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Feb 2005
This is the ultimate ENOUGH BULLSHIT for Valentine's Day!
Mental health professionals (I use that term loosely) and even the Governor of Vermont,
have called for the removal of a straight jacketed teddy bear from the shelves, because
it insults crazy people!
The advertising on the company's website states:
15" Crazy for You Bear:
Dressed in a white straitjacket embroidered with a red heart, this Bear is a great gift for someone
you’re crazy about. He even comes with a “Commitment Report” stating “Can’t Eat, Can’t Sleep,
My Heart’s Racing. Diagnosis – Crazy for You!” Trust us. She’ll go nuts over this Bear!
How many of us have actually SAID things like that, done things like that, or have
read or seen them in the movies so many times we groan??
"Mental health advocates consider the bear "a tasteless use of marketing that stigmatizes
persons with mental illness," Jerry Goessel, executive director of the Vermont chapter of
the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill, wrote to the Shelburne-based company.
"A straitjacket is not a symbol that we want to associate with sales of a teddy bear for
loved ones over Valentine's Day," Goessel said. "And the use of commitment papers, legal
documents committing an individual to involuntary treatment, is not something to be taken
casually."
We are now insulting crazy people. Funny, or pathetic part is, if they really were crazy,
they WOULDN'T CARE! It's those evil people with agendas, and designs to abridge your rights
and freedoms, who are the ones that use anything like this
to create problems for the rest of us.
Don't these loud mouthed people have something better to do, than create problems
for people? Pretty soon we won't be able to communicate at all, because someone
some where might take offense. But isn't that our RIGHT! We have a right to speak
our minds, and you have the right to be offended, or not.
But, the fact you can be offended, and speak you mind against the bear is the
important thing. This is America, and freedom of speech must be protected. But
it's just YOUR OPINION. If people felt the same as you, the bear would not be
selling. Since it is selling, there seem to be a lot of people who like the humor,
and I'm sure NONE of them felt it was a slight to crazy people.
It's a cliche in literature that love makes people "crazy." Do a search on the
IMDB to see all the movies about it. Search Amazon.com for books on it. It's not
an insult.
Maybe the Governor is feeling it a little close to the mark? Maybe the governor
has something to worry about? When a political leader has to come out against something
like this, it's time to examine them a bit more closely . They have a personal, or
political agenda, but I must admit, Vermont's politics are not high on my list of
interests.
There are so many other things to speak out against, than a Teddy Bear! Or a joke.
There are human rights violations, people living on the street, people without food
or heat, children being abused and neglected by the system, and so many more things.
To get upset over a teddy bear, or a cliche saying that NO ONE in their RIGHT MIND
would take as being an insult to crazy people, is bizarre and flat out stupid.
This is truly the prize for ENOUGH BULLSHIT.
People, get a life! Get a sense of humor, and realize that it is cute, funny,
and if you had not started something, it would not have gotten the national and
international publicity it has.
In a way I'm glad this happened. It's time to lighten up.
But, because of these "do gooders" I'm sure there will now be a lot of jokes
circulating about crazy people, or maybe crazy mental health people.
After all, in medicine, it's generally acknowledged the "crazy" students get tracked
into psychiatry, and mental health areas where they have to remain in treatment in
order to continue working/practicing. SO, when mental health people speak up, they
are all in therapy, and most need it.
So, in truth, we have the *real* crazies running the asylum. The pot calling the
kettle black, or problems treating problems.
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