Let me start by saying I may use some foul language in this blog. If that offends you, DO NOT read it. That's all.
There are many reasons why I love Christmas. The fact that it is a time to celebrate our Savior's birth. Being with my wife and kids. The incredible dinner that I make every year. The looks on our kids' faces when they open their gifts. Lots of reasons I love Christmas. With that being said, I really am starting to hate Christmas. Our lives are so much different from yours. I could explain everything to you and take a week to do so, but you still wouldn't understand our lives. I will try to break it down for you in just a small paragraph.
We have nothing to do with my side of the family. Or rather, they have nothing to do with us. We are not welcome there, so we don't go. It sucks and it is very painful for me, but it is now life. Luckily, my children do not remember my parents. I would hate for them to have to experience the pain that I go through on a daily basis as well. The house in which we live, we are not liked much by my Father in Law. We stay because we have to. We stay because if we didn't, then he and my sister in law who also live here would not make it on their own.
At Thanksgiving, I spent a ton of money for dinner. So much that I almost didn't have enough money to get gas for the upcoming week. The food was devoured and that was it. Nothing was said, no conversations were had, no one said what they were thankful for. A week or so after Christmas, Amanda and I put up the tree in the living room. This is the room where my father in law stays, sleeps and eats in. The entire time we were down stairs, he pretended to be asleep. He didn't talk to us, he didn't anything.
Now for today. It was the same as the day we put up the tree. We were all very loud. We were laughing and having a great time. Hayden got a Pocket Trumpet as one of his gifts. He began to play it. My father in law never moved. He just pretended to sleep. After we cleaned up, Amanda and I went back upstairs and talked about how much we hate how the holidays are now. The deeply sad feelings I had from his actions the past few weeks is a feeling I would not wish upon anyone. We are strangers in the house in which we live. We miss her Mom very much, especially this particular day. She NEVER would have allowed behavior like this. She never would have let a 70+ year old man act like a child. She was the glue that held this family together, now we have fallen apart. We feel very much alone. We have talked about this before and today, more than ever, this rings true, all we have left in this world is the four of us. Me, Amanda, Hayden and Cullen. That is it. Lots of people say they are here for us. Lots of people tell us that they love us, and we do believe that to be true. But we are not a part of their family. We will only ever have the four of us at Thanksgiving and Christmas from here on out.
My side of the family is a HUGE family! There were 4 of us kids and either 9 or 10 grand kids. We always had a good time out there at Christmas time. But now, my family can go fuck themselves! They are just as responsible for why I hate Christmas as the other side is. In fact, my parents started my hatred of Christmas. They are the ones who essentially told us to go away and never return. Well fuck them! Fuck them all. I don't know how those pricks can sleep at night with what they did to us. I really, truly fucking hate Christmas. This is resentment that has been building for years. It just so happens that today sent my hatred of this dumb fucking holiday over the top to PURE hatred. Fuck Christmas and if you have a hand in my hatred of Christmas, FUCK YOU TOO! If you know my parents or any of my family or are friends with them here on Facebook, tell them that Joe says "Fuck you for making such a blessed holiday such a piece of fucking shit!"
Thursday, December 25, 2014
Wednesday, December 17, 2014
What it is to me
So a little over a week ago, I had a bit of a health scare and was hospitalized for a weekend. The day that I was to be released from the hospital, I met with a dietitian about how I could change my health, permanently, for the better. One of the things that she suggested was support from my wife. I told her no, I didn't want that because I don't feel like my wife supports me with dieting. I feel like she beats me down (even though I know she doesn't, but that's how it feels to me) whenever she is trying to be "supportive" or tell me that I shouldn't be eating this or that I have eaten too much of that. I know that this isn't how Amanda is. I know it. But regardless, it is how I feel whenever she says anything to me about food. The dietitian told me that I should think about how support feels to me. So I have. At great length. Since the moment those words came out of her mouth, I have thought about it. I have come up with absolutely nothing.
