You ever watch Wes Anderson's Grand Budapest Hotel?
There's this older guy who's running this hotel, and he's sort of a gigolo but really cares about all of these lonely old women who come stay there. Many of them leave him money when they die.
There's this older guy who's running this hotel, and he's sort of a gigolo but really cares about all of these lonely old women who come stay there. Many of them leave him money when they die.
He takes on an apprentice, and does his best to teach the apprentice the value of human dignity.
The apprentice has a girlfriend. (All of this is context for one line I really loved, which will be in the next tweet.)
The apprentice has a girlfriend. (All of this is context for one line I really loved, which will be in the next tweet.)
Apprentice tells dude "My girlfriend likes you" and dude says very matter-of-factly "That's very important, because that means she Gets It."
I loved that.
I loved that.
I remember watching that, shortly before my life fell apart, in spring of 2014. And thinking "Wow, imagine knowing and liking and understanding yourself enough to speak with confidence that if someone likes you they Get It."
Seven years later that's finally starting to be me. :)
Seven years later that's finally starting to be me. :)
It's not about liking me, it's about Getting It - it's about unifying behind the values, rules and systems that reinforce human dignity and freedom without causing harm. If you and I share those values we are in alignment, not at odds, and we can work through disagreements.
Marginalized people Get It because they _have to_. They don't have the option not to get it, because they're living it.
It's people in positions of privilege who have the option to ignore all the complexities of life who most struggle to Get It, in my experience.
It's people in positions of privilege who have the option to ignore all the complexities of life who most struggle to Get It, in my experience.
It took making more marginalized friends and recognizing my own disability to help me understand just how badly society had programmed me _not_ to Get It.
"Getting It" means recognizing that you're not immune to the programming either, but working through it together.
"Getting It" means recognizing that you're not immune to the programming either, but working through it together.
Getting It means having faith that other people are Real, that their experiences matter As Much As Yours, that power imbalances and life shit impact all of us differently, that we have to believe each other and lift each other up to build a world worth living in for everyone.
Getting It means forever removing from your cognitive frameworks that idea that someone may not "deserve" basic human needs, including dignity and health and education.
It means learning that "Laziness" as you learned about it as a kid doesn't exist.
It means accepting people.
It means learning that "Laziness" as you learned about it as a kid doesn't exist.
It means accepting people.
Getting It means that you may have ingrained biases that make you look at certain people a certain way, or that make you avoid looking at other people at all.
It means confronting those biases fearlessly, recognizing that they are not your character unless you ignore them.
It means confronting those biases fearlessly, recognizing that they are not your character unless you ignore them.
Getting It ultimately means working with everyone else who Gets It towards a world where everyone's needs are met and nobody is persecuted because of who they are.
We don't agree on what that looks like yet, that's okay. Getting It isn't about that, it's about being open to it.
We don't agree on what that looks like yet, that's okay. Getting It isn't about that, it's about being open to it.
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