jrstubs wrote:- Sarcasm
- Retarded people...they should be euthanized, they have nothing positive for society except giving people jobs that want to care for them.
Not to be a pretentious dick or anything (or ganging up on you in general), but I found these two particular comments offensive to me. I didn't notice it until Ian pointed it out in quotes on this page. I would like to stress the second comment more than the first; the first just doesn't really make sense to me in general. As for the second comment:
On several occasions during my trek to college, as well as riding public transport to and from my destinations, I would see a group of mentally handicapped people on a field trip with social workers. They would come by around my household and neighborhood to check the area and visit the local church. They would also come around the cafe near my house to eat lunch. They vary in age and appearance as well.
It's hard not to look at them, and even harder to try to ignore them. In fact, one of the professors in my college, whom I adore and respect (a recent graduate of Cornell college) has a brother-in-law who is severely mentally handicapped, to the point that he has the psyche of a 12 year-old boy at age 40-something. My professor is a teacher of Classical Greek Ethics, and educates under several other philosophy courses in my college. He mainly abides to the teachings of Aristotlean logic, and stresses that everyone that lives in this world
can live a happy life, though each person does have a limit in which he/she can achieve the ultimate
good. I saw him break into tears as he tried to explain this once, using his brother-in-law as an example.
Relative to the term
retard, I also have a few physically retarded friends. One of friends, who couldn't walk since birth, graduated with a degree in Biology just last year. There is a girl from my high school, who goes to my college since I enrolled, is no larger than a healthy 3 year-old child and is doing extremely well (even better than I am) at her studies. I see her from time to time, even chatted with her once, as I walk by the hallways at Hunter college as she rides her motorized wheelchair. She's a well-spirited individual with a very determined outlook in her life.
Also, my grandmother will be turning 90 years old this year. She's been going in and out of the hospital since I've known her from birth, and everything has been so complicated. She suffered strokes, falling, arthritis in her joints - anything that an elderly person can potentially suffer through at her age. However, it can be said that she is the most joyous person to walk this earth, lighting up a room full of people with her optomism, and always bringing a smile to my heart every time I meet her.
Andrew, I doubt you meant any ill will in your comment there, but I just wanted to point out a flaw in the perception you gave: every person has a right to live, eventhough most people don't regard 'death' in the same respect as living. Life can't be perfect, I'm sure you understand that. Nothing can be absolute, and people oftentimes value some things more than others. Letting go any or all of your attachments in this world isn't a simple thing to do.
As for the first comment: I use sarcasm, but sarcasm is supposedly used jokingly imo. I think it lightens up the atmosphere if used properly. My college buddies love to use sarcasm to joke me around, and visa versa. I think life would be completely mundane if I had to talk like a robot to any person I interact with. Telling an obvious white lie can't hurt people unless it's coincidental, but even that is farfetched. Sarcasm is just a knowledgeable way of misleading people, and misleading your friends can always be a fun thing to do.
In any case, I didn't mean to put you down or anything. If any, the time that we would finally meet at a footbag tournament/event/jam/kicky session, you can openly joke about me an my emo-like haircut. I'm a pretty open minded person.
but... people who cant accept when they are wrong, and keep fighting to prove their point...