The truth is, I don't know what support feels like to me. I have had so little support when I was young that I don't know what it means to feel supported now. I do know this, the things that Amanda has been doing up until this point is NOT supportive. It makes me feel like a worthless human being and my response to her current "support" is to just go and gorge myself with food just to spite her. I know she is only trying to help when she says "You didn't eat very well today.", but to me, all I hear is "You are worthless. You have screwed up so badly. I hate you." That is what I hear and it makes me hate me even more than I already do. It makes me want to just eat until my heart or stomach explode.
So I sit here. I sit here wondering what support feels like. I try wracking my brain to come up with something that my parents did when I was younger that made me feel supported. The only thing I can ever come up with is hearing the words "Good job" a few times. That's it. And that is certainly not what I'm hearing now. I promise you, I am trying very hard to figure out what "support" is to me. But at the same time, I can assure you that the way things have been handled in the past isn't it at all. It will just make things worse. I didn't write this so that anyone can try to help me figure it out. I just had to write this down. While talking with my dietitian earlier today, one of the things I said to her was "I got myself in this mess (health wise), I'll get myself out." I meant that too. Rome wasn't built in a day and I didn't get to be this fat mess of a slob overnight. It will take me some time to get it back right. In the meantime, I don't know what support feels/looks like to me. Just know that I am trying.
The truth is, I don't know what support feels like to me. I have had so little support when I was young that I don't know what it means to feel supported now. I do know this, the things that Amanda has been doing up until this point is NOT supportive. It makes me feel like a worthless human being and my response to her current "support" is to just go and gorge myself with food just to spite her. I know she is only trying to help when she says "You didn't eat very well today.", but to me, all I hear is "You are worthless. You have screwed up so badly. I hate you." That is what I hear and it makes me hate me even more than I already do. It makes me want to just eat until my heart or stomach explode.
So I sit here. I sit here wondering what support feels like. I try wracking my brain to come up with something that my parents did when I was younger that made me feel supported. The only thing I can ever come up with is hearing the words "Good job" a few times. That's it. And that is certainly not what I'm hearing now. I promise you, I am trying very hard to figure out what "support" is to me. But at the same time, I can assure you that the way things have been handled in the past isn't it at all. It will just make things worse. I didn't write this so that anyone can try to help me figure it out. I just had to write this down. While talking with my dietitian earlier today, one of the things I said to her was "I got myself in this mess (health wise), I'll get myself out." I meant that too. Rome wasn't built in a day and I didn't get to be this fat mess of a slob overnight. It will take me some time to get it back right. In the meantime, I don't know what support feels/looks like to me. Just know that I am trying.
Sunday, November 16, 2014
20 Years Gone By
My wife and I have been together going on 20 years. In fact, it will be 20 years this February 23rd, which is also my 39th birthday. Do the math there, I'll wait............Did you figure it out? Yes, I was 19 years old when we first started seeing each other. Amanda was 16 years old. We both have been with each other now, more than half of our lives. That is such a rare feat nowadays. We have had our share of ups and downs, bumps and bruises and a few occasions where we almost didn't make it. But we did. We made it because we wanted to make it. We stayed together because we love each other and we want to be with each other. This blog isn't about the history of how we came to be where we are now, I just wanted to give you a bit of a background before I get into the meat and potatoes of it all.
When Amanda and I started dating, I was attending Faith Church and she was attending Eastview Church. I decided that I would start going to Eastview with her because there were some people that went to Faith that just didn't like Amanda, and I didn't want to put her through that. Not long after we started going there, Amanda ended up pregnant. Yes, we were sexually active teens. I won't go into the details of how everything went down, but at the end of the day, the youth pastor, Marty Corey, the deacons and the youth group parents all told Amanda and I to leave Eastview and never return. We were crushed. We were heartbroken and our spirits were ripped in half. The family that we needed the most, our church family, had turned their backs on us and abandoned us. They had left us out in the cold to face the world and our mountainous problems alone. We tried turning to Faith Church for help. We went out to the youth group a couple of times and were made to feel like outcasts by the rest of the group. Only one person stood by us and that was Stu Henning, the leader of the Faith Church Youth Group. He was a comfort to us in a time when we had none.
