Foxsayy

There is a shift occuring, but it's for the worse imo, as cigarette and beer conglomerates are investing and getting most of the cannabis licenses in newly legalized states. This prevents mom and pop shops and farms from being able to legally operate.

The American way...

...So now I want to go back to 5 minutes ago when I didn't know that word.

I'm not OP, but I can offer the experience I've had. A lot of the people who describe themselves something like "upfront" with people or they "say what's on their mind/tell it like it is" are struggling for one of two main reasons.

1. The first is: hey, you have socially inept and asshole tendencies, maybe you even are a genuine ass, and there's no nice way to say it without you rationalizing it. These people do things like speak aggressively or talk down to people, but they won't even realize they're doing it. In fact, if you hear someone like this tell the story later, they tend to tell a narrative that paints them as speaking rationally, kindly, calmly, and ironically framing the other person's retaliation to their hostility as the attack. These types also tend to take it poorly when someone brings the issues up, partially because they don't really believe they've done anything, or if they did, they have a "good" reason they did it, which may or may not be true. e.g. I was stressed at work, I've had a health scare, it's been a really tough day and I've been working 3 jobs and my boyfriend yelled at me. Naturally, they tend not to give the same consideration for others' excuses, even if the excuses are extremely similar.

2. The second reason is some sort of almost innocuous social ineptitude, often paired with or because of one's personal philosophy or morals (and sometimes a mental issue like Asperger's). For instance, you might be well intentioned and think they your acquaintance would like to know their anger issues are scaring off their friends. Maybe you think this because you would prefer that. Thing is, people often hate being told about their flaws, and it causes them not to want to change but to dislike you. (And if you call it out in front of people when you could do it on the side, that's just a dick move.) There are certain social conventions and niceties that certain people just don't see a point in, and some of these can vary from region to region.

Some of these conventions are useful, like small talk I so often hear someone say they hate. (btw, if someone says that, 95% of the time they're some form of socially inept. It's a red flag.) Small talk may not always be the most fascinating thing, but among other purposes, it serves to start a conversation with a stranger, a date, etc. and for feeling out who this person is and how they work, if they're safe and sane, etc. It often functions as a sort of preliminary screening.

And yeah, a lot of these conventions ARE stupid and even sometimes harmful, but here's the thing if you want to fit into groups within society: you have to play the game. Sometimes it sucks. But just like small talk, if you want to find others that share your mode of social interaction or you mesh with, you're often going to need to play the game to find them. After you've shown that you're not a sociopath weirdo and can at least act well enough not to embarrass your friends in public (which could alienate them from their networks), you're more likely to find the friend you can feel comfortable with and doesn't mind if you casually tell them they look like shit or appreciates you looking out for them when you bring up their unpleasant rage issue.

A good tip for being a bit more socially adept from what you wrote might be noticing the good in people and complimenting on that. People despise having their faults exposed to their social networks, and if they think you mention their bad traits to others that's social suicide. They will mark you somewhere between an annoyance and a threat and distance themselves. But people love talking about themselves and having someone talk them up.

Anyway, this went way longer than I expected, and I hope it was somewhat helpful. :)

Mia: There is a lot more money behind defeating legalization/descheduling.

Why is that? I was under the impression Cannabis would be a huge new market and source of income for many states.

This is off topic but is there a word for when the parent dumps everything on you for hours a day, from marital issues to problems with friends to...most things?