what do I have to do to go to events where people are dressed nicely and there are plates of free cheese cubes
Go to the inaugurations of littlely known artists’ exhibitions.
We are always begging for people to attend, there actually is the “hack” to invite your whole family but tell them to pretend they don’t know you. People with money are more willing to buy your work if they think many people likes it, so your mere presence eating our cheese and canapes will be a great helps. Please bring whoever you want too.
Don’t mind if I do!
I will dress like an eccentric weirdo if that helps.
one time a pal of my pals was having a tough time selling their work in an art exhibit and called us up on the last day, ‘us’ being about 8 students who were Very hungry and also bored. We put on the nicest/artsiest clothes we had available (one dude had a legit fancy suit and put on some shades which were Bright Pink he looked like a movie star I swear) and rolled up to the show in pairs, separately. Fine Art Pal has some nice paintings! but nobody is really paying attention to them, so after getting some fancy cheese cubes in a manner that did not betray that we were actually a ravenous pack of starving students we casually wander around the show and then, fairly individually, drift to a stop by their work. Some of us even walked away, then came back a bit later ‘captivated’ by the art (it was actually really nice but recall we were all poor as shit and this was a help hustle folks). Our group’s interest naturally caught other folks, and eventually there was a small clump of about 15 people musing over this art, and within ten minutes the biggest piece had been snatched up by a shrewd investor. by the end of the exhibit every single piece was sold. It helped pay off the artist’s student debt and on that success they got into another exhibit! They’ve been doing well ever since.
So yes, please attend new artist shows, you get free cheese, get to look at nice art, and you can really help out people who deserve more attention.
[Image Description: A gif of Spongebob and Patrick saying, “write that down, write that down!” End ID.]
you might not agree but part of activism is knowing to choose your battles, because what do i care if my eighty year old grandma doesn’t know the exact correct terms to refer to lgbtq+ identities as long as she supports and respects everyone, what do i care about the old man in the almacén that isn’t online so he doesn’t know every aspect of feminism who told me happy women’s day when he understands the issues women are put through and supports the fight, I’d rather be met with truly kind and concerned ppl who care and have been in this fight far more time than us than all these articulate young people who at the end of the day don’t truly give a shit
One of my coworkers is in his fifties, has a reputation as the resident “grumpy old man,” and is definitely not always politically correct.
But one time at a work party he said something that I don’t even remember what it is, but it bugged him so much that THREE DAYS LATER (it was a long weekend) he pulled me aside to apologize. He said he was afraid he’d made me uncomfortable, and he felt really bad about it. He explicitly said he wanted to make sure I had a comfortable work environment. He assured me that if he ever said something that did make me uncomfortable, I could just tell him to knock it off and he’d stop. Or, he added, if that was scary, I could tell one of our coworkers and THEY could tell him to knock it off. He was terribly humble and earnest through the whole of it, and I was completely taken aback because, like I said, I couldn’t even remember what he’d done wrong. This coworker also, despite having at least twenty+ years of experience on me and being an expert in the field, has always taken the time to listen to my ideas and engage with me on solving technical issues like I also am an expert in the field.
And I would MUCH rather work with him than any guy who knows all the right feminist lingo but doesn’t listen to a thing I say. The goal has ALWAYS been to treat everyone with kindness and respect, and once a person’s activism gets removed from that, they’re sidetracking progress. The right words aren’t nearly as important as the heart behind it.