Because of the way we were treated whenever we went out to Faith, we just stopped going. Over time, Amanda and I became bitter. Well, me more than her. I turned my back on my faith and began to resent those who had faith. It went so far as to me hating believers and hating God. All because of the youth leader at Eastview, Marty Corey. I have a question for you Marty. What did Jesus tell us was our last commandment? You should know this one Marty. After all, you are a pastor at a church now. What was that? Jesus told us to "love one another, as I have loved you". Yet you didn't. You didn't love two very lost and very scared teenagers. It is directly because of that lack of love that two faithful followers lost their way. We strayed from God and in some cases (mine), even hated Him. It took nearly 15 years for Amanda and I to go back to church because of your actions and the actions of those at Eastview.
So let's fast forward to yesterday. Amanda and one of her closest friends went to an Eastview Youth Group reunion of sorts. Amanda was hesitant at first but eventually decided to go because she had built some pretty good relationships with other kids during her time there. I did not attend because of work. God's timing is perfectly perfect. When Amanda and her friend arrived at the church, Marty Corey was already there. Everyone said hello to everyone. Amanda's friend introduced Amanda BY NAME to Marty Corey with the words "And you remember Amanda". Stoned. Marty Corey did not say a word to her nor even nod his head in her direction. Twenty years have gone by. TWENTY YEARS!!! Yet this man who has been in the church his whole life, who has studied the word of God HIS WHOLE LIFE and who has made his living TEACHING the word of God, acted like a jilted girl who had been stood up on prom night. What a professional! What a great man of God! What a TERRIFIC example of Christ you are displaying, Mr. Corey. God sure is proud of you today my friend. Remember when I said that God's timing is perfectly perfect? It is a good thing that I had to work yesterday, because I probably would have been at that church yesterday, and I know for a fact that I would not have held my tongue nor my temper and I would have blasted that man for the walking hypocrite that he is all the way back to Kentucky.
While discussing how things went at the reunion with Amanda last night, she told me that his behavior yesterday toward her solidified her struggle with forgiveness. Yes, she has always struggled in this area of her faith. I, on the other hand am a very forgiving person. That is, unless you have caused hurt or harm to my wife. Then I can become a person whose path you have no desire to cross, and then there is no room in my heart for forgiveness. You, Mr. Marty Corey, have no place in my heart for forgiveness. Let me also say, that it is by the grace of God that I was not at the reunion yesterday. You should really thank Him for allowing those stars to align to where I was at work yesterday. I would have torn into you in a way that only a lion can. I would have broke you down so much and so quickly, that the only response from you would have been to piss yourself and fall down in a heap of sloppy tears. When your time on this earth is done, Marty Corey, God will go through your entire life with you. He will point to your actions with Amanda and I and He will weep. He will ask you why you abandoned those whom you were put in charge of. He will ask you why you did not do as His son told you to do, and that is to love. God will judge you for your sins and He will tell you the kind of hypocrite you have been your ENTIRE life! He will then look to His Son and see your sins upon Jesus' back. He will look back to you and tell you that He still loves you and that He forgives you. He will then tell you that "Joe Olmsted still loves you and that Joe Olmsted forgives you, because that is what I have called Joe Olmsted to do."
In closing, if you wish to share this with Marty Corey, please do. I would LOVE for him to see how his poor choices affected two young lives so much.
When Amanda and I started dating, I was attending Faith Church and she was attending Eastview Church. I decided that I would start going to Eastview with her because there were some people that went to Faith that just didn't like Amanda, and I didn't want to put her through that. Not long after we started going there, Amanda ended up pregnant. Yes, we were sexually active teens. I won't go into the details of how everything went down, but at the end of the day, the youth pastor, Marty Corey, the deacons and the youth group parents all told Amanda and I to leave Eastview and never return. We were crushed. We were heartbroken and our spirits were ripped in half. The family that we needed the most, our church family, had turned their backs on us and abandoned us. They had left us out in the cold to face the world and our mountainous problems alone. We tried turning to Faith Church for help. We went out to the youth group a couple of times and were made to feel like outcasts by the rest of the group. Only one person stood by us and that was Stu Henning, the leader of the Faith Church Youth Group. He was a comfort to us in a time when we had none.
