by bellybabe » 23 Nov 2004, 22:52
I find this whole thread slightly bizarre, but kind of enjoyable too. And I am of course taking the whole thing completely seriously.
However, if I were to take this deadly seriously, I would still find it rather odd. Life for recovering addicts is not easy...and it's of course possible that recovering addicts might buy the calendar. It is also possible that they will be offended, because of how something they perceive to be one particular thing in a photo pertains to their own experience. But then...I have a problem with drugs. Um...not quite how it sounded. I find conversations about drugs difficult to hear or take part in, and get very stressed by it; being around people using recreational drugs other than alcohol is extremely hard for me, for reasons to do with a very specific set of personal circumstances. Nonetheless, I have to see it, hear it, listen to people joke about it, all the time. Nobody allows for the context of my experience because they don't know what it is. I don't therefore expect them to...and it happens a lot on this forum. I have to agree with the sentiment that we live in the real world (well, not here, we don't, but normally!) and not in splendid isolation, where we can be protected from anything difficult.
And after all, there might be many people out there with a methadone script who haven't in fact lost their sense of humour. That photo might actually represent exactly how they feel about the prescription. It's arrogant to assume we know how recovering/recovered addicts will respond to something, without ever asking them.
And a pint of snakebite, which it might also represent, could easily turn someone into Mr...oh crap, I can never remember which way round it is!