>>“It was never safe from the kinds of things they want to make us feel bad about.
Actually it sorta was. If you mouthed off at an arcade, you ran a risk of getting that mouth punched or the arcade owner tossing you out like a biligerrant drunk in a bar.
>>“Who even asked for it?”
People who wanted to play a game without being repeatedly bombarded by f slurs and death threats.
>>“Mockery and insults were common but mostly innocent.”
I’d ask “If you had someone repeatedly threatening to kill you inside your house, would you let them stay?” but the people who do this don’t exactly have people in their house IRL, so…..