I hate retards
The other day I was at work, telling a story to a friend about an incident that happened to a friend of mine that involved a retarded kid. As I was telling the story one of the gals that works with us was walking by. She stopped to tell us that she had a kid who was "Challenged", as she put it. Of course, I told her that was too bad and that I was sorry that she had a kid who was retarded
She got a bit upset with me and told me that I shouldn't call them retarded. She told me that it wasn't nice. When I asked her why it wasn't nice she told me that it was mean to call someone who was "mentally challenged" retarded.
I explained to her that I was not calling anyone retarded. In fact, the kid I was talking about IS retarded and I was merely stating the status of his mental condition.
Then, I asked her just what "mentally challenged" meant. She told me that it meant mentally retarded. So, I asked her if that was the clinical term and she said that it was, to the best of her knowledge. Of course, I asked her, if it was the clinical term for it, why didn't she use it. She told me that it sounded nicer to say mentally challenged.
So, I asked her if her son ever got upset when anyone said that her kid was retarded. She told me that he never seemed to notice it, but it upset her when people used the term to describe him or anyone like him.
She was not very happy when I told her that she is a selfish bitch. In fact, she told me that she didn't like me calling her names. So, I stated, that like the retarded kid in my story, I wasn't calling her a selfish bitch but that I was stating a fact. Actually, I think I said that it was the clinical term for her affliction.
Now, this is a round about way of getting to my point. You see, all these stupid terms for people are just that - stupid. We can no longer call a spade a spade these days without pissing someone off because the term doesn't sound nice.
I recall when, a few years back, the people who represent deaf folks got pissed off because they were being referred to as "hearing impaired". And, I don't blame them. Hearing impaired indicates that they can hear a little. Well, they stated that they aren't "hearing impaired" and that they are, in fact, deaf because they can't hear.
I think that if I was a deaf person and someone called me "hearing impaired" that I would jab my thumbs into their eyes and start calling them "sight impaired". But, I digress...
So, to get to the point; All of you assholes that call people with disabilities by some politically correct term are just selfish assholes. Yes - selfish assholes. The only person that you make feel good when you use those special terms is you. The folks who suffer from disabilities are not really fond of those terms.
And, to illustrate this point; I have a friend who had polio and is on crutches. I refer to him as my gimpy buddy and steal his crutches from him, just to be rotten. I have another friend with cerebral palsy who is stuck in a wheelchair. I like to unplug it, sometimes, and I even put 2X4's in the spokes of his wheelchair, just for the fun of it.
Now, I have had tremendous amounts of fun with both of them. We have played cards and laughed and joked and caused all sorts of trouble, together. Granted, both of them call me lots of names for the rotten things that I do to them. But, they have both pulled me aside to thank me for treating them the way that I do - just like everyone else.
As for my buddy who is
retarded - well, every mistake that I make around him he calls me a retard.
Something tells me that he doesn't mind the term, at all.