Hasn't anyone heard of Chocolate? sheeesh!

In the words of Peter Griffin.. You guys can kiss the fattest part of my ass!

My LiveJournal Trick-or-Treat Haul
megerber goes trick-or-treating, dressed up as Assistant Crack Whore.
brat_81 tricks you! You get a piece of string.
dangermouse74 tricks you! You get an old sock.
derektion tricks you! You get a broken balloon.
dramaticpause tricks you! You get a broken toy car.
godless_hobbit tricks you! You get a moldy pretzel.
kinvore gives you 1 light green vanilla-flavoured gummy fruits.
kiskissbangbang tricks you! You get a piece of string.
mininavy tricks you! You get a broken toy car.
talkdirtytome gives you 16 orange apple-flavoured nuggets.
vonotny gives you 19 blue apple-flavoured hard candies.
megerber ends up with 36 pieces of candy, a piece of string, an old sock, a broken balloon, a broken toy car, a moldy pretzel, a piece of string, and a broken toy car.
Go trick-or-treating! Username:
Another fun meme brought to you by rfreebern.

(no subject)

You  know how to make my day? Tell me there is a new Fantastic Four movie coming out and Chicklis is in it.

That is how.

Things are good.

The making of monsters and how to prevent it?

My son goes to the YMCA after school. Today when my sister picked him up, he was speaking poorly about another child that goes there. The child is retarded. Connor wasn't making fun of him or anything, but the child is annoying and Connor wasn't showing patience with him. The kid takes his books and reads them when Connor tells him not to. Con is apparently territorial with his beloved books, not ok. But this is understandable in an only child.
I talked with him tonight about a child I went to school with. His name was Joe and he was mainstreamed in school. He was taller than the other children, had an enormous head and the most striking blue eyes. He had a lot of spit in his mouth when he slurred out his conversations.
Joe was a really happy child when we were in Elementary school. He was always smiling and very outgoing. No matter what was going on at the playground, he tried to join in. Most children wouldn't let him; often just ignoring he was even standing there. There were a few of us that would include him when he came around. I remember being ashamed of myself for wishing he wouldn't come around, because I knew I would never ignore him, but hated that the other kids would make fun of the children that did include Joe in their play. I did my best to make sure that Joe didn't know that I felt that way.
Joe went with us to Jr. High. Everyone started to like the opposite sex. Being mentally retarded, Joe would profess his affection to any girl he fancied. The pain on his face when he was laughed at or given a, "Gross!!"  Was heartbreaking. I started staying farther and farther away from Joe because it was too hard for me to watch how he was treated. I would stand up for him when I was around and did my best still to make sure he didn't know how much I didn't want to be around, because I would have to stand up for him. I am disgusted with myself to this day for avoiding him just because it was easier.
I almost never saw him in high school. There were 600 people in my class, and there were some classes that had more people. Joe wasn't in any of my classes of course, and there was no recess to see him. I do not know if he even graduated.
Joe is a grown man now. I know someone that knows him now. I wanted to desperately hear that Joe is happy. That he made it through growing up that is crippling to some of sick or us that are not retarded. He is not. He is miserable. He doesn't smile or laugh and is shy and insecure.
I had to fight back tears while telling this to Connor. Partly because I hate that Joe hurts, I am ashamed for not being more to him when I could, and horrifying fear that Connor could be one of the many people that would damage someone the way that Joe was damaged. All these children I went to school with broke Joe. I was selfish enough to not try to do more damage control because it would have caused me discomfort. it is more than 20 years since I have seen Joe and the shame has me crying still as I type this.
What if I cannot teach Connor enough empathy to make sure he isn't one of those children. I have always thought him to be unusually sweet and empathic. He is an amazing child, but I see him every now and then be like the other children, and it terrifies me.