Burner account for obvious reasons. Mods: it's a new account, but I'm asking in good faith because I'm curious. And concerned.

I live in a small town in the eastern USA. We are about a 2 hour drive from a large city. Near my town is a popular tourist attraction. We're the only town between that attraction and the interstate, so we get a lot of out of town tourists stopping for gas, food, etc on their way to or from the site. The town survives on the tourists, and peak season is September to November.

This town was a sundown town until the mid-1970s. The laws weren't even officially repealed until the 1990s. But it's still almost entirely white. And people have a long memory, and are slow to change. There have always been a few a-holes who make non-white people feel unwelcome, and the last few election years have really brought them out. In 2016, there were maybe four or five times I heard about people being called racial slurs. Not many in 2020 because we had very few tourists. But this year is bad y'all. Already this month I know of at least four times people got harassed. A few days ago someone threw a drink cup at a brown family's car when they were at the gas station. We all know who's doing it. Some of them are cops friends and family, so I can't report it because that'll make me a target too. And I live here, so the harassment can be much worse than just slurs and "you need to shop somewhere else." Yeah it's bad, but people getting harassed can leave. I can't.

Yesterday I was picking up dinner and there was a black family in one of the booths. A few minutes later one of the top five piece of shit racists in town rolled into the restaurant. The vibe was bad. I think the family felt it too bc they left soon after. But I was seriously thinking about going over and warning them about stuff that had happened over the last couple weeks to people like them. But like I can't really tell someone "this place is basically a sundown town" without coming across as being the person making them unwelcome.

If you're a person of color, what's the best way I could warn you about times that people have been harassed, without making you think I was the one doing the harassing?

Edit to respond to common questions

Q: What town is this?

A: Man, I am happy for you guys who live somewhere that there are so many people that you can have a sense of privacy and asusme that everyone around you will mind their own business. I miss that about living in the city. But here, there have been several times when one of my neighbors went online and made a supposedly anonymous comment, and within hours the anonymity was gone and the beef had spilled over IRL. If I name the town, it absolutely will put me in danger, along with my few friends who also try to be anti-racist. Just because it's a small town, doesn't mean there's nobody here smart and tech savvy enough to dox their neigbors.

And naming the town is kinda beside the point. There are dozens, maybe hundreds, of similar towns all across the USA, some of them named ITT. Maybe you live in one of these towns. Maybe you've found yourself in the same situation I'm in. Maybe now you have some ideas for what you can do about it.

Q: Why don't you move?

A: I am helping to care for a grandparent. As long as they're alive, I'm here. They're already not going to get as many years as they deserve. I'm not going to wish for them to die, even if it does mean that I can move back out of this town when they do.

And, it's eastern USA. Housing costs closer to the city are crazy. I know because I used to live there, and that was pre-COVID. The only way I can afford to move back out of this town and never come back is to save as much as I can while I'm here.

Q: Can you post negative reviews of local businesses about racist incidents?

A: I had thought about that, but wasn't sure how much good it would do. But it looks like people actually check for those things and take them seriously. So this afternoon I posted a review of the gas station saying that I had seen the thrown cup. The owner has responded that it's unfair to negatively rate a business by something that someone in town did. I'm guessing that says exactly what it needs to.

Q: Why are you making all this up, Russian propaganda bot?

A: I am so glad that I posted this from a burner account, because instead of dealing with the inbox, I'm just going to change the password to a random string so I can never log into it again. Peace y'all. Be good to each other.

I hope this isn't a stupid question. I just attended an online meeting hosted by American people and all of the hosts introduced themselves with their names and pronouns (he/him she/her). Is that a common thing in the US? Is that only in more liberal circles? Should I do the same if I'm ever asked to speak? (I'm foreign)

I've noticed in tv crime dramas that whenever a rich person is interviewed in their home by the police, they casually move to their house bar and pour themselves a big helping of whiskey/brandy/cognac/amberalcohol.

Is that just a tv trope? Does it have a basis in real life?

This might sound a bit stupid, but I’ve been struggling with this for a while now. I work a regular 9-5 job, and even though I’m productive and meet my deadlines, I always feel guilty when I take breaks. Whether it’s stepping away for a coffee, scrolling through my phone for a few minutes, or just mentally zoning out, I start worrying that I should be doing more.

I see my coworkers take their breaks without hesitation, but for some reason, I always feel like I’m slacking off or being lazy. Is this normal? Do other people feel like this too, or am I overthinking it? I don’t want to burn out, but this guilt kind of makes me feel weird.

Maybe im just being weird because my parents were really strict growing up.

In light of todays events, my stupid question would be: why were they still using pagers/beepers to begin with? Feels like an incredibly 90's technology and as far as I know the Middle East uses smartphones just as much as anywhere else.

My mother will sometimes talk about immigrating to another country if things got bad over here. I have tried to explain to her multiple times it is not that simple,that I couldnt just get a job in another country and they have strict immigration policies. She seems to sincerally believe they will let you in just because I have a job over here now. The job I have is a retail worker. No country is gonna let me immigrate with that when they have people that already live there to fill that kind of job. You have to have some in demand skill they are looking for. She just does not get it. She simply repeats "but you're working".

How do I explain this to her to make her understand?

I mean like practically/biologically, specifically. We’ve obviously given them a social meaning, but what the hell are the tears themselves actually doing to benefit us or serve our survival specifically that crying without tears wouldn’t also give us? Lol

I think since the dawn of civilization, apart from copper, gold has held a higher status among humans. What's the reason, apart from it being shiny and ornamental?

So I have a whole cabinet of DVDs that i put in moving boxes. I have amassed at least 250 movies in that cabinet. I invited a friend over to watch some movies with me and when i asked what movie he wanted to watch, he said Avengers. The thing is I don't have that movie, so i said that I don't have that movie. he said everyone has that movie with Disney+. So I showed him my DVD collection and he was absolutely shocked. I know everything is trying to move to streaming, but when did DVDs become relics?

I don’t know if it’s just me or if I just got older but I feel like stuff before Covid or life in general was so much more bright, quality of food, clothing and so much more was better. But after Covid it got worse, worse of all is people’s behavior personality become more nasty. I’m curious what you guys think about what I’m saying or is it just me?

I should note I’m in my mid 20s but my parents told me in 2008 all though people were still right on money people didn’t act ask rude and the noted things that I mentioned changed above.

I mean being able to do everything with both your hands would have been efficient compared to having a preferred side. People who have trained to be ambidextrous, what are your thoughts on this?

He's the one that asked it to be created why can't he just change it when he wants to?

Have you ever cried in the bathroom or somewhere privately during work? If so, how come? Thanks.