Jerks mocking the handicapped

The BBQ Pit
1

I work in a library cafe. Today four people came in. Two were obviously in charge of the other two. One of the latter was in a wheelchair and had some sort of neurological disorder, perhaps cerebral palsy. The other, judging by mannerisms and speech, was somewhat mentally retarded. All four seemed nice, and took a table away from most of the other customers. Maybe this was a good thing, because after they left, when I went out to get some ice from our drink machine, I overheard some hurtful comments by a group of teenagers that were also in the cafe. They seemed to think it “gross, people like that are gross” and “why did we have to look at them?”

Don’t these assholes(God forgive me) realize how lucky they are to be whole and healthy? How easily, with one little twitch of a gene or something that the conditions of the folks they were talking about could have been theirs? Since essentially I was eavesdropping I kept my mouth shut but I wanted to slap or shake them. It just makes me so MAD. Why do people think like that? I can’t figure it out.

2

Oh c’mon, we can’t very well stop making fun of those who deviate from the norms. That might make them think it’s ok to be different somehow, and we can’t have that.

Note to the sarcasm-impared: go up to the roof, step off, fall to your death.

3

This evening I called a taxi for my disabled father. After several delays on the telephone the dispatch supervisor sent the car to an address a half mile away.

When the driver arrived he didn’t even pop the trunk so that I could put my father’s walker away until I asked a second time. He ignored my request to help secure my father’s seat belt and started the car while Dad struggled with the buckle.

The driver then raised his voice at me, claiming I had wasted ten minutes of his time when dispatch sent him to the wrong place. My father, who had missed his dinner waiting on a bench in the cold, remained the perfect gentleman.

Grrrrr. Wait until their business office opens in the morning. Will they ever get a piece of my mind!

4

[Denis Leary]

“Sometimes I park in handicapped spaces
While handicapped people make handicapped faces
I’m an asshole!”

[/Denis Leary]

5

For some reason, I read the thread title as “Jesus mocking the handicapped”, and thought ‘this I have to see!’ :eek:

But yeah, those people were nasty. You think that humans as a whole are becoming more tolerant and accepting, when something like this smacks you in the face. :frowning: Maybe those teenagers will grow up some day.

6

Boy, Baker, you have more self-control than I might have in that situation. Eavesdropping or no, I would’ve been sorely tempted to say something to them.

7

That makes me so mad! But, don’t worry. Life has a way of kicking people in the teeth eventually, and then words come back to haunt you. That, IMHO, is what helps you grow up and out of ideals like that.

8

Oh, please—“people are mean,” what a surprise.

Eavesdrop on people and you’ll hear them poking fun at fat people, short people, ugly people, old people, gays, the transgendered (and I have heard gay people making fun of straights, too), people of other ethnicities and national origin, people of the opposite sex . . . You name it.

No, it’s not an attractive trait, but why is it surprising?

9

Mother-in-law was parkinsonian. Her brain was firing, her body didn’t always respond like she thought it would.

People would talk to me as I was wheeling the chair like she wasn’t even there: “oh this must be so hard on you” and “why don’t you put her in a home?”.

I would respond with ‘oh she can hear fine, she doesn’t always react when she’s not interested in the topic’.

10

Actually, I find the thinking that “these people are gross” and “why did we have to look at this?” to be promising. Hopefully, these teens will shortly be so disgusted that they will go home and lock themselves in their rooms for the rest of their lives, so that their delicate sensibilities will not be offended. Then, their mummfied, partially-decayed remains may be found by future generations of gentrifiers. In the mean while, actual human beings may get on with their lives.

11

For cryin’ out loud, people–gimme a fuckin’ break! I suppose none of you were ever teenagers who found things funny or disgusting that other people took seriously. For that matter, I KNOW that most of the posters here are adults who find some things funny that hit other people where they live.

I’m not going to say that it’s right, but let’s be honest here: everyone who has NEVER made fun of someone due to something they can’t help, anyone who’s never felt uncomfortable around someone with a serious and visible medical condition, raise your hand…c’mon, raise it waaayyyy up there!

For all those who are raising your hands right now, you’re lying. And if you’re not lying, then I’ll forward your name to the Pope for beatification.

Who watches Malcolm in the Middle? Is everything about it funny except Stevie? Are we not allowed to find humour in situations that are uncomfortable?

Bullshit.

We laugh at other people as a defense mechanism. Not because we truly think they’re inferior, but because deep down (and sometimes NOT so deep down), we can envision ourselves with whatever ailment/infirmity/handicap that they have, and it scares the living shit out of us!

