Why I allow idiocy through

I have decided to take a few minutes to explain why I allow idiocy through. 

"Oregonfriend" has been a reader and commenter (criticizer) for a couple of years now.  She, and others like her, comment to try to get me riled up through mean comments and try to put me on the defensive. 

What needs defending?

In her mind, anything outside of suburban America is a recipe for disaster.  She, and her buddies, have made comments that are outright lies, made false accusations, and try to piece together half sentences to justify their meanness.

Some comments have included things like me lying about my husband being diabetic.  (Reading comprehension is lost on these people.)  Accusing me of lying about Husband being bit five times in a few days by a brown recluse spider last year. 

Then there's the idiocy where they put in their own brand of understanding.  Raw vegetable plate means my children only get celery sticks.  Honey for wound treatment (a valid medical treatment) means I am going to the grocery store instead of using raw honey direct from the bee farmer.  (FYI, raw honey does work and is excellent for moist wound healing.  Another FYI, some hospitals use maggots and leeches on their patients.  I do not.  I don't see myself handling leeches and any maggots I might happen to come across on a very rare occasion is chicken food.)

Oregonfriend makes the comment quite often that she knows what she is talking about.  She knows all about domestic violence and how the system is severely broken, yet waves an accusing finger at me for daring to pick up the shattered pieces of my life and make the decision to live.  She implies that I did nothing to try to fight for my other two children stating that she would have worked three jobs if it were her.  (I was working four at one point and ended up in the ER because I was literally killing myself working myself to death.)  She would have done "anything."  I did do "anything."  It was when I became a stripper out of desperation for money for attorney fees.  (One of the four jobs.)

Oregonfriend claims that my pioneer lifestyle is going to get one of us killed.  I will not say that this is untrue.  Anymore than I will say crossing the street is going to get someone killed.  People die crossing the street.  People die driving down the road.  (As I have witnessed being called on scene.)  People die in boating accidents. 

Oregonfriend claims that I am pretending to be an EMT.  I am NOT an EMT.  I covered this in the last blog entry.

Oregonfriend claims that how we live is dangerous and my children will grow up not being able to function in society.  They will grow up knowing how to feed themselves and their families.  They will grow up knowing the value of hard work.  They will grow up with an understanding that honesty, integrity, hard work, and self discipline are valuable.  All of these traits will carry them farther in life than anything else we can give them.  What they learn here growing up will carry over into whatever aspect of society they want to live in. 

So why do I allow for her comments?  Because sometimes stupidity just needs to be pointed out and laughed at.  Because she is a good reminder to me that there are mean people in this world whose sole purpose in life is to try to make others hurt.  Because in a way she reminds me of my mother in law.

My mother in law was not happy unless she was complaining about something or criticizing someone.  My mother in law and I butted heads a lot.  But I loved her dearly.  I learned to ignore the criticism and listened to what she was saying underneath.  "Pay attention to me."  It was how she expressed the fact that she needed focus and attention so she would feel loved.

So, I allow "Oregonfriend's" comments through to tell her that yes, we will pay extra attention to you today so you can feel some love.