Because of the way we were treated whenever we went out to Faith, we just stopped going. Over time, Amanda and I became bitter. Well, me more than her. I turned my back on my faith and began to resent those who had faith. It went so far as to me hating believers and hating God. All because of the youth leader at Eastview, Marty Corey. I have a question for you Marty. What did Jesus tell us was our last commandment? You should know this one Marty. After all, you are a pastor at a church now. What was that? Jesus told us to "love one another, as I have loved you". Yet you didn't. You didn't love two very lost and very scared teenagers. It is directly because of that lack of love that two faithful followers lost their way. We strayed from God and in some cases (mine), even hated Him. It took nearly 15 years for Amanda and I to go back to church because of your actions and the actions of those at Eastview.
So let's fast forward to yesterday. Amanda and one of her closest friends went to an Eastview Youth Group reunion of sorts. Amanda was hesitant at first but eventually decided to go because she had built some pretty good relationships with other kids during her time there. I did not attend because of work. God's timing is perfectly perfect. When Amanda and her friend arrived at the church, Marty Corey was already there. Everyone said hello to everyone. Amanda's friend introduced Amanda BY NAME to Marty Corey with the words "And you remember Amanda". Stoned. Marty Corey did not say a word to her nor even nod his head in her direction. Twenty years have gone by. TWENTY YEARS!!! Yet this man who has been in the church his whole life, who has studied the word of God HIS WHOLE LIFE and who has made his living TEACHING the word of God, acted like a jilted girl who had been stood up on prom night. What a professional! What a great man of God! What a TERRIFIC example of Christ you are displaying, Mr. Corey. God sure is proud of you today my friend. Remember when I said that God's timing is perfectly perfect? It is a good thing that I had to work yesterday, because I probably would have been at that church yesterday, and I know for a fact that I would not have held my tongue nor my temper and I would have blasted that man for the walking hypocrite that he is all the way back to Kentucky.
While discussing how things went at the reunion with Amanda last night, she told me that his behavior yesterday toward her solidified her struggle with forgiveness. Yes, she has always struggled in this area of her faith. I, on the other hand am a very forgiving person. That is, unless you have caused hurt or harm to my wife. Then I can become a person whose path you have no desire to cross, and then there is no room in my heart for forgiveness. You, Mr. Marty Corey, have no place in my heart for forgiveness. Let me also say, that it is by the grace of God that I was not at the reunion yesterday. You should really thank Him for allowing those stars to align to where I was at work yesterday. I would have torn into you in a way that only a lion can. I would have broke you down so much and so quickly, that the only response from you would have been to piss yourself and fall down in a heap of sloppy tears. When your time on this earth is done, Marty Corey, God will go through your entire life with you. He will point to your actions with Amanda and I and He will weep. He will ask you why you abandoned those whom you were put in charge of. He will ask you why you did not do as His son told you to do, and that is to love. God will judge you for your sins and He will tell you the kind of hypocrite you have been your ENTIRE life! He will then look to His Son and see your sins upon Jesus' back. He will look back to you and tell you that He still loves you and that He forgives you. He will then tell you that "Joe Olmsted still loves you and that Joe Olmsted forgives you, because that is what I have called Joe Olmsted to do."
In closing, if you wish to share this with Marty Corey, please do. I would LOVE for him to see how his poor choices affected two young lives so much.
Tuesday, July 8, 2014
Random Ramblings
I have typed out and deleted this first line about four times. There is so much that I have to talk about, but I don't/won't reveal too much, if anything of my plans. I just typed out and deleted this sentence twice as well. There is just so much on my mind and I have so much that I want to talk about, I just can't. Not yet. One thing I can talk about though is that I have been doing a lot of praying lately, and a lot of listening to God. I have yet to hear a perfectly clear answer, but I am starting to see the writing on the wall and I am paying close attention to it and to Him. What is going on in my life right now, I am not taking lightly or nonchalantly. I am very serious about what is going on and I am very focused on the future of my family. I know, I know...very cryptic. I promise, answers are coming soon. Hopefully sooner, rather than later.
