Hang Ups

Okay… just giving you fair warning.  This is a rant… one of my pet peeves…  get out if you don’t want to watch.

What is it with people and gender hang ups?  I mean really?

This morning I was skimming through emails and I came across a post to a list by a guy who has a chronic illness and he was asking about prayer shawls.  Is it okay for a guy to get one… shawl sounds girly…

I’m coming to terms with this beast that is now a part of my life… part of what defines me… and you know what… I don’t care if something is called a knitted nut sack… if it will fit a need… if it will make my life in any way better… i will have it.  I will use it… I will wear it… I don’t care.

I have never been one for stereotypes.  Never in my whole life been one to follow the gender appropriate track.  Was the first female FFA president in our town.  I can weld well.  I can change a tire and I can change an oil filter (at least on an older model car… haven’t tried lately).  I’ve been in Information Technology for 16 years.

My kids get this look of utter fear when we are at McDonalds and the person behind the register asks someone if they want a girl toy or a boy toy.  They are smart enough to know that that is one question that is likely to set me off.  They have both been told from day one… there are no girl toys, there are no boy toys.  There are toys.

DS has a stuffed animal collection, plays the violin very well, reads everything he can get his hands on and writes poetry.  He had trucks and dolls when he was little little.  He has to deal with the fact that other parents aren’t quite like me… that other kids figure you have to fit a mold and if you don’t there is something wrong with you.  He gets harassed a lot becuase he doesn’t and only he seems to know how to deal with it.

DD is in ROTC and runs track, competes in flexed arm hang and is working on her rifle skills.  She plays soccer, has roller blades and hockey skates.  She owns exactly 2 dresses… gowns for the military ball because she doesn’t want to wear her uniform and that is her ONLY other choice.  Day to day, it is jeans and t-shirts or sweats and always the black converse high tops.  She’s mine.

Now… back to the rant.

If you are dealing with a chronic disease (heck… no matter what you are dealing with… a cold, a hangnail, or just a crappy day at work…) you have enough real stuff to deal with without having to worry about what other people think.  Do whatever it is that makes life easier… do what comforts you… do whatever… It doesn’t matter WHAT other people think… if THEY don’t like it it is their problem not yours.  If YOU don’t like the word connected with the comfort, change the word.  Heck, I would wear something called a nut sack if it helped me do something or feel better or get me through a rough spot.

Life is too short to worry about other people’s crap.  We have enough crap of our own…

there

rant over…