This afternoon, just a few moments ago, as I cleaned up my twenty-year old daughter after a diaper change and prepared to draw up a syringe of cannabis for her afternoon dose, I was struck by the irony of listening to a certain Citizen Scientist over on the National Geographic comment page demand accountability and responsibility from the public, namely me, Irresponsible Citizen Numb-skull. I wondered, not bitterly, mind you, because we all have our issues, whether she might extend her civic duty (enthusiastically getting those 49 vaccinations and protecting the herd through strict legislation) to helping me out over here. I'm thinking she could take a stint at changing those poopy diapers every day for at least a decade, and during constipated times, she could do some telephone work (waiting begets waiting) and cajolery. I could certainly use help with insurance co-payments as well, and whoa -- let's not even get into all the things she could do when Sophie ages out of the school system. Stronger minds than my own flail at that prospect, so I imagine a really altruistic and responsible person like herself could come up with some solutions! I'd even give her a turn at darts when we visit The Neurologist and try to decide what medication might work best should I be unable to keep getting the Unresearched-Enough Cannabis.
Even numb-skulls have dreams.
Your voice in this conversation is so very important. I have learned from you. There are kooks on both sides of the debate, and then there are people who have real information and real experience to share. Numb-skill you are not.
ReplyDeleteTara Crowley -- Thank you for your kind words. To tell you the truth, I'd welcome being a court jester. It invites a certain oblivion, I think!
DeleteI so often wonder why people who really don't have a dog in the hunt have such strong and closed-minded opinions. For example- that woman commenting on the Nat'l Geo article. What is making her so shrill?
ReplyDeleteAs you drew up Sophie's cannabis, I was writing about psilocybin and how the government tried to shut that down.
As long as cows poop, they just can't. As long as there are people as brave as you and as brilliant as the Stanley Brothers, there will be astounding results from the use of cannabis which eventually, cannot be ignored.
You made one large error in your post- there are no stronger minds than yours.
Love you. M
Mary: I think I'm going to use the expression "People who really don't have a dog in the hunt" from now on, multiple times a week. As for psilocybin, I've been reading such fascinating articles on it and its history. This country's drug wars and policies might be the biggest disasters of all!
DeleteMy son is autistic which I partially blame on vaccines and heavy metals and my own chronic Lyme disease. I think this scientists interview is interesting because she talks about glutamate and the difficulty in certain children receiving vaccines metabolizing it without sufficient manganese. http://tv.greenmedinfo.com/vaccine-causes-autism/. I thought this interview might be of interest to you. realize this topic is prone to extremist views which distract us from a more coherent and beneficial discussion of how to reduce serious adverse events from vaccines. I wish you and your family well. - elizabeth
ReplyDeleteX -- Thank you so much for commenting and for sharing your story. I will certainly check out the link. I also read an interesting article today about our gut flora (and fauna?) and how despite good intentions, the over-use of antibiotics could possibly be contributing to the obesity and asthma epidemics.
DeleteWell the difference is that you keep it classy. And you manage to keep it classy even while talking about shit both literal and not.
ReplyDeleteJill - I do my best but would never pretend to be classy all the time. I certainly have had my moments!
DeleteThat woman sure got her knickers in a twist. And yeah, it would be great if she could come over and help out with the poopy diapers and such. People don't realize how hard it is.
ReplyDeleteBill and I were at Katie's this morning. He put together an Ikea armchair and kitchen table for Katie. By the time we dropped off Katie and her caregiver at West Edmonton Mall, Bill was wound tighter than I've ever seen him. I told him that's how I felt all the time with Katie. Wound that tight. He just shook his head.
Here's hoping the good citizen helps out:)
Lily cedar - Your Bill sounds like a gem. I'm so relieved that your daughter is healing, and yes -- let's see if the help comes!
DeleteYou crack me up !
