Anger

You know, at the end of winter, a temperature of 12C is cause to break out sandals and shorts and rejoice at the arrival of warm weather.  At the end of summer, it’s a reason to break out sweaters and socks and start warming up the hot chocolate… although the temperature was allegedly in the 20s we were both very chilly. Jerry had a lovely time out this morning, where he met 3 other dogs his size, and they all had a great party on the sidewalk.  We (the owners) had a fun time untangling their leashes.  He’s less happy this evening because it’s wet, windy and chilly and he doesn’t like getting his feet wet so he’s being a pest and nagging me to make it stop raining.  Don is just laughing at me being tormented by Jerry, but he’s wrapped up like a roti under his blanket, sipping on his hot chocolate.  We had a lazy day today, which was really nice.  

I saw something today that saddened and angered me.  A dear friend of mine reposted one of those dumb “medical” memes that claimed that “Big Pharma” wanted to suppress the information that cancer could be cured if you drank hot water with lemon.  I replied that it was rubbish and they shouldn’t circulate those things, and their cousin replied that I should only call it rubbish if I had scientific evidence to prove that.  I sent her links from the Mayo Clinic and was told that those sites only published lies.  It became clearer to me that while some people circulate that nonsense out of a spirit of caring, others are determined to promote misinformation and will blinker themselves.  You can understand why I’m feeling the way I do.  It angers me — there’s no other word — that people are so willing to harm others by spreading lies.  I’ve been told silly things like, “What’s the harm?  If it’s wrong, then no harm.  And if it’s right, then we’re saving lots of money; doctors are all just trying to keep you on drugs so they make more money.”  

I don’t understand this urge to spread misinformation.  I understand that people want answers to difficult questions, and that they are often unsatisfied with not being in control of their lives.  I accept that there are more questions than answers, and sometimes the answers that we get aren’t what we want to hear.  I’d love to hear that there’s a cure for my condition, and that there was a quick and easy way to have the tumours vanish.  If I could drink a tea that would make me fully healthy, of course I’d take it.  Unfortunately, though, there’s no such magic elixir, and no spell that can cure cancer.  Despite what the charlatans would have you believe, doctors are not trying to suck all your money to keep you on unnecessary drugs.  There’s a lot of information on the Internet that gives tips on how to identify fraudulent messages, so I don’t need to repeat that.  I will, though, just say that if an email or social media post claims to provide arcane information on how to cure diseases, it’s not going to be accurate.  If you’re told that there’s a secret that “the man” wants suppressed, it’s not truthful.  Ditto when you’re being told that they’re offering a “secret formula of the ancients.”   I know that there a a lot of home remedies and treatments that people use that go back for years.  My friends know that I’m not a believer in them, and I will (politely) decline their use.  Some of them will joke with me about using crystals or following fads for “amazing” cures.  I tend to trust my medical team over “that guy from church”  and I really have no trust in random internet memes.  

As I’ve said before, I’m happy to receive emails from everyone.  The exception is those “send this to everyone you know. The secret to health that doctors don’t want you to know” types.  I just trash them, unread.  Every once in a while, my sense of humour departs from me, and I will either reach out to the sender to correct their misinformation or I’ll post on social media all the problems with their claims — like correcting grammatical errors, that’s a futile and endless task.  

I’m asking for an almost impossible thing, I know, but I’ll ask anyway because if you don’t ask you’ll never receive.  My request is that when you receive one of those memes (I say ‘when’ not ‘if’ because it’s inevitable that you’ll get them!) please delete them without sending them onwards.  They are not helpful, and can actually be harmful.  Consider that by sending on one of these memes you’re spreading lies, and I’m absolutely certain that you were taught the difference between the truth and a lie, and why it’s important to be truthful.  Please apply a little logic to what you’re reading/viewing before you send it out.

I’m putting away my soap box again… I seem to be dragging it out often, sorry.  I’m off to catch up on some sleep, because I’m obviously tired.  I wondered why this particular post triggered such a response from me, and I realized that it’s because the person who replied made me realize that my judgement of them was off, and I am disappointed to think that I know people who are unwilling to learn.  Good night!