.) 🏳️‍🌈Feb 4, 2023

@Katrags @buck @Popehat For some reason, people get all kinds of pissed off when I do that.

Fellow told me to fornicate with my mother and a cactus, I banned him from a service. He was SHOCKED and claims to have done no wrong.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Show threadLil ScreendoorFeb 4, 2023
@buck @ipstenu @Popehat eh, mostly i tend to just believe it’s a place where people let out their true characters.
Show threadv̾i̾t̾r̾i̾o̾l̾i̾x̾Feb 3, 2023
@ipstenu @Popehat next door is a cesspool. when i first moved to my current place i checked it and it was just full of "this homeless person is going to break into your house, beware!" posts
Show threadStu Duerson, machina exo deusFeb 3, 2023

@ipstenu @Popehat

I hear you, in spades. Someone made me a reviewer on NextDoor, and I ride herd on these idiots. There are some techniques I've developed that seem to be demonstrating their hypocrisy effectively, and they've been showing up less.

But it really illustrates how much of our country lives in fear, demands over-policing, and likes to wave their bibles and their guns as threats.

Show threadStu Duerson, machina exo deusFeb 3, 2023

@ipstenu @Popehat

The techniques use Jordan Klepper as the template.

Show threadIpstenu (Mika E.) 🏳️‍🌈Feb 3, 2023
@skydog @Popehat Good good, man, that is worse that the human-management I do with devs who go potty over being told things like "You can't track users without opt in consent" or "Don't include your own copy of jQuery, WordPress has it already."
Show threadklausfiend has movedFeb 3, 2023
@ipstenu @Popehat my wife's been on Nextdoor for a while, and between our old neighborhood (BH adjacent) and our current one (more racially diverse, less gentrified, more wary of LA cops), the difference in tone is noticeable: fewer idle-handed well-to-do curtain clutchers and a more robust sense of community equals less overt xenophobia/hostility. I don't think the dynamic is pure chance, and there's a proportional relationship between personal wealth and "giving fewer fucks" for other humans.
Show threadDSA's Case ManagerFeb 3, 2023
@ipstenu @Popehat why -would- someone watch after Lenny?!?
Show threadMatthew RodierFeb 4, 2023
@ipstenu @Popehat There is an "e" at the end of Briscoe. I don't say this to be pedantic, and only know it bc I've always wanted a dog and will one day name it Briscoe.
Show threadSue Loh, local optimistFeb 4, 2023
@ipstenu @Popehat
Wow. Every human being deserves food, even the most awful ones (and being homeless does not make one awful).
Show threadWilliam B. TurnerFeb 4, 2023
@ipstenu @Popehat. Quit, or "quit"?
Show threadIpstenu (Mika E.) 🏳️‍🌈Feb 5, 2023

@wbtphdjd @Popehat The quotes one. I disabled all notifications and only log in when my water or power goes out, because those Karen’s and Chad’s are on the spot with that.

But the downside is Nextdoor finds new ways to fucking email me and I have to shut it off.