Okay, I need your opinions, and I really want your honest thoughts or opinions. The neighborhood I live in started a blog about a year ago to keep everyone in our community updated on new developments, for people to post questions, comment on things about our neighborhood, etc. The person that started the blog lives here in our development. So today their was a new post just letting us know he gave the blog a new post, and posted a 'funny' picture. Well for some reason the picture really bothered me. I don't want to post the picture here, but want your opinion on this, so if you click
here you can see the photo. If you look closely at the person in the photo it looks like this person may have down syndrome. My first reaction was, 'this really isn't appropriate to post on a community blog,' and obviously having Kaela, I'm a little more sensitive to things like this. I don't know if the picture is poking fun of that person (but we all know how people can be), but I thought it could really offend someone...so I left a comment. This is what I said:
"I'm not usually one to comment on something like this, but I am feeling a bit bothered by the pic. I don't know if the intent was to poke fun or not, but it seems as though the person in the picture may have a disability and being the parent of a child with a disability I think this is a bit insensitive. I just think that this could offend someone, and I really am not sure what the point is? I can understand how the photo itself can be funny, and I'm sure you did not intend to make fun of the person or disability, but I'm not sure that the picture is appropriate for a community blog. I really am not trying to be the annoying neighbor, I am just trying to think of the affect this could have on someone that may read/see this. Sarah
So I was trying to be nice and say this in a nice way. Just my opinion. This is what he wrote back:
Um-it's not poking fun at anybody. It's a picture of a person who is using a couple of trees to prop up a champion stand and that person just happens to be in the middle of it. The point is, the trees just happen to be positioned in the 2nd and 3rd place spots. If this picture is TRULY offensive to anyone else, I'll take it down.
Okay, I really am not usually like this, but this pissed me off even more. I felt like what I had to say didn't mean anything and I felt like I was being treated like I was stupid. Maybe I'm just having one of those days, but it really bothered me. I came home and cried. I said to Matt, if that person in the middle was a little person I would be really mad. It just so happens to be something different. I mean I could be wrong, (it wouldn't be the first or the last time!) but it sure looks like this person has a disability. So anyway- I was really upset. I thought, oh, okay, if two people are offended then it's worth taking down, but not just one person. Plus I was pissed about the way he explained the picture. As though I'm an idiot and I didn't understand the 'joke.' So I wrote this:
"I have enough sense to understand what the joke is, and even GET IT! But my point is that their happens to be a person with a disability in that picture. I guess I'm sensitive to it since my one year old child has a disability. Apparently one person being offended is not enough for you-and apparently you'd rather have this turn into an argument about who thinks what. I just stated my opinion as a person who has to deal with this kind of ignorance every day. I don't find the joke offensive, I said I believe it could offend someone seeing as though it happens to be a person with a disability, obviously that doesn't seem to matter."
So after this he decided to take it off the blog. Maybe I am being overly sensitive, but I just found it to be rude and and I found it to be even more rude when he made that second comment. So I want your opinions. I really do, so tell me the truth :) I know people who have children with down syndrome and I'm sure they would not appreciate seeing that. I don't know, just as this person does not know, if their is a family in our neighborhood that has a child with DS and might not appreciate that picture. UGH. It is 11:33 at night. I sat here thinking about blogging about it so had to get up and get the laptop so I could do it. I just picture Kaela standing in that picture and knowing I would appreciate it if someone stood up for my child in a case like that. Anyway. I'm off to bed.