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Druthers

This is a colloquial word that basically means preferences. It's your laundry list of what you would rather have IF you can get it and I believe it most likely comes from saying "I'd rather..." (probably with some kind of rural or regional accent) and then the S on the end means you've listed out multiple things you would rather have or multiple reasons why this specific detail matters to you.

To my mind, it implies a stigmatized out group that gets insufficient respect speaking to preferences that are not merely "nice to have." They are important for reasons this individual is familiar with due in part to being a part of a stigmatized out group but they also are being realistic and know that odds are long against getting it because it will be counterintuitive to the people in power and the rules and laws they write up and still enforce.

It is rooted in my father using such expressions. He grew up on a farm and was a high school drop out (in an era where that was extremely common and not stigmatized) and gleefully corrected the spelling errors, grammatical errors etc. sent home with his kids by college educated school teachers.

It captures the cultural bias that rural peoples (farmers) are ignorant, uneducated and illiterate and we don't need to respect their opinions when in reality we all are dependent for our very lives on the essential work they do, so maybe you should get over your judgey prejudice that they talk funny and respect their expertise in subjects you likely know little or nothing about.

So to me it's a richer word with additional meaning than preferences but if people don't know the word it's a communication failure.

But that's why I used the word in the title of this piece to suggest "I know the monied real estate development insiders will likely find this unexpected and counterintuitive and may want to dismiss it out of hand as a dumb opinion from a poor person with no industry experience, but the years I spent living in poverty housing informs my opinions and I also have pertinent education and have spent years researching this, so sit a spell and listen up as to why I believe this is the best answer IF you can get it approved."

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