ReplyDeleteOh you are nice calling her Citizen Science. I call her the Bitch from Hell. I just went back and read more of her comments and that you could single-handedly lead her to vote a certain way makes quite powerful. It seemed she heard nothing you said! And has ZERO empathy and FUCK her and so there. Sorry for my profanity but she kept giving examples of people she knew who... with no acknowledgement that she has NO direct experience with vaccine related consequences or possible consequences and God forbid if her "similar aged" children were so impacted. How can one be so adamant in their viewpoint on something like this? I'm done. Sweet Jo
ReplyDeleteSweet Jo -- I'm grateful that you're in my posse and profanity is always welcome!
DeleteYou mention aging out. It's like a rebirth. Literally. I wish I could age out.
ReplyDeleteSingle Dad - I'm just going to sit here and savor your presence! So glad to "hear" your inimitable voice and even gladden that you're reborn.
DeleteI had an experience on Facebook (yet again) this morning that triggered a thought about civil discourse in my brain. What if, instead of the Common Core Curriculum, we taught kids in school how to have conversations about important issues without taking things personally, using superlatives, or making sweeping generalizations? The oldest friend I have has a nasty habit of getting defensive and hurling around phrases like, "homeopathy is 0 percent what it says it is" which alternately makes me laugh and makes me sad. Honestly, it takes so much energy and practice for me to remain calm and re-word what I was saying in a way that points out the fact that I am simply speaking my truth and not trying to "convince" anyone else or force anyone else to do something. I get so tired of people fighting just to fight, especially when, as Ms. Moon says, they don't have a dog in the hunt, or when they think they do, but it turns out to just be their ego screaming, "I'm right! You're wrong! See? I can prove it!"
ReplyDeletekario -- You always have the sanest and best ideas. I imagine the testing for such a course would be easy to administer, too, giving those big testing companies an incentive!
DeleteI am stunned at her self-righteousness. She just comes across as mean. She totally missed the point of a very well written article. I wonder if she is a right wing church-goer?
ReplyDeleteBirdie -- Interestingly, I saw her on Facebook and noticed that she was in a couple of groups that made me raise my eyebrows. One was titled the "Fed Up With Natural Childbirth" group and had posts on it that basically bashed people who advocate breastfeeding and natural childbirth. Interesting, to say the least!
DeleteI was watching a clip of the actor Sarah Chalke on Craig Ferguson. She was obsessing because someone tweeted something really mean about her. Ferguson said she should just never read comments about herself online. Maybe the same applies here? Mind you, I could never not read comments about myself. I am also really good at reacting to, well, reactionaries and escalating a situation. In my chronic search for a job I want to put that on my resume "Am very good at escalating tense situations."
ReplyDeleteSorry, tangent. Just meaning that I get the urge to react and react strongly and to put the other person down and to want everyone else to hate them with as much righteous anger as I do. It never seems to help me though. Why give her so much power as to have you looking her up on Facebook and trying to figure out what her deep damage is?
Oh this is Karen by the way but you probably figured that out from my writing style!
DeleteKaren -- Sigh. To tell you the truth, a friend looked her up on Facebook and told me about her, so I did the same. And while I agree that being reactionary is sometimes a skill and sometimes a fault, I honestly was more curious about her vehemence. Curiosity killed the cat, too, though, right? In any case, her comments were not just toward me or about me -- it was her whole worldview that was fascinating when it wasn't personal. She got an awful lot of people going which I guess means she has a sort of power and it's a power that probably feeds on people egging her on. I honestly am interested in that and want to know MORE -- hence, the probing around and noticing stuff. I'm certain that I haven't given her any power by being curious about her. The "deep damage" thing was just some snark. I'll plead guilty to that. I knew going into that interview that the article would be subject to comments, and I tried to answer each one with either gratitude or clarification. Having something tweeted about you on online must be really difficult -- but I'm not sure I agree with Craig Ferguson. I think there's a fine line between responding and reacting, and I'm not afraid to respond. I could definitely improve with the reacting part, though!
DeleteKaren -- I edited out that snark. Thank you for calling me on it. It was unnecessary and rude.
Delete