When Bigotry Backfires: A Receipt, a Reckoning, and the Everyday Cost of Anti-Immigrant Rhetoric by Austin Kocher

Writing for his own Substack, Austin Kocher recounts the recent saga of a Ohio woman whose apparent frustration over an unaccepted coupon at a Mexican restaurant prompted her to scrawl a bigoted screed on her credit card receipt while also stiffing her server on a tip. The incident garnered attention on the vast digital news space, and the woman was subsequently fired from the realty company where she worked. Beyond the satisfying comeuppance of a person made to answer for their hateful actions, there is a hopeful lesson to be gleaned about the vast distance between actual societal norms and the rhetoric of the current presidential administration and their cultish followers. There is no reason to acquiesce to the demands of regressive fools that all established movement towards a better, more equitable society be rolled back.

Drop back ten and punt by Hanna Brooks Olsen

Hanna Brooks Olsen writes about a recent professional setback, borrowing a football metaphor her grandfather used when facing similar disappointments. As we embark on a dark era of fighting against wannabe autocrats determined to dismantle every system that provides safety and hope for non-wealthy people, it is useful to remember that sometimes accepting a momentary defeat and starting over is a sound strategy. Starting from a place of frustration and disappoint, this piece is ultimately inspiring in its determined perseverance. This is published in Brooks Olsen’s own Substack, Mischief Missives.