I just stopped talking to them or responding well to their efforts. It's a trend. I really couldn't even tell you why with any absolute certainty, aside from the following thought that's come up when trying to figure it out.

If you grow up in a situation where your parents move every couple of years for work, IMO you're going to develop in one of two ways:
-you're going to get really good at making new friends, real fast, and keeping in touch with people over time
-you'll reach a point where you stop putting any effort into connecting with new people or keeping in touch with old friends, because what's the point? You'll be gone soon anyway.

And if you're in the latter camp, unless you put real effort into fixing it, that shit can stick with you long after the situation creating that condition is over.

I've made some progress, I suppose, in trying to at least be a friendly guy on the street open to chance encounters that theoretically could turn into a more robust friendship, but I've got a ways to go to get where I'd like to be re: that.

It's a total aside, but I feel like more people should know about Shag Harbour, NS for similar reasons. That and The Shag Harbour Incident would make an excellent band name.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shag_Harbour_UFO_incident

They have a little museum which is kinda fun.

Edit: I got it - my bet is Charlottetown, PEI, because those Anne of Green Gables books were wildly popular on the international market, and I imagine fans tried to find Avonlea on a map and learned that Charlottetown exists.

I'm probably still wrong, this is actually kind of a tough question.

Edit 2: Nah I change my mind, maybe Gimli, MB because the Gimli Glider incident did garner quite a bit of attention.

Someone got really drunk and was in the bathroom willing to take all comers at a work function.

It was a shame, I liked working with them.

Then you got neat little fiefdoms too, like Irvingland - whoops, I mean New Brunswick.

It's definitely not for everyone, but I've met a small number of disabled people who do exactly this, for similar reasons.

Wouldn't offer it as a suggestion though, kinda feel like people have to come to that decision on their own.

You kid, but as an Canadian Anglophone, this is what I do any time I have to send an email to someone with a French name with an accented character.

Yes, I know the special character menu is a thing, but I have shit to do.

"Did you know? This seat is the only one in Ottawa to feature in an Alanis Morissette song.

This plaque is here to remind you."

[God I wish I knew how to Photoshop]

I am reasonably certain I have been to the theatre where she went down on that guy.

This is the most interesting fact about my life.

YYYY/MM/DD hhmm, 24 hour clock gang unite!

(We also support our YYYY.MM.DD and YYYYMMDD compatriots)

I don't know what it is, but aside from the side effects of nicotine addiction and access problems in these spaces(which, whatever, I get it), transportation hubs (airports, train stations, ferry terminals, etc.) are my favourite places to be.

Don't really understand why I'm jumping into the garbage fire here, but here we go.

Let's assume it's accurate to classify being trans as a mental illness, just for the sake of argument. What if I told you we've tried pure psychological treatment and other medical interventions for trans people before - similar, interestingly enough, to L, G, B, and Q people* - and it is simply ineffective? What if I told you, after many years and unnecessarily dead humans, affirmation of identified gender, hormone treatment and surgical intervention were found to be the most effective means available for resolving the suffering inherent in the condition?

Let's also assume that despite this illness, a trans person is otherwise deemed fit and capable for rational decision making. You'd need evaluation by a psychiatrist to ensure this is true (which generally happens), but if so they have a fundamental right to bodily autonomy. Who are you or I to tell them what they can or cannot do to their bodies? Hell, if you right now wanted to surgically alter your dick to be comically large, if you're otherwise capable of decision-making (and a third party can attest to this), would you accept someone saying you can't, assuming you've accepted the possible risks?

End of the day, trans people are normal people who happen to have a disconnect between self-image and physical presentation based on hormone makeup and bodily form, and suffer quite a bit due to it. Transitioning is a game changer for most, and allows them to participate more effectively in the wider world without that baggage.

All you need to do is use a preferred pronoun, as community acceptance is a big, if low effort, part of the 'cure'. If you get it wrong, 99% of the time you'll be politely corrected. No one is going to crucify you for this.

Now, you can actively choose not to for whatever reason - but all that really does is make you an asshole in the eyes of many. Why? Because you're reinforcing something that causes another human pain, and what for? What does this accomplish for yourself, the trans person you're talking to, and your wider community, exactly?

I'm personally shocked this is such a hot button issue. Let other humans be whatever the hell they want to be, if they are competent to make decisions for themselves and 'changing' reduces their suffering. The world's burning, we have more pressing concerns than what our fellow humans have or don't have in their pants.

*A omitted simply because I don't know if asexual people were subject to anything like treatment for gay, lesbian or queer people at the hands of psychiatry and medicine more broadly historically. I imagine not, but I could be 100% wrong, and am without question uninformed.