I haven’t seen this option mentioned yet but you can also order your groceries online, and have them delivered. That’s what I do at the moment, because I live outside the city and my nearest grocery store is 2 km away. I could bike or hop on a bus, and I do sometimes, but ordering online is just really convenient.

If anything it’s the car-dependent infrastructure that is ableist, as many people with disabilities cannot drive. I can’t, and if I didn’t live in a place where alternative modes of transport were a thing, I would either be stuck at home, or have to waste money on buying a specially made car.

Far from all disabled people use wheelchairs or have mobility issues. Some have problems with their sight, concentration, fine motor skills etc. which prevent them from driving safely. Even if you cannot walk or ride a bike, and have trouble getting on/off public transport by yourself, living in an environment that is walkable and bikeable usually means that it is also easier/safer to get around in a wheelchair or on a moped.

We would be riding cows instead.

Americans seem very “fighty” compared to people from many other countries. You just have to say something that could be construed as liberal (the American kind) or conservative, too politically correct or incorrect, or mention you ride a bicycle or have an outdoor cat, to set some people off. With some Americans having a conversation is like navigating a minefield, especially those who have very little understanding of the rest of the world and reads everything you say into an American context, language barriers and all.

I love talking politics, and have had pleasant conversations with all kinds of people but I have learned from experience to just not bother with Americans, unless they’re the very curious and open kind.

I’ve heard that you fall off the edge of the world, if you go too far.

I like to recite grammar rules or language facts to myself when I’m feeling stressed out, almost like a form of meditation.

There’s also Coromon, which even has a similar style.

The right to work from home. Many people have jobs they could do from home if their employers would let them, and I think people will be granted the right to choose in at least some countries/sectors.

On a more personal level, I think (or hope) access to education and work for people with disabilities, is something that will improve a lot in my country. There are currently a lot of barriers and counterproductive laws, that I think will be viewed as inhumane in the future.

People here are not for completely banning all cars, but for reducing the use of private cars. I personally don’t think personal cars have a place in society (outside a couple of edge cases) and that we should start phasing them out. Other people just want better alternatives. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone argue that disabled people, who need a car to get around should not be allowed to have one, or that we should ban taxis and moving companies from using cars.

I think that would be a very difficult trip to make without a car, but you could easily make that trip without a private car, especially in a society where that is the norm. You could either rent a car for a day or two, or use some kind of moving/transport/taxi service to get around.

Another perspective is that society would look different if is wasn’t the norm to use cars to get around, and maybe you wouldn’t need to travel as far to get to your local shows. I know nothing about showing dogs but I’ve grown up with ponies in my backyard, and from my childhood home (in the middle of nowhere by Danish standards) I could walk to a couple of horse camps and shows per year. Within an hours drive there was plenty to do, every weekend. We just kept our ponies as pets/lawn movers and took them camping or to a 4H show once in a while, and we rarely needed a trailer or even a car for that. When we did need a trailer, we would rent one at the local gas station or hitch a ride with someone.

I think school/work days would be shorter and more intense. Small talk and chit chat would not be an integrated part of a work/school day, but instead something that happened before or after school/work if you wanted to. A meeting wouldn’t start with 10 minutes of “how have you been?” or random jokes, but instead jump right into business. Working from home would also be more common.

Having a niche hobby or working with something niche would be way more common, and hobbies would be viewed as more important than they are today. People without any hobbies or interests would be viewed as really weird.

Practical and comfortable clothes would also be more common, and fashion would be more erratic/varied. Pop culture would be less of a thing.

No car, plane rides or children. I also eat less meat than average, rarely buy new (or used) stuff and vote for one of the greener parties.

I grew up (first world) poor, so this was just the way things were, when I was a child. My income is still quite low but I could absolutely live more lavishly than I do now, if I wanted to.

Your lines are so clean!

I think you could argue that this is an example of cognitive dissonance. It is uncomfortable to come face to face with new information that contradicts your beliefs or actions, and it requires energy if you want to integrate that new information into your worldview and adjust your actions. It is much easier to deny that information, even when it is clearly true.

For example, when it came out that aspartame might cause cancer, if you (like me) have eaten/drunk a lot of products containing it or have had a strong belief that it was completely safe, then it may be more comfortable for you to criticize WHO or think “well, it’s not really relevant for me because my family isn’t predisposed for cancer.” If you didn’t care about aspartame or artificial sweeteners before, you will probably readily accept that there may or may not be a cancer link.

In Danish we say “endestation” instead, which can be translated as butt-station. Sometimes the endestation is Middelfart, or somewhere on Lolland.

I think some people’s self-worth relies on them being “good”/right/perfect, so they can’t apologize without also hurting themselves. I don’t really get it either, because in my experience being able to apologize when you need to, is a huge strength. People will overlook almost any mistake you’ve made when they know that you feel bad about it, instead of having it turn into an useless conflict.

Even if you don’t feel like apologizing surely you can say “I didn’t mean to hurt you and I’ll try not to do it again” or even “I didn’t mean to hurt you but I don’t really care about your feelings/I think you’re being unreasonable” so you know where they stand.