A few months back, I saw this video linked on both Reddit and Digg. Like most people, I snorted at what I called this woman’s “redneck stupidity” and frowned upon her apparent lack of education. I also got a bit angry at the inequal distribution of basic grade-level knowledge and went as far as to imagine that entire populations of small towns throughout certain regions of the country were as stupid as she.
Then I read through the comments and started feeling pretty bad about myself. A lot of people, particularly those who had first-hand experience with dealing with those with the disease, deduced that this woman was obviously a paranoid schizophrenic. She was not all well “upstairs”and she was in need of sympathy and not ridicule – and there I was, making fun of her and even getting annoyed with what she didn’t know. I was suddenly the girl in middle school who made fun of someone just because they were less privileged or different.
Afterwards, I saw a lot of fellow bloggers and forummers sharing the same video. For a while, I did respond to each one with a statement similar to the above two paragraphs – that I saw, I laughed, then I felt guilty because… . I figured it’d save a bit of time, at this point, to do my own blog entry in regards.
This just goes to show how little I myself know and how much I have to learn about understanding a story before judging someone. I still feel pretty lousy about how I responded to this whole thing and I hope to spare others from the same kind of embarrassment. Of course, I know for a fact that I’m the kind of person who makes the same mistakes countless times before even learning from it, so I know that this small realization doesn’t make me a better person. If anything, I’ll probably make a similar mistake in the future and loathe myself more than ever for not having learned.
Related posts:
I am alienman. Writing a small blurb about myself is the hardest thing to do. "Blurb" is a funny word.
GoldfishCake is NOT accepting sponsors or advertising at this time.
i love you, goldfishcake.
Hey it happens. We can’t always be expected to understand everything right away. Processing takes time, and at least you’re mature enough to admit that you felt guilty.
ps. I love you too my twin in another universe!
Haha yeah oddly enough, two other people thought it was my sister as a leopard too! LMAO. I guess it’s good I look young?!! LOL. I can’t wait to see the siblings and do makeovers on them, Imma make my sis look like a clown and make her think I look fab and then take her to the mall with her friends without her touching a mirror. LOL jk.
Actually, when I saw the clip, I was just really, really confused. It wasn’t so much “oh my god this woman is so dumb,” because she actually came across more like one of those organic extremists – “oh my god they put pesticides in everything! I only eat organic foods because they’re not contaminated by synthetic chemicals!” and I was actually pretty sure this was some kind of parody of that, or a joke, but because she said it so SERIOUSLY, I wasn’t sure if she was just really good at being deadpan, or was actually serious.
Anyway, even if she WAS being serious (and is a paranoid schizophrenic, like you mentioned), I have to say it’s one of the strangest conspiracy theories I’ve heard yet. (Other than the one about the US Government putting tiny tracking devices in our teeth when we get dental work done, anyway.)
You’re way better than me, then, cuz I definitely assumed the worst. From what I hear, she has other conspiracies she made videos about. Didn’t the guy in A Beautiful Mind have the same problem? He saw conspiracies and hidden messages in everything. It was a daily struggle for him to distinguish what was real and what was imagined. Amazing how powerfully the mind works…