I wonder whether the US has turned into a country so reflexively hierarchical that even employees of relatively small businesses can’t say, “Boss, you haven’t thought this through.”

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/apr/10/california-coffee-shops-pride-flags-philz

Sure, we now expect detachment from reality from our Imperial Presidency and tech bros, but the frequency with which companies like a coffee shop franchise ignore the predictable and then frantically try to squid-ink the problem away with words is disturbing.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperial_presidency