What's wrong with people??

I was amused by this lil' snippet of info:

http://www.comicsalliance.com/2010/07/22/super-heroes-vs-the-westboro-baptist-church/


As some of you know, Fred Phelps is a dangerous man who has, for years, preached his own version of Christianity. What's sad is that he has followers of his church also drinking the kool-aid.

I understand that people may be threatened by GLBT folk. I understand that sometimes, people act out on their fears and do and say stuff that is hurtful to others.

But this man has gone way way too far.

It makes me happy to see fellow geeks more than happy to stand up to his nonsense.


I have a friend who uses a wheelchair. She is beautiful, funny, vibrant, intelligent, and a fellow geek girl. She's been going on dates and some of them have been good, some of them have been blah...and yet, once again, because of her wheelchair, the possibility of a long term relationship isn't a possibility.

Yeah, OK. She's in a wheelchair and yeah, that entails day to day care. But my friend is an independent chick who is more than happy to take care of herself as much as she can. It's not like she's expecting someone to wait on her hand and foot.

I guess I should be happy that the wheelchair definitely divides the can's vs. the cannot's. But I think it's unfair. Set the wheelchair aside for a moment and LOOK at the woman. Gah.


Myself, I deal with bipolar illness. I have ever since I was a pre teen and it really flared when I was 17 and going from there, it's been a continuous battle. It isn't as readily apparent as being in a wheelchair because it's a "hidden illness" but sooner or later, my Illness flares and unless I want to be a total liar (which I don't), people will see parts of what I struggle with.

I'm honest enough to say that I'm having a hard day. And if I am really close to you, I will be willing to talk about what's going on inside.

I write in another Journal a lot more bluntly about my Illness. It's not that I'm ashamed of it or that it's something I can't talk about here. I can. I will. There just hasn't been the moment to talk about it until now. God knows I'm not going to hide and be someone I'm not. That's just stupid.

My point being is that there are going to be people who will say that I am faking it. That it's all in my head and all I need to do is pull myself up by my bootstraps and get on with it. That I'm feeling sorry for myself because I don't have it as bad as other people do and I need to quit the pity party.

Trust me, I tell myself the same thing, too...but that's not going to help when I'm in the depths of a depression.

I'm learning to accept the fact that this Illness is like having diabetes or high blood pressure or cancer. I am on medication to control it. So far, so good. But I have to keep taking the medication and I have to keep on top of my reactions and I have to rewire my thinking as much as I can so that I won't fall into that pit.

It's...exhausting.

The last thing I need is someone telling me to get over myself.


I find that the quicker I open my mouth without really knowing what's going on or who the person is, I make a bigger fool of myself. I find that it's much much smarter to get to know a person, get to know what's going on before saying anything. If I even do, that is. Sometimes, it's just wisest to keep my mouth shut.

And sometimes, sometimes it's time to roll that one in diplomacy and tell the Fred Phelps of this world the following:

Feck off.



K.