Ya know, I do well enough every day to get out of bed and just break down in tears or fly off the handle and go on a shooting rampage. With everything I have dealt with in my past and everything that I am dealing with currently, I should be given an award every single day that I don't break down or snap. That is no joke either. I am not looking for sympathy or an "Aw, it'll be okay", so please don't. I get by because of the strength that my God gives me. I make it through each day because I am learning to give all of my problems to Him and to allow Him to deal with them. I know that I am not strong enough to handle what I have been through, nor could I even attempt to deal with any of them by themselves, let alone all at once. No matter the storm that I am standing in, no matter how much pain and strife that comes my way, I will praise Him. I will thank Him for all that He has blessed me with and no matter what, He is still on the throne! I have heard a thousand or more times by so many different people "God will not give you more than you can handle." That's a great saying! But where does it say that in the bible? Where did Jesus say that? Wait a second, you mean he never said that at all? It was never written in the bible by anybody? I see, so it is just that, a great saying. I feel and TRULY believe that God wants us to give Him ALL of our problems, no matter how big or small. ALL OF THEM! In the book of Matthew, 11:29 Jesus says "Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls". Philippians 4: 6-7 says this about giving your problems to God; "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus". So you see, nowhere does it say to handle our problems on our own. So, I'm not. I am giving the all to God.
I still have no idea where this blog post is headed. Most likely, it is going nowhere, but I felt compelled to write it nonetheless. Sometimes just getting some of the thoughts out of your head is helpful. Sometimes it is best to express something, even if it amounts to nothing. I know that I am not as close to God as I have been or as I should be. I plan to remedy that though. Prayer. It is something that is so important to a Jesus Follower, yet it is something that is so difficult to us all. I have heard from a bunch of people, "I'm just too busy to pray". I feel that way a lot. But now that I am trying to refocus on Him, I have realized that I'm too busy NOT to pray! With my job, my family and life in general I have started wondering how I have survived this long without prayer. The truth is, I haven't. So many wrong decisions have been made, too many wrong things have been said and too many mistakes were made while I was off trying to do it on my own. Time to focus once more and put Him in my sight at all times. Time to make God the center of my world once again. Most of all it is time to stop trusting in me and start trusting in Him.
It is interesting to see where things take you when you put your whole trust in God. It is amazing to watch Him work for good.
It is time to tune out the American Noise and start turning my eyes to Him.
No matter where I am standing, there is a storm all around me. No matter how much the storm may rage, I will praise You!
Monday, March 31, 2014
*Cough, cough* "I'm sick, or gonna die"
It's been a while, but I'm back. Back for another round of griping and complaining. Today's topic is healthcare. A touchy subject. I really am just going to give you my thoughts on how to fix healthcare. It is simple, it is easy and it is something that all politicians, whether a Republican't or a Democrap , could accept.
First of all let me preface this by saying that I can't stand politicians. I can't stand almost all of them. Whether they are at a National, State or local level, they are NOT looking out for those who put them in office. It is about their own agenda. Period. If you believe otherwise, then you're a fool. To be very truthful, a friend of mine and I have spoken at great length about how we just need to evict them all at once and start over, using only actual citizens that have a vested interest in this country. Not a politician. The system is broken folks and it doesn't matter which party you bring in to office, they will seriously screw something up. Be it Ol' Uncle Dubbya and his money draining wars or the silver tongued Obama and his Affordable Care Act. They both screwed our country so bad that it is nearly irreparable.
For the last few days I have been reading a lot of articles about the Affordable Care Act and how badly it will affect our country. In a speech some time ago about the Affordable Care Act, President Barack Obama said that if you like your doctor, you can keep them. Now, that is not a certainty at all. Most higher tier hospitals and specialists will not even consider you if you have purchased insurance through the Affordable Care Act. Going through a lesser doctor is essentially like having no doctor at all. Although the argument could be made that some care is better than no care. I guess that really depends upon the care. If you have a specialist who is one of the best in a 5 state area who knows exactly what their doing, verses a doctor who is kind of clueless and is just throwing prescriptions at you...who would you rather go to? Just the other day I read that by the year 2025, that is only eleven years from now, the insurance and healthcare landscape will be no different than it was 10 years ago. The rich getting in to the best doctors and the poor and middle class will be left to fend for themselves and die. So what is the ACA actually doing??? Nothing if you ask me.
