And that thing where you're reading something, and you know you read the words, but none of them "stick" and now you have to re-read the whole thing to figure out where you got lost.
I gotta tell ya, the only fascists I've met (who share their opinion in front of me) are online. All the ones I meet in day-to-day life are smart enough to keep their opinions to themselves.
I understand why this is frustrating and am not trying to take that from you, but thought you'd enjoy knowing that the last old lady who I confronted about calling my girlfriend as my girlfriend (in the platonic sense) was genuinely confused about my irritation, since "isn't that the best part of having a girlfriend instead of a boyfriend? That they're also your best friend? I always thought you two really got that part right."
It's some arethestraightsokay stuff (and happened in like 2004) but I thought it might give you a smile.
"Started?" Here in Tennessee we never stopped calling each other girlfriend.
But as others said, "Partner." I use it to talk about my boyfriend (since I'm a well-known demi person locally and the sex of whoever I'm with can be a massive question mark.)