What word do you think that would be?

I’ll save you the effort, because it might take you a while to get it:

mandatory (m?n’d?-tôr’?, -t?r’?) adj.

1. Required or commanded by authority; obligatory: Attendance at the meeting is mandatory.
2. Of, having the nature of, or containing a mandate.
3. Holding a League of Nations mandate over a territory.

It’s the required or commanded by authority that I have an issue with, because saying mandatory is used as a nice way of saying we’ll fuck you over if you don’t do what we ‘helpfully suggest’. It’s another way of saying that your mind is not your own, and you body certainly isn’t – it’s a way of saying that authority is better trusted with your being.

>It’s irrational, I know, to be so annoyed by that one word. ‘Compulsory’ doesn’t annoy me as much, but it’s used in the same way. Just another sign that I’m not exactly rational about the things that annoy me. What a surprise…