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The Perfectly Wrong Thing
Without a doubt, the absolute worst part about being a bridgetender is the jumpers. When I see someone attempting suicide, it leaves me feeling sick at heart. I truly believe that life is precious, and that no matter how awful it can sometimes be, the pendulum is bound to swing back the other way sooner…
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Empathy vs. Boundaries
The other day, in advance of what was expected to be a catastrophic storm, I saw a woman standing on the sidewalk on the south end of my bridge. She was moaning quietly to herself, and rocking back and forth. I was coming back from doing some maintenance nearby, and was due to walk right…
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It Takes All Kinds
I used to work with someone whose anxiety came out in the form of OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder). On really bad nights, she’d actually walk up to the bridge on the roadway, on the dotted yellow line, because to her way of thinking, encountering a 4,000 pound vehicle was vastly preferable to walking on the…
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Where Does Charity Begin?
The other day I was on my way to volunteer to serve lunch at a soup kitchen with some friends. I’ve done this before, and found it to be a gratifying experience. I was really looking forward to doing it again. But while waiting for my friends, a homeless woman came by, looked at me,…
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On Mass Shootings
Once again we’ve suffered a tragedy in a school in which a very disturbed guy decided to take a lot of people with him to wherever one goes after this life. It’s upsetting. It also makes me angry. Naturally, the topic of gun control is on everyone’s mind, and everyone is resigned to the fact…
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Washington’s Mental State
Since I bragged about Washington yesterday, it seems only fair that I air out a little of its dirty laundry today. One of the most shocking and unexpected things I’ve discovered about this state is the unbelievably high number of mentally disturbed people wandering the streets. On an average commute to work, I will see…
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Gay Conversion Therapy? Seriously?
Just when you thought the Republicans couldn’t get any further out of touch with reality, the Texas GOP is now endorsing Reparative Therapy. This therapy, which some people call “Praying the Gay Away,” purports to be able to get rid of homosexual tendencies. Oh, where to begin. First of all, any therapy that wants you…
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“Toughen Up”
On the heels of my blog entry “Having Your Heart Broken by a Career Choice” I got a lot of comments from people in the Dental Lab industry, many of which were very constructive and informative and have greatly influenced my concept of what I need to do as I move forward. But just as…
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Mental Illness and the Internet
Sometimes I really think that cyberspace is not the healthiest place to be. Every once in a while I encounter someone who is clearly in need of help, and since I’m not a mental health professional I am definitely not the go-to girl in situations of this nature. Generally all I can do is the…
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What I’d Love to Say to Tom Cruise
Ah, Tom Cruise. Known for your acting, of course, but also the poster child for Scientology and crazy, couch-jumping hyper-romanticism. I’ve followed your career closely over the years. We had a moment, you and I. I happened to be in Las Vegas when you were filming Rain Man with Dustin Hoffman. To be honest, I…