So like, its not necessarily about offense. Some folks who have suffered abuse and aggression because of their minority status have visceral, trauma responses to certain things. When I hear the t-slur used, for example, it invokes a deep anxiety and panic. That doesn't mean that I think that anyone who says it is a transphobe (like the car guy in your example might be talking about his transmission or some silly thing like that) and I'm not going to rage and scream at him. But I'm not weird or wrong for asking him not to say it because it triggers me. This isn't a discussion about how we should cancel people for using words, its a discussion about how we can accommodate our fellow people.

The OP shows some folks making a change that is so minor we shouldn't even be talking about it, so that they can be just a touch more likely not to affect someone negatively. Even if its performative, who cares, they did it and it affects nobody negatively.

More concerning, I think, is the people jumping in this thread acting like this is woke cancel culture gone wild and we can't use normal words anymore.