12-05-24
VICTIM CULTURE
Same deal with adoption. Adoptees have learned to project victimization, an incompleteness, even bereavement over a sense of loss. They’re expected to have identity issues with the most commonly asked questions to adoptees, Do you want to go back to Korea? Do you ever wonder about your birth parents? Always something that has to do with identity and birth country. My answer every time is, No. I was not born knowing how to be Korean. I was not born speaking the Korean language, or knowing about its history, or knowing how to cook its food. A person is not dictated by her environment only, and moving from one place to another, like to the U.S. from Korea, doesn’t mean my identity is fixed as a Korean that I can’t learn English, or adapt to American culture, or have my own identity. I am Erica before I am Korean. I am an individual with my own personality, character, wants, ambitions. There is no one way to be. Identity is not fixed.
I’ve never bought the victimization prescribed to adoptees, and I’m proud of myself for having such an independent, self-determined constitution. There are always multiple perspectives to any given context. I’m a glass half-full person over a glass half-empty, and how I’ve always viewed my adoption is, At least I’m here, not there. Even though my life has been full of adversity, being a female orphan is better in the U.S. than S. Korea. Even as a Korean. There’s hardly any social service system in S. Korea, and if there is, it isn’t like in the U.S. S. Korea, though a modern and democratic society, still functions on an underlying Confucianism, with the family the base support system for financial support and lending, elderly care, to name two. Without family, one is near ostracized. In S Korea, orphans do not go to school. They immediately work any type of job that will hire them, and without a degree, that means a cleaning lady. It is still a hierarchical, sexist society. Being aware of the reality of the contexts helps to eliminate any inkling for self pity that may manifest; but also that I am totally devoid of victimization inclinations and am not one to be broken, but take control, and in the U.S., I can do that. In S. Korea, it wouldn’t have been possible. Therefore, my adoption, for the hand I was dealt in life, was ultimately a good thing.
X
Screenshots below: Screenshots are what showed on my second X account before consistently posting on it (it's the only X account accessible on my iPhone). All sensational, shocking garbage. One representation only. Looks third-worldish. I couldn't stand it to take any more screenshots than what's shown.
NYT - REPARATIONS & COMMENTS
Screenshots above: Example comments to NYT article that corroborate NY's political shift as evinced in the year's presidential election. Ppl appear exhausted with the Democratic party.
SAME PERSON ON DIFFERENT WEBSITES/PLATFORMS
Screenshots above: NYT. Avast. The Black Girl Social Club. Care.org. Fresh Bellies. Grace Street Cafe. Health. Tostitos. Women Forum New York.
INSTAGRAM - NAILS & SNEAKERS
Screenshot above: Nintendo.
Screenshots above: Merrill & Jeep. Be Bright Pink. InVision App. Get Navan. Milk Bar. Agency Footwear. Xhibition. The Community School at PS 16 Queens, NY.
Screenshots above: Haribo. Nestle. Popup Bagels. Old Bay. Clio. Bubblr. Kraft.
Screenshots above: Nintendo. Froskate. Misfits. Ruffles. Pepsi Co.
Screenshots above: More Pepsi Co. Califia. Bomb Pop. Brisk. Asos. WePower. Wonder Bread.
Screenshots above: Nerf. My Little Pony. Serta.
OTHER EXAMPLES OF SNEAKERS—LINK TO POST (LITTLE BEFORE MIDWAY) AND LINK TO POST (MIDWAY).
MARKETING “EXPERIENTIAL” VEHICLES & PRODUCT ADVERTISING MASCOTS
Screenshots above: Blue Bottle Coffee. I Skream. Popsicle. The Pizza Cupcake. Hellmann’s. Minute Maid. Mattress Firm. Drumstick. Dums Duma.
Screenshots above: Dunkin’. Vineyard Vines. Coin Flip. Fly By Jing. Hershey’s. Catch’N Ice Cream.
Screenshots above: Chesters International. American Express with Van Leeuwen. Pop Tarts. Jove. Fulfil. Fortnum & App. Ben & Jerry’s. Oatly. Graza.
Screenshots above: Cocomels. Crumbs. Harmless Harvest. Little Sesame. Alice Mushrooms. Butterfinger. Ice Cream Jubilee. Milk Craft. Dunkin.
