gobear, thank you. Very well said for us on “that” side of the fence. Even if we’ve never had that said to/or about us. It still stings.
Sounds reasonable. But can we still say “Switch to decaf”?
Heh No! No! I MUST have caffeine, I simply must! Goood cofffeeee, sstrronng coffeeee… Coffee, coffee, coffee! No unleaded for me thanks, but no thanks. 
This is the Pit, right?
I think somebody needs to cut the dose in half.
Bubba
I’m gonna catch it for that one
Pardon me for the interruption
gobear
This is exactly the underlying reasoning behind the political correctness movement. You didn’t understand how offensive those terms were until you got involved with mentally ill people. Now that you’ve seen it, you realize it and have not only sworn it off for yourself, but are encouraging others to as well. The same could be said for virtually any term which is considered “un-PC”. Imagine your position re-stated to apply to handicapped people. "I used to make fun of cripples, but then I worked with some and saw the error of my ways. Or homosexuals, or minorities, or overweight people, or any number of groups who are labeled with terms which are still decried by those included in your category of “blue-nosed Offenderati”. Is it possible that they simply have had experience with a group which is often maligned and wish to, as you have, protect that group from further unjust ridicule? Or that they want to avoid the possibility of giving unjust offense by avoiding these charged terms in general?
Enjoy,
Steven
:rolleyes:
During Bush I, Bob “The Lamest Columnist on the Planet[sup]TM[/sup]” Greene wrote a column about Bush’s frequent use of the phrase “read my lips.” He whined for a full column about how horribly offensive this must be to people who must actually read lips in order to understand the people around him. He ended with this admonishment. “Knock it off, Mr. President.”
He was widely (and justly) ridiculed.
Well then, read my lips; take your meds.
…and switch to decaf.
county Ok…after I’ve seen you take yours! sheesh grumble
What the heck?! Did you actually expect to look down your nose at someone and not have anyone else speak up and inform you that actually, you AREN’T worth more than that person, or anyone else?
That everyone is of the same worth, no matter what the “defect”? Granted some people are “safer” to society, (read, they don’t murder or abuse others) and more “useful” (read, they pay their bills and contribute to society’s continued smooth functioning, taking responsibility for themselves and their actions) to society in readily measurable ways, but we are all still equal in worth! Get it?
I see a group hug coming soon:p
Well, wishing to remove stigma is a worthwhile goal. I use the term “blue-nosed Offenderatti” to describe people who actively seek out occasions to be offended, as in Lissener’s example of Bob Greene’s column. I have no wish to be a fussbudget who wishes to be “sensitive” or to speak for other people.
It’s just that I have heard these incredibly sad stories about the stigma the mentally ill have to face, their difficulties in finding employment and housing, and the unthinking cruelty they face from people who don’t understand the misery they endure, and it seemed to me that the way they feel when they hear someone say say “take your meds” was analogous to the way I feel when I hear “that’s so gay” used as a negative.
In any event, I thought it could do no harm to bring up the subject. Perhaps I was wrong.
Just curious, Gobear… Why did you expect to get flamed?
So, hyperbole about medication: bad.
Hyperbole about beating people senseless: fine, dandy, nothing to get your knickers in a twist about.
Have I got that right?
What about saying someone is on medication that they don’t need? So, gobear, you washing down goofballs and hillybilly heroin with Jack Daniels (at Rush’s house) again?
That’s OK, right?
Because I know that I am thoroughly despised by the vast majority of posters here, if they bothered to think about me at all, that is, and that posting a thread, any thread, is just opening myself up to personal attacks. This is NOT indicating self-pity; I’m just saying that I know what the score is and I don’t fool myself into thinking I have anyone on my side.
:eek:
I rather think that you’re adored by the vast majority of posters here! One thing is for certain: if anyone wants to flame you and I’m nearby, they’ll have at least two of us to tangle with.
Not really Orbifold, at least not to me anyway, I try to do no harm, which means I am generally non-violent, with the exception of defending myself against an attack that I feel is intended to seriously injure me. I am human, and I do still have feelings, and can understand when people say they want to commit violent acts against whoever did a terrible crime. This does not mean I advocate the idea. It means that I acknowledge to myself that I can relate to those feelings, but I don’t promote them.
As well intentioned as your OP was, gobear, I suggest you do a quick survey of your own posts in these forums. Perhaps you’d understand why your OP seems to me to be translatable thus: “gobear reserves both the right to offend anyone he feels like offending, and the right to dictate whom other dopers can or cannot offend.”
[quoteSo, hyperbole about medication: bad.
Hyperbole about beating people senseless: fine, dandy, nothing to get your knickers in a twist about
[/quote]
Well, there are people on this board who are struggling with mental illness, but I doubt there are many getting a beatdown for fighting with the cops.
If I must err, I prefer to err on the side of kindness, but maybe I’m wrong.
Well, I don’t see where I was dictating anything to anyone. I merely offered something for people to think about. If you wish to put the worst face possible on my posts, go ahead. I’m not going to argue with you or contradict you. You are right in everything you say about me.
Thank you for the kind thoughts, Lib.