I was looking through a shelf of books, when someone walked up next to me. It was at that moment when I noticed miracle ride on the shelf. Now, I probably read miracle ride about 10 times, but, being that the rest of the books there were....um I don't want to say lashon harah so let's just say not the greatest....I figured it was my best bet. PD (princess denial) looked at me and said "oh, so you never read that book before". I replied that actually, I read it a few times but I figured I'd read it again. So she replied "oh, I didn't like that book." I was surprised that anyone could read this book without loving it, so I asked her why. "oh well, y'know. I mean, ok, this girl was sick, buy why do I need to read about it? I'm not sick."
Now, I'm kinda non-confrontationalist, so I walked away, and answered this idiot in my head.
What do you mean why do you need to read about it? Yes, you're not sick today, but that isn't a guarantee for tomorrow! And, when was the last time you woke up in the morning and said "thank you Hashem I can see. Thank you Hashem I have legs with which to get out of bed. Thank you Hashem my senses work. Thank you Hashem there is no disease wrecking havoc in my body!" No, it's just "why should I mess up my happy little existence by reading about situations that are less than perfect? Those kinds of things don't happen to people like me anyway....
I bet this is the same type of girl who wouldn't read Little Sheep's blog. If she doesn't want to read about people having cancer, I'm pretty sure reading about a girl being abused by her own brother would push her perfect little self off the deep end! But, this is the sad world we live in. People get cancer. People are abused. It happens. We have to be aware, not bury our heads in the sand. We have to thank Hashem for every day that passes disaster free, not take it as a given. And most importantly, we have to be aware of what's out there so we can be aware of what's NOT in our lives.
But no, this person would rather order another shipment of sand!
10 comments:
Some people don't like it when other people air their dirty laundry. I am not referring to this case in general, however, in many cases people publish and speak in public to draw attention to themselves. Other people with the same problem may feel uncomfortable when their own types of problems are talked about in the open. Not all people want their problem to be publicized.
The other side of the coin may be that not all people like to read about the suffering of others. People's lives are not the greatest as it is, why compound it by reading about another person's problems. It doesn't help your own life to know that there are people worse off than you, there will always be people in horrible situations.
Maybe I didnt convey the sneering tone she used when she saud she regretted reading the book. I was going to tell her I have diabetes just to see the color drain out of her face but I took pity on her at the last minute. :evil grin:
There were a lot of lessons in that book, and she did not need to scorn it that way.
i could be your friend, neighbor, or classmate. i could be your aunt, cousin, neice, daughter, sister, or mother. i could be the odd girl from the room next door in sem, or the smelly kid who sat in front of you in third grade. i could even be you!
and child ish, just to let you know, it's not my dirty laundry. it's his. and i believe that by acting the way he did, he doesn't deserve to keep his "dirty laundry" private. people need to know that perverts like him exist, so that they can protect themselves and their children, and they shouldn't react stupidly if someone tells them it happened to them.
since i started my blog, i've been getting emails from girls who were abused. do you know how many girls don't tell, because they are afraid of the reactions people will have? do you know how many girls do tell, and then are not believed, and their situations get worse?
so yes, i can understand why some people wouldn't want their "dirty laundry" to be aired. but maybe we need to stop thinking of it as dirty laundry when we're talking about victims...
I was not referring to abuse cases specifically. In the medium that you are using, blogging, it is in fact just the opposite. It is very important to get the word out there and bring to light these uncomfortable truths.
However, there are some people that use there unique situation in life to draw attention to themselves, other people in the same situation might object to that person exploiting there special circumstance for their own self importance.( A Ger who tells everyone they meet how they are so great because of what they did, A person with a physical disability, ect.) Other people in similar situations might feel uncumfortable when their own differences are pointed out in the open.
Suffering is part of everyone's lives to a certain extent. We all have our peckel that we have to deal with. Everyone deals with what they are given differently, and one approach used for one person is not necessarily the approach that everyone wishes to take at all times.
CIB- I hear you, but I am not sure I agree. This girl was against the book, not because she is sick, but simply because she doesn't like to think about less than perfect situations occuring in this world. Trust me, I know the girl.
And what little sheep said about not considering it dirty laundry- well, cancer or other medical issues shouldnt be dirty laundry either. I that if someone was diagnosed with cancer, they would have a much easier time to begin with if they read miracle ride.
Do you think it's scandalous that I air my diabetes-dirty-laundry?
Ya but your Something Different so that is different. And you have cupcakes on you wall. So I really can't fault you for that. And also I personally dont see the "diabetes-dirty-laundry" as your center focus, your center focus is you, and you happen to have diabetes. Does that make sense?
CIB- Uh oh. I dunno if you should read my next post. It's all bout diabetes...
So basically the fact that I make a joke about having diabetes by putting cup cakes as the back ground makes it ok to air it?
Exactly. If you put a humorous spin on things its all good. ;)That way you make people happy, not sad and depressed.
Ok, so did the next post count as a humorous spin? :-P
MMMMMM ;) sure why not. :P
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