from: Mary Y.
to: cj@thiscrazytrain.com
date: Tue, Apr 24, 2012 at 1:05 PM
subject: legs
Hi Cj
Typically I find your blog funny but I take offence to what you said today in your text message to the woman looking for Union Station.
My 7 year old son was born with severe birth defects and as a result he can't walk and is in a wheelchair so even though he has legs, he can't use them and will rely on me and his dad for support for the rest of his life.
What I'm saying is that as parents there are no limits to what we will do forour children and maybe this mom already works downtown. Who knows?
I guess what I'm saying is you should be careful how you talk to people because for all you know that woman's daughter could have been a parapelgic and it's probably too instense to go downtown.
Mary Y
Mary,
ReplyDeleteAsking someone if they have legs is a shorthand (somewhat sarcastic) way of asking whether they have sufficient ambulatory powers to perform the task by themself. CJ obviously couldn't understand why the parent was picking up the phone of a 20-year old daughter. Would you have been over-upset if you'd been in this woman's position?
Why do people automatically go to the most extreme scenario? I guess CJ could just let the poor soul off easy and say she doesn't work for GO transit and that they have the wrong number right away. But then what about her readers with terminal cancer? They would miss out on another bit of comic entertainment in their tragically shortened lives.
ReplyDeleteWhat I'm saying is... it's all in good fun. I guess what I'm saying is... haven't you figured me out by now? Ain't a mean bone in this body.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of Denise, she's still with us but her bad days out number her good days.
ReplyDeleteWow. Sensitive much?
ReplyDeleteMary, remember the world is too PC. You only feel offended because the truth hit too close to home.
I am sorry you are in a tough situation, but it is a situation that is in the minority. CJ's questions are perfectly legitimate considering the situation.
It's time to start getting offended with people who get offended.
ReplyDeleteI'm with James, why the extreme? I don't believe for a second that C.J. would go out of her way to be nasty. That said, I have 2 healthy children but I can understand how you would be protective of your son.
ReplyDeleteCJ, can you fix my spelling? Had I known you were going to publish my email, I would have spell-checked it.
ReplyDeleteI think most of you are missing my point or maybe I just didn't get the joke.
Mary,
ReplyDeleteI can't take this stuff personally and I don't.
I chose to publish your email because I found it amusing that you just couldn't be direct with me.
If I were to spend so much time worrying about offending people, nothing would ever get posted and this site would cease to exist.
You put a lot of effort in trying NOT to offend me when you wrote your email so as to not hurt my feelings when you pointed out what I said bothered you.
I even poked fun at that!
If you think I'm being an ass, just say that!
So if I'm getting this right, when my son is too lazy to get off the couch and wants me to get something for him I can longer ask him what's wrong with his legs??? Maybe it's time to stop the world so I can get off.
ReplyDeleteIf the daughter was a paraplegic, it apparently wasn't too intense to take the train the morning before and lose her iphone...just sayin'
ReplyDeleteMary, you could be right. Or, more likely, this is just one more adult kid who thinks that his/her parents were put on this earth to do things for them, and this is just one more parent who feeds into this age of entitlement and coddles their children.
ReplyDeleteI fear for the world when this generation starts working. We are all doomed.
@April
ReplyDeleteMe too.
Thank you April, I was already preparing my comments until I got to your post. This is point Mary, that CJ is commenting on.
ReplyDeleteAnd chuckle worthy, it was!