Maltreatment of Vulnerable Populations

The following is my reply regarding a post about abuses of developmentally disabled clients at a place called Winterbourne View in Bristol, UK.

Both as a human being and as someone who lives with mental illness, I find this appalling. It was back in the early 80's when I was hospitalized after becoming so overwhelmed that I swallowed several diet pills and proceeded to make what were actually superficial cuts on my wrists. I was 16 years old. I was treated deplorably, including being told by one "angel of mercy" that I was a freak, I would always be a freak, and people like me could never be normal. My retort was "better to be a freak than a bitch like you." I vowed never to end up in a place like that again. It has been very hard for me to get help. The private sector help is too expensive and the publicly provided mental health counseling is pretty well worthless.

Sometimes Teacher Does Not Know Best

This is one of those lazy posts that was an answer to a post about children with special needs and the stigma placed on stay at home parents.

I was told when my son was in the 5th grade that he either had to be medicated "for ADHD" or leave the school. I pulled him out of the school. What was he doing? "Fidgeting in class." The teacher was keeping him in from lunches and by the time she let him go get lunch, well after the other kids had gone, there was often nothing left. She wouldn't let him go out for recess. She said to me "well! We have to discipline him. We don't want him to grow up to be a waitress like his mother!" When I talked to the principal he backed the teacher. 

This "incorrigible" child merely needed a) recess to help get rid of his pent-up excess energy and b) to eat lunch, for fuck's sake! He was hypoglycemic. 

I don't know that he'll ever invent anything as world-changing as electric lighting, but he is currently taking two very difficult science based classes and already understands much more about anatomy and physiology than I ever did. I have no doubt that he will become a pharmacist, as is his goal.

I wish I'd been able to be at home with him more but I was a single parent and didn't have the choice to do anything but work. 

I once worked briefly with a woman who had to make the choice to go back on welfare because without it she couldn't afford the medical bills for her severely handicapped son. Once she started working, the medicaid stopped. 

Hell of a thing to have to make that choice.

And after that rant I will simply say I agree with you that there is no right or wrong answer.

New Hard Times

Michael from Norfolk wrote about how we are headed for the next great depression. My response follows. BTW, Michael is a very sharp guy and his blog is well worth following.

I'm no expert but as I see it, the people in government live fairly privileged lives. They have no idea what it's like to be living on less than a shoe string. They really don't care about how much people are struggling.

I find myself in the unlovely position of depending on others to be able to eat for the two weeks between paychecks because even though I work full time I'm having to pay back the 5 payday loans I found it necessary to obtain while doing a month's unpaid internship. My credit isn't good enough to qualify for a regular loan, and I maxed out my one credit card. I am what you call the "working poor." I am marginalized--I make too much money to qualify for food stamps or other public assistance, but by the time the mortgage is paid, I have nothing at this point. I literally consider suicide every day. For me (and I'm sure not the only one) the next great depression is already here.

Just for Fun: Channeling my Inner Elmo

Your result for The Your SESAME STREET Persona Test...

Elmo

You scored 40% Organization, 77% abstract, and 46% extroverted!

This test measured 3 variables.
First, this test measured how organized you are. Some muppets like Cookie Monster make big messes, while others like Bert are quite anal about things being clean.
Second, this test measured if you prefer a concrete or an abstract viewpoint. For the purposes of this test, concrete people are considered to gravitate more to mathematical and logical approaches, whereas abstract people are more the dreamers and artistic type.
Third, this test measured if you are more of an introvert or an extrovert. By definition, an introvert concentrates more on herself and an extrovert focuses more on others. In this test an introvert was somebody that either tends to spend more time alone or thinks more about herself.
You are mostly organized, more abstract, and both introverted and extroverted.

Most people either love or hate Elmo. I hope you love Elmo, because that's who you are.

You are both somewhat organized. You have a good idea where you put things and you probably keep your place reasonably clean. You aren't totally obsessed with neatness though. Elmo has the same basic approach. His place is pretty tidy, but he doesn't spend all of his time cleaning it up.


You both are abstract thinkers. You definitely are not afraid to take chances in life. You only live once. You may notice others around you playing it safe, but you are more concerned with not compromising your desires, and getting everything you can out of life. This is a very romantic approach to life, but hopefully you are also grounded enough to get by. Elmo's whole life is based on fantasy and his imagination. In the beginning he was a regular character, but now he spends most of his time in this fantasy world.


