Thursday, April 02, 2015

Alive and kicking (mostly kicking)

I feel bad now, as several of you have been in touch to see if I was ok! I'm ok. Things have just been 1. hectic and 2. I've been uninspired to write. I will visit blogs ASAP! Starting with this one.

As usual, there has been no shortage of idiocy to observe.

To wit, I had coffee last week with a colleague who works for a LGBTQ rights organization. She is moving onto another gig, but said her life's wish was to see a dramatic reading of some of the more absurd hate mail they get. Including a letter from an older lady who accused "you" - the organization, or the LGBTQ community, we're not sure which - of "stealing" the word gay.

"I used to be able to read children's books with that word in it to my children, but now you have stolen it and I can't read them to my grandchildren!" Good God. I'd hate to be gay in that family.

The same twit also accused "you" - get this - of stealing the rainbow. I could not make this up - I'm simply not that creative.

"I wanted to crochet a blanket with rainbow zebras on it for my grandchild, and now I can't, because you've stolen that, too!" Yes, damn it, that rainbow is copyrighted!

More idiocy - and I can rant about this now, since it's been a few days and my anxiety is no longer through the roof about it - from the resident filling in for my doctor, who is on vacation.

Mind you, she has seen my chart, which says "Major Depressive Disorder." Not "occasionally, patient feels a bit sad." I kiss my toes that I have a medication that helps with minimal side effects. I've been taking it since she was probably about eight years old.

Guess who suggested I taper off and then quit cold turkey? I tell her when I have done that in the past, I quickly get the urge to bump myself off.

Guess what genius suggests I take vitamin D shots because a vitamin D deficiency could be making me "sad"? And tells me to let her know when I want to taper off?

Fuck me, that pissed me off. Guess whose supervising doctor got a call from Riot Kitty, who dropped the name of the mental health nonprofit she works for?

I asked my friend from the LGBTQ organization (she also happens to be queer) how that movement has made so much social progress in a relatively short (way too long, I know) time period in history. She said there was a parallel between our movements, which also overlap quite a bit.

"Basically, we asked people to be brave - to come out and tell their stories - when it could get them fired, or they could face discrimination from their own families," she said. "But it made people realize that we were people, not just 'gays.' We had people challenge their own prejudices by opening up the conversation."

We have to do the same for mental illness. So give me my fucking happy pills, please, because the show must go on.



15 comments:

Elephant's Child said...

You are a form of happy pill for me. A way of reassuring me that I am very far from alone. And that grumpy has friends too.
I would love to nail that baby doctor's head to a coffee table thouugh - or perhaps just give her a depressive disorder with a touch from my magic wand. And hemmorhoids to go with it.

Birdie said...

I have heard about stealing the rainbow before. She needs a child or grandchild to come out of the closet and add some excitement to her dull life. If she has the time to write bullshit letters like that her life needs a bit of spice added to it.

Birdie said...

And Vitamin D? Are you fucking kidding me? Did she also suggest getting out for a walk everyday? She has obviously never had an episode of depression but part of me hopes she does because she has no idea how harmful her words could be. Does she tell her cancer patients to take Vitamin C?

A Beer for the Shower said...

I've gotten the Vitamin D thing before too. Yes, I just need more literal sunshine in my life. Why didn't I think of just walking outside? What a genius solution!

Also, the rainbow thing reminds me of a Demetri Martin bit. "It's weird how one group of people just took refracted light. That's very greedy, gays."

Lee said...

I think there should be a pill for stupidity..medication for stupid people...if there was we wouldn't get depressed...or angry. I know I wouldn't, anyway!

Have a Happy Easter, RK. :)

Dexter Klemperer said...

I recently attended a wedding where many of the guests were medical graduates about to head off into residency. The future is very frightening.
Yeah, I can't even tell people I'm going to a cockfight without them raising an eyebrow. I guess they stole that too.

Charles Gramlich said...

Stealing the rainbow! What about the commercial that says, "Taste the rainbow! :)

CraveCute said...

Sorry Sweetie, sometimes people are just too simplistic. It only clearly proves that they have no idea what you are going through. Sounds like that resident needs to take a class on empathy ... among other things!!

Abby said...

it's nice to see you. I hope your "real" doc returns soon.

And just so you know, it can rain cows. Happened in my hometown once, maybe I'll blog it. I don't remember a rainbow from that. Must have happened after the gays stole them.

Betty Manousos said...

happy easter!!
xoxo

G. B. Miller said...

Okay, not to be too difficult about the word "gay", but that woman does have a valid point.

Back when I was a child (that's the 60's & 70's for everyone here) the word "gay" meant to be happy and carefree (i.e The Gay 90's from the 19th century).

This continued to the definition choice right through the mid-to-late 80's, when the definition of the word "gay" slowly changed from "being happy and carefree" to "being homosexual" (male & female).

Father Nature's Corner

Lynn said...

So glad you are back!

But feeling hatred for that smug sounding resident. Amazing how someone got that far with so much stupidity attached to them.

I guess that letter writer thought that letter would just "fix" everything. People are just unbelievable.

Mike_D said...



It's a rainbow, that's just friggin ridiculous.

And keep on taking them thar pills, I like you happy!

I've said it before: people are deeply stupid...

Debra She Who Seeks said...

We in the LGBTQ community are very, very proud of having liberated rainbows and the word "gay" from their heteronormative prisons.

I would have complained about that doctor to her governing professional body. Such ignorant advice is dangerous and puts the public at risk of harm.

Granny Annie said...

I read this and was just positive that I made a very clever and gay comment. What happened to it? Must have gotten covered up by a rainbow.