Hot Buttons

I have a couple of hot buttons:

1.  "It's all your fault Ron got hurt."  The man who ran over him ran a red light.  Ron said it best:  "They wanted us both in the hospital, instead of just me?  Who would take care of me?"  It was his choice to walk, alone, to work that day.  He had asked a cab driver to give him a ride.  He asked his brother to give him a ride.  He asked a coworker to give him a ride.  They all said no, but it's my fault.   Agh.

2.  "There's nothing wrong with you."  I am allowing myself to be limited by a label they don't understand.  I have learned, to my great discomfort, that when I explain fetal alcohol conditions I must say my mother DRANK A LOT EVERY DAY or people start getting very defensive and angry (because they drank, or allowed a woman to drink while pregnant).  Trust me, I'd like to make a lot more money, drive, have better social skills.  If I could, I would.  However, I have literal holes in my brain.

3.  "You and Ron make lots of money"  I find this one the most baffling.  What?  If we made a little less, we could get food stamps.  As it is, we qualify as "Extremely low income" on the charts.  We have a business, yes.  All our money is in inventory, yet we get people making 3x what we do, asking for handouts.  Very annoying.  One guy at work kept bugging me until I told him what I make in a month. He never bothered me again.

4.  "Mental illness is just a scam/excuse/evil pharmaceutical plot to addict you".  Uh.  No.  It is very real, horrible, and often fatal.  It's very easy to judge someone who appears normal, but we often pay a very high price in side effects in order to be functional, productive, citizens.  The lithium is already damaging my kidneys, for instance.

Yes, I SEEM fine, because I take a giant handful of medication every day.  Trust me, if I went off my pills you'd meet "crazy" real quick.

Thank you.  That's all.