People Suck Sometimes

Whether it's my able-bodied uncle giving me his idea of a "pep talk" by dispensing trite advice: "you are a smart girl, you can do anything you put your mind to, and you wouldn't want to live life from a chair!" (As if anybody has a choice or really aspires to live their life from a chair in the first place...) Ah, the mind over matter speech. If only it were that simple... If only my mind were able to cure my physical illness...

Or my therapist saying that having to go to the doctor every week is "no kind of life," I have come to realize recently that even seemingly well-intentioned people sure do pass judgment on others a lot. I am probably even guilty of that myself every once in awhile. It's one thing to have a thought pop into your head and keep it to yourself but quite another to impose your potentially offensive point of view onto someone else. Yet I am sure that neither one of these people meant to offend me. Which hearkens back to the same question I have asked myself before: am I just overly-sensitive? Or does everyone just need to take care to be more politically correct when it comes to their interactions with the chronically ill?

My skin cannot get much thicker. I am sensitive by nature but have learned to let a lot of things just "roll off" these past few years that would have previously really upset me. Today's discovery of the Facebook group openly discriminating against the disabled really left me reeling. It is amazing to me how people can get away with hate speech like that at this time in history. The following cartoon was posted on their group page and I found myself studying it for quite awhile, not able to uncover a single ounce of humor in it:



I certainly do not find it amusing and do not appreciate being given the label "pampered disabled." If the cartoonist's idea of being "pampered" is not making enough to live on, not being able to travel, not being able to be physically active and not being able to lead normal lives, then call us "pampered." Surely we must be "pampered" by being granted access to basic services through closer parking spaces. Surely that evens the score and levels the playing field among the able-bodied and the disabled. I believe in free speech as much as the next person, but I do not believe in poking fun at or disrespecting people in a public forum, especially the most marginalized groups of society, or "mutants" as a particularly ignorant and mean-spirited member of the Facebook group referred to all disabled people as. It is disgusting to me how sinister and overtly hateful some people can be. Days like today I am even more thankful to have compassionate friends on my side who are genuinely good people. You know who you are.

Hateful, Hurtful Words NEED to Stop!

I'm soooooooooooo sick of sociopathic bullies like the lady who wrote the following on her Facebook group page entitled, 'group to revoke handicapped parking permits:'

"Stop treating people differently based on their physical capabilities, that's what they say, but it's all lipservice! As soon as one of those handicapped people wants to park a car they don't want to be treated 'like everybody else' anymore. Well, here at the group to revoke handicapped parking permits we say: 'May every man, woman, child, and retard, be treated equally.'



Do they really need it? If they're so messed up they can't drive, then why doesn't the person they're with just drop them off and find a f#@*&!^ spot? If they are able to drive, but use a wheelchair then there's absolutely no need for a close spot- they're on wheels, a conveyance that's gonna get them there easily and faster anyway. Now for those who are just so weak and tired that they aren't able to drive and have too much pride to get in a wheel chair- I say stay home! You've probably got somebody catering to your every need there, too! Why do you feel you need to get that kind of attention when you leave the house too?
Now there is new category of 'handicapped' people: the grossly, morbidly, obese. Now with this I vehemently disagree. Isn't it possible that if you parked further out and walked to your destination you would burn a few calories and lose some weight, thereby negating the need for the 'fatticapped' parking in the first place?



FIGHT DISCRIMINATION!


Actions to take to show your support:

1- get out there and send in a photograph of yourself 'illegally' parking in a handicapped spot, then post it accordingly;

2- steal a handicapped placard from a car;

3- remove any 'handicapped parking only' sign you possibly can; and, finally,

4- flip off handicapped people in the name of equality!"

Let's deconstruct her argument for a minute, shall we? According to this woman's logic the handicapped don't deserve to have a place in society or to even show our faces out in public at a grocery store. Sociopaths like her embody everything that's wrong with the world today. It was all I could do not to stoop to her level and call her hurtful names. Instead I sent her a message with a link to my blog post about my personal experience using a handicapped parking sticker. Maybe it will inspire her to put herself in someone else's shoes for a change...

Should It Really Be This Hard to Get the Social Security Disability Benefits You Deserve?