Monday, November 21, 2011

You're Not In Disneyland, So Beware the Mickeys

Today on Facebook a friend of mine posted this:
I wasn't going to share this information but,in concern for all my female friends out there,please,REMEMBER..to NEVER drink a drink you didnt get from the bartender yourself or a trusted friend to go up and grab it for you.I had 3 shots of tequila on Saturday night...Luckily I had a good friend to take me home,when I got out of the car I was fine-and then,blackness-I cant imagine if I had gone out to smoke like Id wanted,alone.please girls,be mindful of who is around you and who is watching..and who so wants to buy you that "drink"I called ER today ..and I do have all the symptoms of the drug.

She states that she feels incredibly traumatized because even though she came to no real harm (aside from ingesting a chemical substance that made her black out) she's haunted by the fact that someone intended her real harm.

I am posting this as a warning to women. This is what evil people do. They slip mickeys, roofies, or anything else you want to call them into a woman's drink when she's not looking. The intent is to make the woman black out or become so disoriented that she is in no condition to protect herself, say no, cry for help, or fight back while being raped.

I had something similar happen to me about nine years ago. I was in a bar, dancing with my friends. I had set my bottle of beer on a table while I danced. I happened to glance over from the dance floor and saw a man sprinkle something or drop something into my beer. I knew immediately what had happened.

Outraged, I confronted the man. He insisted it was a joke and that he had used poor judgment in his choice of jokes. I demanded to know why he would ever think that such a thing was funny. He insisted it was a bad joke and begged me to forgive him. He offered to buy me a new beer.

I countered his offer: I demanded that he satisfy my paranoia and drink the allegedly doctored beer himself. He refused.

'Nuff said.

About five years ago I went to a party with some friends. One of my friends, my best friend, was the designated driver. While the rest of us drank hard she sipped coca colas all night long. Eventually I went home (with another designated driver). The next day I received a hysterical phone call from my best friend. She said that the previous evening, after I left, she was having one more coke before she left the party and the men she was supposed to transport to their homes slipped something into her soda. She didn't know it. She drank the soda. She blacked out. She has vague memories of a handful of men taking turns sexually assaulting her.  She woke up in a ditch on the side of the road.

These were people for whom she had, as a good samaritan, agreed to provide safe transportation.

I am not going to waste words discussing the aftermath. That is neither here nor there. The point is, if you are out in public, and you are having something to drink (alcoholic or not), protect it. Guard it. Don't ever assume you're safe. Because chances are, you're not.

Friday, November 18, 2011

Happy Holidays Whether You Like It Or Not

Another Christmas season is looming around the corner. Thanksgiving hasn't even hit my doorstep and I've already gotten my first Facebook message telling me that accepting anything less than "Merry Christmas" is sacrilegious and anti-American. It is the first war-cry of the season of the Anti- "Happy Holidays" Hypochristians.

Seriously, why are people allowing themselves to get their panties in a bunch over "Happy Holidays"? The term is a positive good-will wish. It is used by people who have thoughtfulness and courtesy for all world religions. It does not exclude people from a wish of good will due to their religion or lack of a specific religion. In fact it is inclusive, giving full acknowledgment to any and all people.

Which leads me to two points:

1. Why would you want to exclude good people from a wish for happiness simply because they do not share your religious views?

2. How does such an exclusion fit within the parameters of your alleged Christianity? Jesus espoused inclusiveness, no matter a person's background (ethnicity, career, history, religion, family, etc). No one was denied his love, even those who rejected his philosophy.

So stop slamming the Happy in the Holidays just because you have a paranoid delusion that the sentiment is part of some insidious war against Christianity. It's not. It's simply an open-minded wish that acknowledges and respects all people of all (and sometimes no) religious faiths.

Now stop your whining and pull that wedgie out of your butt, it looks painful.

Oh, and here's another blogger who concurs, perhaps more succinctly, with me. His argument is irrefutable: