Negative comments on XR / rebels / Greta
This section gathers together some ideas for resonding to regular negative comments. As ever, never copy and paste.
Unwashed hippies...
Unwashed hippies
We're all sorts of people - including scruffy anarchists.
but we're also:
XR Grandparents https://www.facebook.com/XRGrandparents
XR Youth https://www.facebook.com/XRYouth/
XR Doctors https://www.doctorsforxr.com/
XR Lawyers https://www.lawyersforxr.com/
XR Farmers https://twitter.com/XRFarmers
XR Jews https://www.xrjews.org.uk/
XR Buddhists http://xrbuddhists.com/
Some of us dress smart, some dress “scruffy”, some turn up in scrubs, some in costumes. Some work flexible hours, some are unemployed, some use their annual leave to be able to come.
We’re a real mixed bag!
We really do have plenty of alternative looking people which isn't always good optics, but they are the most visible and keen.
Don’t judge a book by its cover
You want people to ignore the demand for a future in which people and other life on Earth can survive because you don’t like the outfits of some of the people in a protest?
Sure, there’s a few hippy types, but there’s also a surprising number of scientists and doctors.
Can you tell which of those hippies is the surgeon, ex-policeman, head-teacher, re, psychologist, mother, designer, musician, nurse, engineer, lorry driver, scientist?
Jobless ...
I've been following up such comments to say my coworker used up much of his annual leave for the April protest.
I have a good job doing XYZ.
Many of the XR supporters work, either part-time or full-time, donating their spare time to help raise awareness and engage with people
Sure there are homeless and jobless people in XR, but there’s also lawyers, doctors, plumbers and single mums. Most of the people at the protest are using up their leave instead of having a holiday.
Use this as an excuse to tell something about the humans of XR; That’s what I thought initially, but it turns out lots of members are parents and Grandparents. I met one couple who’d just had their first baby and they told me that it was the moment that they realised they really wanted grandchildren that they felt they had to take things seriously and make sure those future grandchildren had a good world to be born into.
Many people in XR are employed full time, they’re using their annual leave to fight for a cause they believe in. (Almost) everyone in the UK is entitled to paid time off, what we do with it is up to us.
XR is broadly a cross-section of pretty much any community; a mix of professions and trades, and of course some people may not currently be employed. Everyone volunteers their time to support XR, a cause that they believe in.