When I was younger I was very right-wing. I mean…very right-wing. I won’t go into detail, because I’m very deeply ashamed of it, but whatever you’re imagining, it’s probably at least that bad. I’ve taken out a lot of pain on others; I’ve acted in ignorance and waved hate like a flag; I’ve said and did things that hurt a lot of people.
There are artefacts of my past selves online – some of which I’ve locked down and keep around to remind me of my past sins, some of which I’ve scrubbed out, some of which are out of my grasp. If I were ever to become famous, people could find shit on me that would turn your stomach.
But that’s not me anymore. I’ve learned so much in the last ten years. I’ve become more open to seeing things through others’ eyes, and reforged my anger to turn on those who harm others rather than on those who simply want to exist. I’ve learned patience and compassion. I’ve learned how to recognise my privileges and listen to others’ perspectives. I’ve learned to stand up for others, how to hear, how to help, how to correct myself. And I learned some startling shit about myself along the way – with all due irony, some of the things I used to lash out at others for are intrinsic parts of myself.
You wouldn’t know what I am now from what I was then. You wouldn’t know what I was then from what I am now.
It distresses me deeply to think of someone dredging up my dark, awful past and treating me as though that furiously hateful person is still me. It distresses me to see others dredging up the past for anyone who has made efforts to become a better person, out of some sick obsession with proving they’re “problematic.”
Purity culture tells you that once someone says or does something, they can never go back on it. That’s a goddamn lie. While it’s true that some remain unrepentant and never change their ways and continue to harm others, it’s important to allow everyone the chance to learn from their mistakes. Saying something ignorant isn’t murder. Please stop treating it that way. Let people grow.
•buy toys/dolls/crayons
•play with Legos
•play old videogames/dress up games
•weave friendship bracelets
•watch cartoons
•use stickers
•draw pics of your favorite characters
If it makes you feel nice, do it.
Don’t even worry about what other people think, because it doesn’t matter–if it brings you happiness, it’s not “ridiculous”, or “immature”.
So you mean to tell me the Evanescence song “Bring me to Life”, the Tay Zonday song “Chocolate Rain” and the first Shrek movie all came out on April 22 in different years? This all means something but I don’t know what yet. Very significant.
getting random sharp pain in your organs is a lot like when your check engine light comes on in your car. you dont know what it means so you just ignore it and hope you dont blow up
random sharp pain in your organs means you should go to a doctor
And if your check engine light is on.. you should probably.. I don’t know… /check the engine/.
This scene was so important. It connects with every child who felt like they needed to smile through their circumstances because they felt like their parents had enough to deal with. Parents expect their children to be able to bounce back fast and find ways to smile because children are more carefree and don’t have to deal with the financial and emotional strains of adulthood. But they still can feel sad at what’s going on. They can sense when something’s wrong, and even though they try to put on a brave face and find ways to smile, they might be breaking inside.
Parents sometimes ignore these kids because they’re dealing with too much already. But no matter what’s going on, don’t ignore your kid. Because even if their problems seem minuscule to you, they matter to your child. Never trivialize or tell them to be a “big girl, or boy” Let them feel and let them know you’re there for them. Because no matter what’s going on, don’t let your child fall through the cracks.
if you see someone active on social media or something, and you message them, and they don’t reply, they don’t have to. just because they are awake and alive does not mean they have to engage with you whenever you want them to. you are not entitled to someone else’s time.
in the past, an abuser would see me post online and then hound me on aim until i answered. i felt like i had to hide. they also lived in my building and would pound on my door if they saw me online and i wasn’t responding to them. i had to completely ditch a screenname, lie about having skype, and turn off my phone to hide. if i saw they were online i couldn’t post on facebook or interact with anyone without them demanding to interact with me. the only legitimate excuse not to talk to them was being asleep. in their eyes, if i were really their friend, i would always want to engage no matter what, even if i had a migraine or work to do or wasn’t feeling very social. it didn’t matter.
please do not do this. if someone doesn’t write you back, don’t guilt them about where they are or what they’re doing. if you see someone posting on tumblr or facebook and they aren’t signed into aim or google or skype or whatever, that’s their business. if they are signed on but don’t write you back, it’s okay. sometimes people can’t talk to everyone all the time every time. some people can only talk to one person at a time without getting overloaded. some people are signed on in case someone needs to contact them with something important and not to be social. they’re not always hiding from you, and you shouldn’t make them feel like they HAVE to hide from you.
this is probably jumbled and i’m probably missing a lot here, but pressuring people to always be available to you every hour of the day and always answer the phone or text or chat or pm or whatever…if you require that of someone, you might need to take a step back.
Bistreich’s suit alleges that both Gentile — a Democrat who represents Bath Beach, Bay Ridge, Bensonhurst and Dyker Heights — and his chief of staff John Mancuso targeted him because of his diagnosis and tormented him with pranks so distressing he was forced to quit his job in June 2016.
Mancuso once organized a mass-decapitation of the stuffed animals Bistreich kept on his desk.
Bistreich found his Teddy bears with their heads ripped off — with one mounted on a flagpole — and a stuffed toy dog had been gutted and painted red to seem bloody.
The suit also claims the bullying was tolerated and encouraged by Gentile, who laughed and clapped his hands when a staff member compared Bistreich to Avonte Oquendo — the autistic boy who died after escaping his school through an unattended exit — by suggesting Bistreich “test the doors.”
This is so gross!
These are grown adults bullying someone like they are on an elementary school playground.
I have to continue believing that for every one asshole there are at least two caring people..
Gentile told Bistreich his “ticking” had gotten worse. He said, “We know your condition, but when you twitch like that it’s unnerving to people” and asked “Can you look into upping your medication?” the lawsuit claims.(x)
that is so disgusting, and highly illegal. I hope Bistreich wins the lawsuit.
Did someone fix the stuffed animals for him? Does he still have them?
If not, and he still has the parts, is there a way I could offer to do it? I’m a seamstress and have done stuffed toy repair before.
He probably doesn’t have them right now, since they’re likely being used as evidence, but I’m confident he’ll get them back at some point, whereupon we can help repair them.
For now, though, can we send stuffed animals his way? What kind does he prefer?
Mr. Bistreich is hyperempathetic and identifies with his stuffed animals.
This is important. He feels real empathy for these stuffed animals and sees himself in them.
His coworkers knew this. It was soon after Mr. Bistreich disclosed his hyperempathy toward his stuffed animals that this ‘prank’ (read: abuse) occurred.
It was a calculated attack intended to intimidate and traumatize.
This is so sickening for me to read. I have an autistic brother who is also hyperempathic , and he’s also got a large collection of stuffed animals. He cries whenever one gets too worn to keep.
Just…. Why would you do this? How could you be so cruel?
Found this again. I think about this story periodically; it’s so viscerally horrifying to me. I love my stuffed animals more than life and if anyone ever did this to them my reaction would be pure unadulterated [autistic screeching].
Even if you have zero sympathy for stuffed animals, that’s destruction of property. Calling a blatant crime a “prank” is….utterly disgusting.
ifesbob 