(Puente's Commentary)
From: "angie" (fgmc@cut.net)
You are a nut case!
(While my primary medical needs through the VA are, in fact, psychiatric, it's in the areas of depression and anxiety that I am treated. I am not psychotic, bipolar or schizophrenic, though they too are all legitimate and treatable medical conditions. Now I figure Angie is calling me a nut case for writing yet another letter to the editor that she thinks is all about her. But I find her use of the term "nut case" to be very telling. It tells me that she has absolutely no sensitivity when it comes to medical conditions that carry a prejudicial stigma. That this woman, who isn't just a receptionist but also a certified nursing assistant, would be allowed to work in the health care industry despite such a calloused and insensitive attitude boggles the mind.)
You need extensive psychotherapy!
(Tell me something I don't know... though I wouldn't go so far as to say "Extensive.")
Perhaps then you could find gainful employment and become a productive member of society, and stop expecting to live off the system.
(I am a disabled citizen. This has been determined by a judge under medical advisement. Among the determining factors for the judge's decision is my lifelong struggle with depression and anxiety which has had a considerable impact on my ability to maintain "gainful employment."
As for being a productive member of society, I don't think that can only be defined by having "a regular job." Angie herself may be "gainfully employed" but what is she doing for society? She sits at her little desk behind her so-called "protective glass barrier" overestimated her own sense of importance and writing insulting e-mails on company time. I suppose the fact that she pays taxes on the wages she earns while sitting at that desk could be interpreted as "being productive" but I make my own contributions to society in ways that I wonder if Angie is even aware of.
As far as I can tell, Angie thinks that I'm just this crazy veteran who spends his time maintaining over-opinionated web sites and writing letters to editors about how "the man done him wrong." Does she have any idea that I spend the bulk of my time managing a non profit organization with a commitment to enriching the lives of the youth in our community? I'm not paid to do this. There is no job description out there for what I do that also makes accommodations for my disability and its treatment. I know, because I looked. But I thank God for giving me a way to do what I do, to contribute to society in a way that is unique and rewarding in ways that I wonder if Angie is even capable of comprehending.
Being a disabled person receiving a government stipend is interpreted as "living off the system" by a lot of people, not just Angie. Even I know plenty of people who "live off the system" and give nothing back. Perhaps they think that being classified by the government as "disabled" gives them license not to put forth any effort. Not just to "get better" but to at least do something. I know what limitations my disability puts on me, but I also know what I CAN do and how I CAN contribute to society and I'm doing so in a way that wasn't possible before. I don't think it can be said that I'm just "living off the system." Nor have I ever "expected" to. I'm trying to do something that benefits the community.
To: (quixote@joepuente.org)
Cc: (BRIANDELLG@HOTMAIL.COM)
Subject:
Date: Wed, 12 Apr 2006 15:03:37 -0600