No apologies
Unfortunately, I can’t seem to get those words out of my mind. “Lazy ass”. I wish I didn’t let things like that get to me. It’s affected me so much, I have been dreading any social interactions with people other than my close circle of friends and family, fearing that I will be attacked again. I’m being made painfully aware that I need to grow “thicker skin”, though I’m coming up short on the resources with which to grow it.
The facts are: There is my reality, there is the other person’s reality, and then there is the truth. None of us are right. So why do so many insist on acting “righteous”? I keep having to remind myself that most people only know and acknowledge their own reality and anything else is foreign, possibly threatening, and/or something they perceive as broken or flawed and in need of repair or reform. For instance, look at how our country is dealing with Iraq... imposing our idea of government on their country, with really only one goal that I can see: manipulation and dominance. Whatever happened to live and let live? It seems there is no room for differences these days. I have noticed that the more politically-correct (on the surface) we become, the more sadistic and violent hate groups and terrorist groups have become in comparison.
Here’s another observation I’ve made. Surely you have all seen the prescription drug ads on television and in magazines. It’s official... everyone has a disease. You’re not hip if you’re not sick with something. The drug companies won’t be satisfied until every person on Earth is dependent on prescription drugs. Whatever you do, though, don’t get sick if you don’t have health insurance. Because if you either can’t afford treatment or (God forbid) you just don’t believe in traditional (drugs & surgery) treatment, you’re bound to be judged by others as “lazy” when you can’t hold down a job due to your health. You’re even more fucked when you have no health insurance, no money, no job, and no concrete diagnosis. Being told “nothing is wrong with you” and “you look healthy to me” while you struggle daily with multiple types of pain and unexplained symptoms is enough to make you feel that you are not only “lazy” but “crazy” as well. The way I see things, diagnosed (a.k.a. real) disease is a symbol of affluence. With all of the symptoms (and consequences of those symptoms) but without a diagnosis and treatment, a person with genuine health problems is easily labeled lazy, crazy, or stupid.
The facts are: There is my reality, there is the other person’s reality, and then there is the truth. None of us are right. So why do so many insist on acting “righteous”? I keep having to remind myself that most people only know and acknowledge their own reality and anything else is foreign, possibly threatening, and/or something they perceive as broken or flawed and in need of repair or reform. For instance, look at how our country is dealing with Iraq... imposing our idea of government on their country, with really only one goal that I can see: manipulation and dominance. Whatever happened to live and let live? It seems there is no room for differences these days. I have noticed that the more politically-correct (on the surface) we become, the more sadistic and violent hate groups and terrorist groups have become in comparison.
Here’s another observation I’ve made. Surely you have all seen the prescription drug ads on television and in magazines. It’s official... everyone has a disease. You’re not hip if you’re not sick with something. The drug companies won’t be satisfied until every person on Earth is dependent on prescription drugs. Whatever you do, though, don’t get sick if you don’t have health insurance. Because if you either can’t afford treatment or (God forbid) you just don’t believe in traditional (drugs & surgery) treatment, you’re bound to be judged by others as “lazy” when you can’t hold down a job due to your health. You’re even more fucked when you have no health insurance, no money, no job, and no concrete diagnosis. Being told “nothing is wrong with you” and “you look healthy to me” while you struggle daily with multiple types of pain and unexplained symptoms is enough to make you feel that you are not only “lazy” but “crazy” as well. The way I see things, diagnosed (a.k.a. real) disease is a symbol of affluence. With all of the symptoms (and consequences of those symptoms) but without a diagnosis and treatment, a person with genuine health problems is easily labeled lazy, crazy, or stupid.