the shaming has begun

I drink Coca Cola, eat red meat, dairy, wheat. Smoke cigarettes. Drink alcohol. Every time I mention anything I consume, someone is leaping at me shouting the evils of the food I eat, the beverages I drink, the vices I partake of. Shaming me.

I was helping organize a rescue for a dog. Put some people in touch with other people to organize a ride for the dog to a new home. The shaming began. Why wasn’t I helping rescue all dogs? How dare I care about or put my time into one? How dare I care about animals at all people are in jeopardy!

A young woman went missing in San Diego – a friend of a friend’s daughter. I was helping circulate information to get word out to try to help find her. The shaming began. How dare I care about one missing girl? Didn’t I know there are hundreds of missing girls? And damn me for trying to help find a white girl!

France has been attacked. I care. I grieve. I send sympathy. And. The shaming has begun. How dare I care about Paris? Don’t I know people are massacred every day all over the world? I should be ashamed! Ashamed! Damn me for caring about Paris!

Shut. Up. You. Shaming. Fuckers.

If in my day I find one dog a home, help bring one missing girl’s body home to her grieving parents, send one sympathy card to one nation devastated by violent tragedy — and sustain myself with a Diet Coke, a cigarette, a cheese sandwich on wheat bread and a beer while I do it, I have done what I could do in my own small back yard of influence. I will not apologize for it.