"Retard, Tard, you're retarded, that's retarded..." you get the point

If you've ever called someone a RETARD, a TARD or otherwise used this word in a derogatory manner to imply someone is stupid, acts stupid, is a bad leader, is a bad teacher, is unpopular at school or not one of your "friends", is a bad anything please raise your hand. Wow, no one? Really? Because I hear it all the time, and it is probably my biggest pet peave. How about this? Let's pretend you have, oh I don't know..., a missing foot, and so someone has decided that people with missing feet must be invaluable enough to call other people a name associated with that, i.e. "gimp". So you go through your life and you hear other people when they want to express that someone is an idiot they call them a "gimp," throw it around left and right. Does this imply that because someone is a "gimp" that they are invaluable to the world and because they have used this word in a different context, to INSULT other people who in fact do not actually have a missing foot, that you are now so devalued that you have become a playground tease word, a teenager's catch-word, an adult's ultimate insult reserved for only the most stupid or ridiculous people or politicians (not always being lumped in the 'people' category). You see, that's how I hear the word RETARD. Do I think we should pick apart every word for political correctness? Nope. Do I know people mostly don't mean anything derogarory directly to mentally handicapped people? Yep. Do I know that when a family who has someone they love dearly with a mental handicap hears or sees that word used as an insult thrown at someone else whether in print, out loud, joking or being mean, it feels like a stab in the heart every time? That I definitely know.

My daughter and others with mental handicaps, yes mental retardation, are some of the best people on earth that I know. So guess what? Call me a RETARD. It's the highest compliment. But when you are throwing around words, think about them please.

I promise most of my posts will be funny, uplifting, hopefully inspiring, but some things have to be said.