It means that, in the "real world" -- when you have a job or are operating a business, or are requesting donations for your non-profit, or otherwise interacting with people on a purely mutually voluntary basis, rather than because you are paying tuition to them and they are obligated to interact with you -- almost nobody cares about coddling your personality quirks and interacting with you in some rules-based circumspect way in order to avoid topics that you find unpleasant, or to otherwise make it easier for you to handle the interaction. (Note that this is an empirical description of how things actually are, not a moral evaluation of how things ought to be. Whether it would be nicer if things were some other way is beside the point.)

It therefore behooves you to learn how to deal with unpleasant topics and "mean" people in general in a constructive and adult way while you are at university, rather than creating formalized institutional barriers that create artificial "safe spaces" to shield you from such things, and thus allow you to avoid learning to deal with them.

Your grade 1-12 teachers are, in some ways, paid to put up with your bullshit. They remind you about homework, listen you your excuses, etc. They understand that in many ways, you are still a child and that you do need help.

College professors (based on my experience and popular wisdom) are less likely to fill that "parenting" role. You are expected to be responsible and to take the initiative.

When you land a job, you are expected to perform. They expect that you will need help remembering to do your work, or to show up on time, or to be responsible for yourself.

Today, it seems, that the "college experience" is being overthrown by the PC police. This is what some colleges are teaching those entering the workforce:

Saying "Where are you from" is racist

Saying "America is a melting pot" is racist

Saying "Hey, can you guys help me look at this problem" is sexist\misogynist

Telling a woman in leadership “I love your shoes!” is bad

Referring to your co-worker’s girlfriend as “girlfriend” instead of “partner” is homophobic

And on and on and on.

And then these kids enter the workforce with an older generation who thinks the above list is absurd. There is going to be conflict and they older generation will wonder what happened to the youngins. They are incapable of living without finding ways to point to their victim hood or oppression.

They will be at your job soon. Publicly shaming you or reporting you to HR for using the wrong word or asking "Did you and your girlfriend do anything fun this weekend?"

Sources:

http://www.thecollegefix.com/post/27028/

http://www.thecollegefix.com/post/27984/

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2015/09/the-codd...

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/09/the-rise...

note to readers: victimhood and oppression do exist and I am not trying to belittle the very real experiences of many people in our society.

>They will be at your job soon. Publicly shaming you or reporting you to HR for using the wrong word or asking "Did you and your girlfriend do anything fun this weekend?"

Be careful on that slippery slope!

I'm not using partner instead of girlfriend just in case some third party might get their fee fees hurt. This is insanity. The linked articles provide many absurd examples. This isn't a slippery slope, this is stupidity personified.

> I'm not using partner instead of girlfriend just in case some third party might get their fee fees hurt. This is insanity.

Really, you're not willing to be mindful of your language to respect someone else's wishes? Also, "fee fees" really shows your level of thought and respect for other people so maybe I didn't need to even ask.

How is calling someone's girlfriend a girlfriend offensive?

>give examples

I wouldn't even know where to start.

How about: a belligerent country invades your sovereign and abuses and kills the populace. That's happened repeatedly, to millions of people, throughout history.