So the only way to deal with that fear is to lessen the emotional impact it has on us by cracking a joke or two, maybe by expressing our fears with outward disgust. That way it doesn’t seem so threatening. Remember: these are teenagers. Their existence is defined by testing social boundaries. By doing things that they probably shouldn’t do so they’ll learn the proper way to behave.

Let them be teenagers. Let them be rude, crude, coarse and thouroughly rotten. Maybe they’ll grow out of it, maybe they’ll become comedians, maybe they’ll join these boards and say something off-colour that that will end up with Coke/tea/diet Dr. Pepper sprayed onto monitors across the globe. And when they DO say that something politically-incorrect that we find so funny, how many of you are going to stand up and say “goat felching isn’t funny! It’s a psychological disorder! I can’t believe you sickos!” Hm? How many?

That’s what I thought.

I’m not one to quote that Jesus fellow, but it seems that there’s an awful lot of stone-casting going on here.

Step back for a moment. Look at the things that you used to find funny and/or repulsive. Look at the things you still find funny, then come back and tell me how fucking perfect you are.

12

People who mock the handicapped probably also kick puppies :stuck_out_tongue:

13

Kayeby: Since I read your post, everytime I scroll past this thread in the Pit I read it as “Jesus mocking the handicapped” too. “Are you lame, my son? Let me heal you. PSYCHE!” <Walks off, giggling and high-fiving the apostles>

14

A good point: people who degrade the unfortunate are insecure. Their own emotional comfort overrides every other concern. This is the essence of selfishness. Since they select weak targets they are also cowards.

These people use humor in peculiar ways. Rather than laugh with they laugh at. Sometimes when others find their earnest rudeness offensive they pretend to have been joking.

They excuse the vileness of their motives by imputing worse motives onto others. Feel compassionate? They’ll call you sanctimonious. Shocked? You’re a hypocrite. The accusations are endless.

Their response to perceived criticism is highly aggressive. Obscenity, ad hominem attacks, and mockery seem to be the order of the day. The intent, of course, is to intimidate others into silence. Notice how activity on this thread stalled for hours afterward.

Sometimes people come here looking for new enemies. A you-think-you’re-so-smart or an insult to my ailing father will probably follow. After all we’re in the barbecue pit. That’s all right; I’ll snicker at the next paltry attack. This is a good thread Baker started and it’ll withstand a couple of blows.
BTW A very polite assistant manager for the taxi company is comping my family for our next ride.

15

Somehow I don’t think that the first part is the same as the second, not everyone is so insecure that they have to make fun of others because they feel uncomfortable.

16

I laugh most everyday at President Bush, so I guess that makes me a meany-butt.

By the way, if the teens were talking loud enough to be heard by people walking by it’s not eavesdropping. The little shits wanted to be heard.

Next time, feel free to smack 'em verbally or physically(as long as they aren’t looking and you think you can get away with it).

As my father once told me:
“Always kick a man when he’s down, that way you won’t loose your balance.”

17

Too funny. The same thing happened to me, if only a little differently. I read the title as, “Jews mocking the handicapped”, and went, “Well now! I gotta see that.”

Time to update my fonts.

18

Recently I went to a play put on in a school that has a special ed program. There were many retarded children in the audience and some were participants in the play. I have to say I was stunned when early in the play one child delivered the line, “Why does your sister act like that, is she retarded?”
So what that child really was saying is, why does your sister act like that is she stupid? I couldn’t believe that was allowed. The teachers seem to think nothing of it and some even laughed. I dunno my stomach kind of turned and I felt really bad for the retarded kids who were sitting there. I’ve worked with them and they are beautiful children.

19

And how about Bill Mahr (?) from Politcally Incorrect who said retarded children were like dogs? He didn’t just make one comment against them, he went on and on during that particular show. What really got me was the all he did was apologize many days later and that was fine by WABC the network which airs his show. If it had been up to me he’d be gone. If he’d said something like that about a minority or certain religious group he’d be out of a job so why does society continue its tolerance with this sort of thing?

20

Back when I was in college, I studied sign language for a short time. Whenever I would practice in public, people would make mindless gesticulations, basicly mocking the language.

That was always hilarous.

BTW, while some may accept the fact that others can be cruel and would advocate to the rest of us that we “just get over it,” forgive me…my intolerance doesn’t extend to those who choose a more destructive path.