You are both somewhat extroverts. Like Elmo, you probably like to have some time to yourself, but you do appreciate spending time with your friends, and you aren't scared of social situations. Elmo spends some of his time with real friends, but he also needs some time just to chat it up with his goldfish.
The other possible characters are

Oscar the Grouch

Big Bird

Cookie Monster

Ernie

Snuffleupagus

Kermit the Frog

Grover

The Count

Guy Smiley

Bert


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I have written many many tests for fun on this site. Feel free to choose another one from my handy categories. If you liked a test, please rate it before continuing.
Intelligence tests (all with answer keys)
The are you Smarter Than a 1st Grader Test Test your school smarts against my 1st graders.
The Proper Urinal Etiquette Test
The State Locator Challenge I'll show you a picture of a state, you tell me which one it is.
The 10 Tricky Anagram Puzzles Test A fun quirky IQ test.
The Following Directions IQ Test The name says it all. Perhaps my trickiest IQ test.
The Take the Jeopardy Challenge Test A great tests for fans of jeopardy. Somewhat lengthy.

"Which character am I" tests

The Your Sesame Street Persona test By far, my most popular test.
The Smurf Personality Test 16 smurfy possibilities. Smurf facts included.
The Your Seinfeld Identity Test Surely the only test here that uses "Kavorka" as a variable.
The Life in Hell Test Which rabbit are you in this Matt Groening (The Simpsons) strip?.

Tests that are actually games

The Real Choose Your Own Adventure Test 29 possible endings. Uses internal links to navigate.
The Survivor Game Great fun for fans of the T.V. show. Complex scoring algorithm.
What will you do for a Klondike Bar? Life and death hangs on each choice you make.
The Morphed Faces (with a reward) test Quick. Kind of dumb but fun.
Let's Play Rocks Paper Scissors Takes less than a minute. Bet you can't win.?
The Murder Mystery Flash Game A dumb addictive flash game I did not create.

Death related test

The Wecome To Your Funeral Test Tells you who attends your funeral and when you'll die.
The Who's Dying First Test See if you are likely to outlast me on this planet.
Would Jesus Die For Your Sins? Short and sarcastic (like me!)

Bizarre compatability tests

The Choose Your Next Planet Test When ours becomes inhabitable, where should you go?
The Would Judge Judy Yell at YOU test? Can you escape her wrath? Probably not.
The If We Were Both Lesbians... Sure you dig my tests. But would you dig me...as a woman?
The Would Zeppo Sleep with you test My very 1st test. Would my cat date you or more?
The Yankees or Red Sox fan test Which team SHOULD you root for. Fun questions.

The rest (or the "Could be deleted any day tests...")

The Do You Know the Muffin Man Test No clue how to describe this test.
The Let is snow? Let it snow test This test will tell you if you like snow. Seriously.
You too can get 10,000 takers The author reveals his secrets to creating popular tests.

The Smokey the Bear Forest Fire Test

Take The Your SESAME STREET Persona Test at HelloQuizzy

Faycin's Running Crazy

My dear friends, thanks for visiting! I am feeling better now though very stressed, which is why I haven't visited your blogs during the last few days. I have been beamed up by aliens and am being experimented on in various humiliating ways.

Actually, my life is just plain crazy right now. I have so many different things going on I pretty much have no time to stop and take a breath! 

I'll be taking Tara the cat to live with my son for a while because until the insulation guy is able to insulate and the flooring guy is able to put the floors back down, she's a hazard to herself. She keeps pulling the accordion door open between the two ends of the house. She got under the batting somehow and under the mobile home. I had to open the skirting to get her out. The accordion door was open but the other cats didn't jump the pet gate, just Tara, who is, of course, the one who kept clawing at it until she pulled it open. She'll be safer in M's apartment until this is done.

And now, a nap before I go out and buy a small bag of cat food, bowls, and a litter box for the beast.

Good day/night/whatever it is wherever you are

White Trash or Working Poor?

I need to bust a move (I just happen to like saying that) so this will be a quick one. It was an answer to a well-written post on classism, in general, but particularly in the American South.

I guess that I would be pegged as either "white trash" or "working poor" depending on how rude the person classifying me wanted to be. I work full time but live paycheck to paycheck. Most of my money goes into a mobile home that needs a drastic amount of repair but I can't move out of it because I couldn't afford to carry the mortgage on it plus the mortgage or rent on a second place. I do shop at Wal Mart because it's what is available. A lot of the time I don't care but sometimes it is so discouraging that it makes me very depressed.

Faycin's New Blog

First of all, let me say, that shit does not surprise me. I found that picture on a site called "Hope for OCD," which I am going to check out a little more in depth.

Shit, it's no wonder I'm exhausted! With both OCD and bipolar disorder there is a constant blur of thoughts, many of them anxiety producing, and IT NEVER FUCKING STOPS!

But that is not what I came here to tell you about.

I came here to tell you about my new blog.

I have an obsessive need to categorize shit, and it was really bothering me that my metaphysical beliefs were bleeding over into this blog. Well, no more, Bitches! Now that shit will be on my new blog...

FAYCIN'S IN SEARCH OF....

There may be some really cool stuff on there over time, but even though you're invited, I did not make it for you. I made it for me. Because I am happiest when I am exploring the mysteries of Life, the Universe, and Everything.

Born in sin? Come on in!

I just happen to really dig Andre Linoge from Stephen King's story, Storm of the Century. He is bad ass!