Screenshots above: Nordstrom. Cosmic. Oatly. Blue Marble. Dove. Ben & Jerry’s. Snickers. Impossible Foods.
OTHER EXAMPLES OF MARKETING VEHICLES AND MASCOTS—LINK TO POST (MIDWAY) AND LINK TO POST (BOTTOM).
INSTAGRAM - MORE NAILS
Screenshots above: Hi Chew. Peeps. Smarties. Less Evil. Aura Bora. Minute Maid. Kin. Lays. Fly By Jing.
Screenshots above: Percy Pig. Scrub Zaddy. Scotch-Brite. Target. Minna. Misfits.
Screenshots above: Velveeta. Belli Welli. Bubly. Califia. Spindrift. Goldfish. Vaseline. Wonder Bread.
Screenshots above: Ringpop. Ninja Kitchen. My Little Pony. Monopoly. Furby’s.
Screenshots above: Blue Bottle Coffee. Bloglovin. Royal Danskus Cookies. Fruit Loops. Ritz. La Croix. Sonic the Hedgehog. Taco Cabana.
Screenshots above: Urban Outfitters. Saks. Sound. Belliwelli. Choc Zero. Binance. Coinbase. Drag Queen Story Hour.
Screenshots above: Tommes Studio. Le Puzz. August. Kaplow Communications. Copper Cow Coffee. Makers Women. Clove. Owala. Baggu. Java. Owalo. Levain Bakery.
EXAMPLES OF OTHER NAILS—LINK TO POST (LITTLE BEFORE MIDWAY) AND LINK TO POST (MIDWAY).
INSTAGRAM - BRAND MERCHANDISE
Screenshots above: Haribo. Nestle. Old Bay. Noosa. Skittles. Bubblr. eBoost. Bush’s. Tide.
Screenshots above: Lays. Post-it. Curie. Popcorners. Hippea. Pepsi & Cheetos. Suja.
Screenshots above: Pabst. DeeBees Organics. Pepsi Co. Legos. Dave’s Hot Chicken. Slim Jim. Venmo. Reeses.
Screenshots above: Ritz. Cup Noodles. Trolli. Oscar Mayer. Airheads. Super Mario Brothers & Black Milk Clothing Label. Sanzo. Sweetfin “Chef-inspired poke bowls.”
Screenshots above: Cado Ice Cream. Hostess. Del Taco. Beyond Meat. Kraft. Nutella. Shasta. Werther’s Original. Sweet Chick.
Screenshots above: Insomnia Cookies. Fruity Peoples. Jelly Belly. Blue Bottle Coffee. Guava. Ritz. Stouffers. Meyers. Little Caesar’s.
Screenshots above: Pokemon. Jamba Juice. Chips Ahoy. Frosted Flakes. Starkest. Instacart. Red Clay Hot Sauce. My Little Pony. Cado.
Screenshots above: Furby. Icy Hot. I’m Donut. Dums Duma. Brekki. Fulfill. Tru Moo. Bobo’s.
Screenshots above: Punchy. Three Spirit. Trip. CelleV8 and Tangerine. De La Calle. Yasso. Silicon Valley Bank. Partners Coffee.
Screenshots above: Nordstrom for Abuela’s Bakery. Oatly. Smitten Ice Cream. Mimi Cheng’s. Cosmik. Deadstock Coffee. Super Coffee’s partnership with Kane Footwear. Real Good Foods.
Screenshots above: Oregon State Parks. Bazooka. Twix. Belliwelli. Gusto. Pantone. French’s. Sugarfina. Pantone.
Screenshots above: Binance.
Screenshots above: Ellevest. Cold Stone. Fidelity Investments. Ritual. Big Commerce. PayPal. Nerf. Truly. Working Families Party.
Screenshots above: Liquid Death. Salt & Straw. Baba Cook. Mochi. Rabbit. Chamberlain Coffee. Bojangles. Watchful. Black Coffee.
Screenshots above: MexC. Talkspace. Black Women Radicals. Owala. Levain Bakery. Cheez It. Town of Cutler Bay. JaJa. Loverboy.
MORE EXAMPLES ON MERCHANDISE—LINK TO POST (LITTLE BEFORE MIDWAY) AND LINK TO POST (TOWARDS BOTTOM).
SAME PEOPLE, DIFFERENT WEBSITES
Screenshots above: Blacks In Tech. Cigna. ShareFile. SureScripts. Vanguard. Yubico.
