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Lane Comes Home

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Simon: Can I read your fan fiction? I'm interested.
Sasha: At your own risk. I'll send you a link to my profile.
(Lane comes in)
Simon: Hey, it's my roommate Lane!
Lane: Hi Simon.
Simon: Lane, this is Sasha and Lily. They live in the building too.
Lane: Hi guys.
Lily: Hi.
Sasha: Hello.
Simon: Do you want some chili?
Lane: No, I can't keep eating your food. I never make YOU anything.
Simon: Yes you can. It's vegan.
(Simon hands Lane a bowl of chili)
Simon: Here you go.
(He holds a spoon of chili up to her face)
Simon: Open up.

Vegan Food

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Simon: The secret to making good vegan food is to add lots of fat and salt.
Lily: Are you vegan, Simon?
Simon: No, I'm pescatarian. LANE is vegan, thought.
Lane: Don't come at me! I'm just trying to live my vegan life in peace, okay?
Sasha: What, people criticize you for being vegan?
Lane: Not exactly, they just get all defensive and try to explain all their life choices to me. Or they feel the need to express how much they don't give a SHIT about animals while EROTICALLY eating BACON uncomfortably close to my face.

Trauma

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Lily: That sounds potentially traumatic.
Lane: It's ANNOYING, that's all. I don't use the term "traumatic" lightly.
Lily: Neither do I, but I think trauma exists on a spectrum wide enough to include little things people wouldn't usually put in that category.I tell people I almost died in a car accident and they generally understand. But my friend Kate was traumatized by working in retail, and when she says that, people are like, "EVERYONE hates retail work, but you have to suck it up and DO it." You can't compare people's experiences from the outside, because everyone processes things differently.
Lane: Yeah.
(picture of a ride that says "Roller coaster of acknowledgement and empathy" and a height sign that says "your traumatic event must be THIS HORRENDOUS for you to ride.")

Mental Illness

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Lily: The categorization of mental illness is a social construct that cuts and pastes the human condition into imperfect boxes.
Lane: ...A social construct based on LOADS of research and refinement, that helps people get treatment and confirm the REALness of their experiences.
Lily: Yeah, that too. But some people are relieved when they get a diagnosis, because they think "all these problems aren't my fault!" We all have factors that make our lives hard, and if they don't have an official label, it doesn't make them any less valid. Lane: True, but mentally healthy people try to relate to this stuff and I'm like "you don't really understand how bad it is for ME."
Lily: Yeah, that happens to me sometimes. But just because I have PTSD, I don't automatically know how bad it is for everyone. Most people don't understand how hard it is for me to get in a car, though. I think everyone probably has at least ONE THING that most people don't understand how hard it is for them.
Simon: Yup.
Sasha: Yeah.
Lane: Maybe.

Depression

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Lane: When I got diagnosed with depression, it wasn't a weight off my shoulders. It gave me SOME hope, but it was like confirmation that there WAS something wrong with me, and that I had to work at least twice as hard as everyone else just to prove I was capable. I'm doing better now, but I'm always afraid of letting people down or becoming a burden, and something in the back of my mind keeps saing "it's too late, you've already disappointed everyone you know."
(picture of a monster behind Lane saying that)
Lane: And I work so hard to compensate for it, that a lot of people have no IDEA what I'm going through.
Lane: Sorry, that was probably TMI considering I just met you two.
Lily: No, it's fine. I think that perspective is important.
Sasha: Yeah, I mean we were already talking about this stuff.
(the monster comes back)
Monster: They're just saying that. You made a bad first impression and they won't want to talk to you again.
Lane: YOU shut the HELL up!

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