My boss at work told me the other day that in the next few years he sees our company dropping everyone from health insurance. He says that it will be cheaper for companies to pay the fines that come from the ACA verses actually providing coverage for their employees. Ya know, he is right. I can really see this happening as well. Our healthcare system is one of the worst in the world. We have a system that is ranked LOWER than third world countries. Our system ranks 37th in the world. THIRTY SEVENTH!!! Let that soak in for just a moment. Okay, are you back with me now? Here are some countries that rank higher than us. San Marino is 34 spots higher than us. Andorra is 33 spots higher than us. Malta is 32 spots higher than us. Oman, Cyprus and Costa Rica, ALL HAVE A BETTER HEALTHCARE SYSTEM THAN US!!! So what are we going to do about it? What can we do about it other than eliminate the impostors that are in office right now? We could always go for a total V for Vendetta type of revolution, but what would it do? In the end, nothing. Take Edward Snowden for example. This man should not be wanted for treason, but hailed as a HERO!
So here is my very simple solution. Instead of wasting BILLIONS of tax dollars setting up the AFA, just open up Medicaid to everyone. Make it a viable insurance option. Make those who can afford it, pay for it and those who still can't afford it, pay very little to nothing for it. Don't let the insurance companies dictate what can and cannot be paid for. Make it all available. If someone like me wants to do Gastric Bypass surgery, make it available. But make me pay for some of it. 90/10 or 80/20. SOMETHING. But don't deny anything for anyone that is HEALTH RELATED! Boob jobs and liposuction don't count. Sorry, ladies. It really is that simple.
The bottom line about healthcare is this folks, things are bad in our country. Really bad. When it comes time to elect public officials again, don't let the party name affect your decision as to who you're voting for. Do your research and vote for the person who makes the most sense when it comes to our country. Don't let partisanship dictate how you cast your ballot this year. Make sure you know the issues at hand, one of them being the healthcare system in this country and how it NEEDS to change!
First of all let me preface this by saying that I can't stand politicians. I can't stand almost all of them. Whether they are at a National, State or local level, they are NOT looking out for those who put them in office. It is about their own agenda. Period. If you believe otherwise, then you're a fool. To be very truthful, a friend of mine and I have spoken at great length about how we just need to evict them all at once and start over, using only actual citizens that have a vested interest in this country. Not a politician. The system is broken folks and it doesn't matter which party you bring in to office, they will seriously screw something up. Be it Ol' Uncle Dubbya and his money draining wars or the silver tongued Obama and his Affordable Care Act. They both screwed our country so bad that it is nearly irreparable.
For the last few days I have been reading a lot of articles about the Affordable Care Act and how badly it will affect our country. In a speech some time ago about the Affordable Care Act, President Barack Obama said that if you like your doctor, you can keep them. Now, that is not a certainty at all. Most higher tier hospitals and specialists will not even consider you if you have purchased insurance through the Affordable Care Act. Going through a lesser doctor is essentially like having no doctor at all. Although the argument could be made that some care is better than no care. I guess that really depends upon the care. If you have a specialist who is one of the best in a 5 state area who knows exactly what their doing, verses a doctor who is kind of clueless and is just throwing prescriptions at you...who would you rather go to? Just the other day I read that by the year 2025, that is only eleven years from now, the insurance and healthcare landscape will be no different than it was 10 years ago. The rich getting in to the best doctors and the poor and middle class will be left to fend for themselves and die. So what is the ACA actually doing??? Nothing if you ask me.
My boss at work told me the other day that in the next few years he sees our company dropping everyone from health insurance. He says that it will be cheaper for companies to pay the fines that come from the ACA verses actually providing coverage for their employees. Ya know, he is right. I can really see this happening as well. Our healthcare system is one of the worst in the world. We have a system that is ranked LOWER than third world countries. Our system ranks 37th in the world. THIRTY SEVENTH!!! Let that soak in for just a moment. Okay, are you back with me now? Here are some countries that rank higher than us. San Marino is 34 spots higher than us. Andorra is 33 spots higher than us. Malta is 32 spots higher than us. Oman, Cyprus and Costa Rica, ALL HAVE A BETTER HEALTHCARE SYSTEM THAN US!!! So what are we going to do about it? What can we do about it other than eliminate the impostors that are in office right now? We could always go for a total V for Vendetta type of revolution, but what would it do? In the end, nothing. Take Edward Snowden for example. This man should not be wanted for treason, but hailed as a HERO!