Screenshots above: Chip Professionals. CAHHS. Partners CU. Salam CU. U.S. Aid for National Development. Tech Crunch.
Screenshots above: Guava. Evernorth. Gen Digital. Valley Bank. Konica Minolta. SAP.
Screenshots above: Guava. Donate To Impact. Experian. TPX Communications. Festival Diaspora.
Screenshots above: PreTrial Justice Institute. Career Builder. College For Careers. Mayo Clinic. CDW Corporation. ConEd.
Screenshots above: Pre Trial Justice. A+ Federal Credit Union. CNN. College4Careers. Experian. TX First Bank. Affinity FCU.
MALWARE
Screenshots above: Center for Justice Innovation. Guava. NYT. (Note: Blurriness is harassment).
X & YOUTUBE
Screenshots above: First is my X showing the last post, a total of ten days worth of posts for a platform I’ve been on since 2009. Second shows harassment in the form of the popup.
CHASE & MALWARE
Screenshots above: Every time I log into my checking account to check for fraud, I have to brace myself. Partly because I expect to see fraud, which is always jolting to the nerves, but also because I know there are multiple sets of eyes who can see how much is in my account, and they will do whatever they can to steal the last penny. It’s a competition over who gets the money, them or I. That’s how I feel every time I log into my account. It’s a peculiar feeling, one I haven’t felt before, a combination of rage and dread, that something as simple as checking my bank account online first takes a prep talk with myself and final push to check what will be missing this time or to be laughed at by strangers, Hahaha, you’re poor! The last screenshot is definitely fraudulent—they’re all fraud—but the last one isn’t even trying to be discreet. I’ve had the same two devices since 2022.
REJECTED FOR UNEMPLOYMENT
I worked at the driving school starting on 05-06-24 with my last day, 11-08-24. I worked 9am-6pm, Monday through Friday. There was no health insurance or any other type of benefits offered. Strangely, I was paid for Memorial Day, but deducted for both July 4th and Labor Day. I did not take one day off during my employment.
I checked my mail today and saw a letter from NYS Department of Labor rejecting me for unemployment benefits. The letter is dated November 19th, 2024. I went in person to the Department of Labor on Varick Street in Manhattan on Thursday, 11-14-24, and finished filing on Monday, 11-18-24. It was a two-step process with the second half, 11-18-24, having to connect with an agent who completes the application. I documented the call and uploaded to my YouTube channel.
Screenshots above: First screenshot is from my online TMobile account showing the 37min call to NYS Department of Labor on 11-18-24. Second confirms the 1-800 number is to NYS Department of Labor.
I had first went to the Elmhurst Department of Labor on Monday, 11-12-24, but was turned away by the two people at front desk who said there was water damage in the building and they weren’t taking walk-ins for the day. They handed me a sheet of paper with the address of the Manhattan Department of Labor. The next day, 11-13-24, I went to the midtown address, but the security guard told me that the Department of Labor had relocated years ago, before the pandemic. On Thursday, I went to the downtown Department of Labor and started the application. I finished the application with a representative over the phone on Monday, 11-18-24. She told me it would take two weeks for my application to process. The video I uploaded to my YouTube channel confirms this. I also uploaded a snippet of the video of the representative saying it would take two weeks on my X. Yet I was mailed a letter that denied unemployment benefits on 11-19-25, the next day after completing the application.
Screenshots above: The sheet of paper handed to me by front desk at the Elmhurst Department of Labor.
Screenshots above: About one week before I was fired from the driving school, I received a letter from NYS Department of Taxation and Finance for owing $1500 on 11-01-24. They sent the same letter with “Warrant” in big black letters on top of the document back in 2023.
It seems the criminals knew exactly how to get around paying unemployment. They knew what they were doing all along. It never occurred to me that I would be denied unemployment. I see clearly now that I was scammed in employment. I made $100k+ in sales in the 6mths working for the criminals. I received 16 reviews: 8 online and 8 personal texts sent to the office phone, all thanking me for my services. The reviews were from every race, both male and female.
Above screenshot: Original post from my X to show state of mind. I’ve since edited to better organize and make more clearer—at the time I was frantic and very stressed, and still am though resolute. I had just realized I was scammed even with employment. I was at a loss.