Hi yet again, James!  This is the last installment in the current series:

JB>  Humour is a tool that I hope/I'm sure everyone here
JB>  has utilized to deal with the muck that surrounds us,
JB>  but unless the muck is identical, the audience might
JB>  not appreciate the speakers sense of humour about it.


          Yes, I think a sense of humour is a very valuable asset even if
those around you find it incomprehensible.  Your feeling of being at a loss
for words when somebody wishes you a "speedy recovery" also
reminds me of another.  Years ago I read an account by the father of a
young child with Down's syndrome.  One day a neighbour dropped by &
exclaimed "You let him walk on the chesterfield??" (We know
people like that.  I reckon many others in this echo probably do too.) The
father could have patiently informed her that the PT had advised the family
to encourage the child to walk on various surfaces to improve his balance
etc., and that he attached a higher priority to his son's needs than to the
condition of the chesterfield... but this woman doesn't sound like the type
of person who would be able to grasp the concept.  He could have told her
to MYOB, but he may have wanted to maintain an approximation of peaceful
coexistence with her.  His response was "Thank God he can walk!" 
IMHO he put it in a nutshell there.  ;-)



[re Gacy]
AH>  The serial killer?  JFTR, I had to google his
AH>  name....  :-)

JB>  You didn't *have* to, JFTR. 


          Oops.  Good point!  I chose to use my preferred learning style. 
Even if somebody holds a gun to one's head, one has choices... [grin].



AH>  And you wonder how he got that way... I can relate.

JB>  "Ow... I didn't know *that* crack was in the pavement.
JB>  How might we fill it, so it never opens up again?"


          I once read about a guy in the States who asked for the death
penalty because his "illness" had no "cure".  He was a
violent rapist who seemed unable to control his behaviour despite his
remorse.  As a parent I'm tempted to throw the book at such people... I
want them to be where they can't do the same thing ever again... OTOH as an
individual who often falls between the cracks I wonder if we as a society
have failed to meet their needs.  Some people who are abused the way Gacy
was resolve that the cycle of abuse will end with them & manage to turn
their lives around... others don't.  We still have a lot to learn....  :-(




--- timEd/386 1.10.y2k+