So here is my very simple solution. Instead of wasting BILLIONS of tax dollars setting up the AFA, just open up Medicaid to everyone. Make it a viable insurance option. Make those who can afford it, pay for it and those who still can't afford it, pay very little to nothing for it. Don't let the insurance companies dictate what can and cannot be paid for. Make it all available. If someone like me wants to do Gastric Bypass surgery, make it available. But make me pay for some of it. 90/10 or 80/20. SOMETHING. But don't deny anything for anyone that is HEALTH RELATED! Boob jobs and liposuction don't count. Sorry, ladies. It really is that simple.
The bottom line about healthcare is this folks, things are bad in our country. Really bad. When it comes time to elect public officials again, don't let the party name affect your decision as to who you're voting for. Do your research and vote for the person who makes the most sense when it comes to our country. Don't let partisanship dictate how you cast your ballot this year. Make sure you know the issues at hand, one of them being the healthcare system in this country and how it NEEDS to change!
Thursday, February 27, 2014
A Day In The Life Of An Aspie
Wake up, go to the bathroom and brush teeth very quickly and half assed, get dressed very quickly and get ready for school and wait. For 20 minutes, wait. Go to school, and go through every day routine and not understand a thing about the world around me except for my studies. Talk to my one and only friend that I have in the entire universe once, maybe twice the entire day. Come home, eat a snack, do homework, play video games, eat dinner while continuing to play video games and have to be reminded twice to finish dinner, shower in under two minutes, go to bed, all with the TV on all day long except while at school.
Welcome to a day in the life of my son who has been diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome. Asperger's Syndrome is under the Autism umbrella. If you don't know what Autism is, then I am about to explain it as simple as I possibly can. Take the average day that my son has, and take out the "do homework, play video games and eat dinner" part and put in any kind of event or activity that you want. Now, imagine the biggest temper tantrum that you have ever seen in your life from a young child and multiply it by a billion. THAT is how someone with Asperger's or Autism reacts when a wrench is thrown into their day. Now, this isn't the way my son reacts to every or any situation. BUT, it has the potential to be. My son has been taught coping skills. That's something that not everyone under the Autism umbrella can say. Most of them will implode and have a meltdown on a nuclear scale.
I don't expect you to understand it. I don't expect you to sympathize with any person who does understand it. But what I hope you do is educate yourself. Educate yourself enough so that you aren't the person in a restaurant acting a fool whenever a child with autism has a meltdown. Educate yourself so that when you encounter someone with autism who is not a child, you don't do or say something that you might regret later, or that might send that person into a meltdown and hurt themselves or someone else in the process.
My son is a normal, average looking person. You would never know by looking at him that he has Asperger's Syndrome. But if you watch him closely, if you really keep an eye on him and watch his mannerisms, you'll see it. You'll see him swaying softly back and forth as he is trying to stand still. You'll observe him not looking you in the eye, even if you're trying to talk to him. He doesn't trust you enough to look you in the eye. He is afraid you'll make fun of him because of his Asperger's. But looking at him, you would never know he has a form of autism. My son, like so many other people in this world that has been diagnosed with any form of autism, just wants you to accept them for who they are. Those same people want you to tolerate the behaviors that they most of the time cannot help. They don't want their behavior to be acceptable to the world, they just want you to understand that they can't and never will act in a way that the world deems as "normal".
I have written this line and deleted it three times. Every time I start to write something, it comes across as me being arrogant or like I am better than you because I understand and I sympathize. But that isn't the case at all. Most parents will never know the pain that they feel when their son or daughter tells them that they only have one friend and that no one at school likes them. Most people will never experience that pain in their entire life. But an Aspie, someone with Autism, they feel it every day. They feel it all the time.
