Given my community affiliations -- Pagan, alternative sexualities, fannish, etc. -- I encounter a lot of folks with unsupportive or destructive backgrounds. If your abilities are outside the human ordinary, you're likely to get hassled. That tends to leave marks.
I can usually make an improvement, and I make the effort because I want to have a functioning community rather than a drama llama farm. Alas, it's rare for anyone to stick around long enough to finish the job, which is frustrating. People don't like being told that fixing what they're complaining about will take some hard work and time. But then one day, I was re-watching the Star Wars movies, and suddenly realized that not even Obi-Wan Kenobi managed to convince his student of that. So I felt less clumsy then.
Re: Yay!
Given my community affiliations -- Pagan, alternative sexualities, fannish, etc. -- I encounter a lot of folks with unsupportive or destructive backgrounds. If your abilities are outside the human ordinary, you're likely to get hassled. That tends to leave marks.
I can usually make an improvement, and I make the effort because I want to have a functioning community rather than a drama llama farm. Alas, it's rare for anyone to stick around long enough to finish the job, which is frustrating. People don't like being told that fixing what they're complaining about will take some hard work and time. But then one day, I was re-watching the Star Wars movies, and suddenly realized that not even Obi-Wan Kenobi managed to convince his student of that. So I felt less clumsy then.