Tuesday, September 18, 2012

"The Voice" Thinks You're a Retard

Down in my old hometown of Gainesville, Florida, one of two men who robbed a Domino's Pizza store claimed that he was off his medication and that "a voice" told him to take the money from Domino's to buy crack cocaine.

Well, I guess he's had encounters with the criminal justice system before, if he's working on his insanity plea before he's even consulted his attorney.

2 comments:

Hannah said...

Why use a word like retard? As the parent of a child with special needs I just never got using retard as a throw away line. I'm not the p.c. police. I believe in your right to use any slur you want, just hoping that next time you'll consider losing one that marginalizes vulnerable people.

Bob said...

@Hannah: Thanks for your comment. I thought a bit about what word to put in the title; "dumbass" was the first thing I thought of, but I don't like to use profanity over-much in my blog. I could have used idiot, moron, cretin or imbecile instead, but you know what? Those words all describe formal degrees of mental retardation, too.

I think you're going to have to permit me the occasional use of retard. I don't aim it at Downs Syndrome individuals publicly, I was raised with a few manners, and insulting people to their faces, or even snickering at them as they walk by, is something I don't indulge in.

I'm from the last generation that grew up using the word routinely; it's falling into disuse now to describe DS individuals, and is usually applied to non-DS individuals who display thoughtless behavior, as in this current case.

Most you'll get from me is a promise that I'll think about it a bit more in future. If I see you commenting regularly I probably won't be inclined to use it often. Since this was your first comment here I'm guessing you might have just seen it in passing, and are not a regular reader. If you are and I see you continue to comment, I'll try to be on best behavior knowing you're reading.