The reason I wrote this is so that the next time you meet someone and they say or do something that might piss you off, you don't respond in a hateful or mean manner. Don't start bullying them, being mean to them, saying mean, hurtful and hateful words to them. If a person says or does something that offends you or makes you angry, please, take a step back and think. Don't fly off the handle and be a jerk. Remember, the person could have a form of Autism. By treating them with respect and letting them know in a mild tone that what they did to hurt you, could change their life and yours as well.
All too often in this world, someone will say or do something that makes our blood boil. I know I am guilty of it just as much as everyone else. However, I have been blessed with a great son who has been diagnosed with something that has made me stop and think about things before I do them or say them. There is only one thing anymore that makes me lose my mind without thinking about it first and that is treating my son in a rude, hateful, disrespectful, mean, pissy, jerky, angry, and douchey way. If you disrespect my son because of something he does or says that he can't control, you will most likely be sorry for doing so. So just think about things before you spout off at the mouth to someone. That person could be my son.
Welcome to a day in the life of my son who has been diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome. Asperger's Syndrome is under the Autism umbrella. If you don't know what Autism is, then I am about to explain it as simple as I possibly can. Take the average day that my son has, and take out the "do homework, play video games and eat dinner" part and put in any kind of event or activity that you want. Now, imagine the biggest temper tantrum that you have ever seen in your life from a young child and multiply it by a billion. THAT is how someone with Asperger's or Autism reacts when a wrench is thrown into their day. Now, this isn't the way my son reacts to every or any situation. BUT, it has the potential to be. My son has been taught coping skills. That's something that not everyone under the Autism umbrella can say. Most of them will implode and have a meltdown on a nuclear scale.
I don't expect you to understand it. I don't expect you to sympathize with any person who does understand it. But what I hope you do is educate yourself. Educate yourself enough so that you aren't the person in a restaurant acting a fool whenever a child with autism has a meltdown. Educate yourself so that when you encounter someone with autism who is not a child, you don't do or say something that you might regret later, or that might send that person into a meltdown and hurt themselves or someone else in the process.
My son is a normal, average looking person. You would never know by looking at him that he has Asperger's Syndrome. But if you watch him closely, if you really keep an eye on him and watch his mannerisms, you'll see it. You'll see him swaying softly back and forth as he is trying to stand still. You'll observe him not looking you in the eye, even if you're trying to talk to him. He doesn't trust you enough to look you in the eye. He is afraid you'll make fun of him because of his Asperger's. But looking at him, you would never know he has a form of autism. My son, like so many other people in this world that has been diagnosed with any form of autism, just wants you to accept them for who they are. Those same people want you to tolerate the behaviors that they most of the time cannot help. They don't want their behavior to be acceptable to the world, they just want you to understand that they can't and never will act in a way that the world deems as "normal".
I have written this line and deleted it three times. Every time I start to write something, it comes across as me being arrogant or like I am better than you because I understand and I sympathize. But that isn't the case at all. Most parents will never know the pain that they feel when their son or daughter tells them that they only have one friend and that no one at school likes them. Most people will never experience that pain in their entire life. But an Aspie, someone with Autism, they feel it every day. They feel it all the time.
The reason I wrote this is so that the next time you meet someone and they say or do something that might piss you off, you don't respond in a hateful or mean manner. Don't start bullying them, being mean to them, saying mean, hurtful and hateful words to them. If a person says or does something that offends you or makes you angry, please, take a step back and think. Don't fly off the handle and be a jerk. Remember, the person could have a form of Autism. By treating them with respect and letting them know in a mild tone that what they did to hurt you, could change their life and yours as well.
All too often in this world, someone will say or do something that makes our blood boil. I know I am guilty of it just as much as everyone else. However, I have been blessed with a great son who has been diagnosed with something that has made me stop and think about things before I do them or say them. There is only one thing anymore that makes me lose my mind without thinking about it first and that is treating my son in a rude, hateful, disrespectful, mean, pissy, jerky, angry, and douchey way. If you disrespect my son because of something he does or says that he can't control, you will most likely be sorry for doing so. So just think about things before you spout off at the mouth to someone. That person could be my son.
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