Why Would Anyone Want To Consume It!?

“An Open Letter to Non-Vaxxers: Tonight, while enjoying a nice dinner, I got a call from the director of my son’s preschool. She was calling to tell me that they had made the decision to put my son in a different class because two children in the class he was supposed to be in have “opted out” of their vaccines. This may not sound like a big thing. He is still in the Tuesday-Thursday class, and since he doesn’t start school until next Tuesday, it’s not like he has to get readjusted to a whole new class. No harm, no foul. Actually, this is a big deal–a very big deal. You see, my son is immunocompromised. He has cancer. He was fully vaccinated and supporting the whole “herd immunity” thing before his cancer diagnosis, but that darn chemo wiped out his immunity to the communicable diseases against which he had already been vaccinated. So, parents who choose to not vaccinate because you feel it’s the “right choice for your family”, I would like to thank you. Thank you for adding yet another worry to my plate and my husband’s plate. You see, we already worry about a lot–it’s an unfortunate part of your child having cancer–you worry every night. On top of worrying about things like relapse, organ toxicity brought on by chemo, debilitating late effects of chemo, secondary cancers brought on by chemo, the mental effects of having more than three years of painful treatment, we now get to worry about, of all things, measles. And mumps. And whooping cough. And chicken pox. Let me explain something about having a child with cancer to you: everything is robbed from your child in some form or another. Friends, Halloween, Christmas, play dates, school. It’s all taken away at some point or another and in some form or another because we have to protect our children from germs, because if they catch the wrong germs during the worst part of treatment, they can die. My son was isolated from everyone except immediate family for an entire year. For parents whose children are going through chemo, the decision to send them to school is a momentous one. It requires a leap of faith and trust in the surrounding community, in your child’s teachers and administrators, and in the families sending their children to school. It requires herd immunity. Now, even though my son is now in a different class than your unvaccinated children, I get to worry about him using the communal bathroom, the playground, and even walking around the halls with them. If there is an outbreak of measles in, say, Austin this winter, I won’t know if you have relatives in Austin and went to go see those relatives for Uncle Bobby’s birthday. I won’t know if your child was exposed to measles at the Austin Chuck-E-Cheese and then showed up at school on Tuesday. Oh, I’m sure you’ll do your due diligence and call the school to inform everyone that your child has come down with a case of the measles once it appears, but, the damage is done–the exposure to my immunocompromised child has already happened. It’s too late. Your choice just earned him a ticket to the hospital. Your choice just earned him a lot of shots and more toxic drugs in the desperate effort to stave off whatever disease your unvaccinated child passed to him. If, God forbid, he does come down with that disease, your choice just earned him a trip to the Pediatric ICU for a while–days, maybe weeks. Your choice may cost us our son. Who knows–it depends on how his already stressed body handles everything. People like to say that in choosing to not vaccinate, they are making the “best choice for their family”, and that, after all, their children are the ones at risk, not other people’s children. No, sorry, you’re wrong. Choosing to home school is a choice that is made in the best interest of a family–it impacts nobody but your family. Choosing to eat all organic and locally grown food is a choice that impacts nobody but your family. For that matter, choosing to eat nothing but fast food and frozen meals is a choice that impacts nobody but your family. Choosing to not vaccinate impacts my family and my immunocompromised son. It impacts the teacher who is pregnant and teaching your non-vaccinated child. It impacts the man going through chemo who happened to be behind you in the grocery store when your unvaccinated child sneezed. It impacts the mom next to you at the pick up line at school who is on immunosuppressive drugs for her rheumatoid arthritis and who is bending down to hug her child just as your unvaccinated child coughs. Your “choice” has repercussions for your community. Part of the cost of living in a first world country is that you have to do things that support the community in which you live. You pay taxes to pay for the police that respond to your 911 calls, to pay for the teachers who teach your children, and to pay for roads to be plowed and paved. You obey traffic laws to ensure an orderly flow of traffic. You don’t shout “fire” in a crowded theater because to do so would cause pandemonium and chaos. Sometimes, to live in a place with the privileges we enjoy here in America, you suck it up and do things you don’t want to do because it’s for the communal good. If everyone chose otherwise, we would not be a first world country. We would be a country without laws, roads, and schools. We would be a country overrun with disease. Your responsibility to your community is to vaccinate your child. The number of people who actually, literally, physically can’t have vaccines is extraordinarily small. The number of people who choose to not vaccinate is not–it’s growing. These people cite a vague unease about the number of vaccines a child gets or statistics they learned from Internet memes on autism. They confess conspiracy theories about Big Pharma and how it’s all a ploy to get doctors and pharmacists rich. They share anecdotes of a college friend’s neighbor’s son who got so sick from his vaccine he was hospitalized. They say their child got incredibly sick from the one round of vaccines he or she got at his 2 month visit, and they said they’re not vaccinating anymore. Guess what–if your child is sitting here today, talking, walking, eating, laughing, playing, and learning, he or she wasn’t that ill from the vaccine. He or she got a fever and reacted to the vaccine–it doesn’t mean they had an “adverse” reaction. I am horrified, non-vaxxers, that you are so quick to forget the lessons of history. You’re spoiled and selfish because you have never seen the horrors of a society in which vaccines are not available. Perhaps you should talk to my mother about her neighbor growing up–the one who contracted German measles while pregnant with her third child. That third child was born deaf and with brain damage, thanks to his mother catching that communicable–and now preventable–disease while pregnant. Perhaps you should talk to anyone over the age of 60 about what it was like when polio was around–how nobody was allowed to go swimming or use public drinking fountains for fear of catching that dreaded–and now preventable–disease. Perhaps you should talk to the parents of a child with cancer whose daughter spent a month in the Pediatric ICU during treatment because she caught chicken pox–a preventable disease–from an unvaccinated classmate. Perhaps you should take a trip to a third world country and explain to them why they should not be lining up in droves to get their children vaccinated by the Red Cross or other relief organizations. Perhaps, better yet, you should keep your children out of school.”

— Alex Pomadoni via Imgur (via whatthesimonsays)

You would be surprised with how many people in your life could be going through depression at this very moment.  People hide it like a paper bag over their heads out of fear of being judged, made fun of, seen as weak, or just not taken seriously.  Depression should not be taken lightly, it holds us down from our purpose and potential in life.  Those who tell you that it doesn’t exist have never experienced depression in their life, therefore not understanding the symptoms and how it’s something that cannot be fixed in a day!  So if you think you are depressed or if you think you know someone else who is, please talk to a friend, a family member, or anyone else in your life that you trust - never overlook the possibility of seeing a doctor for more professional help!!  Your feelings are real, your feelings are shared upon millions.  Don’t hide it, talk to someone about it.  With the right help, you can rediscover your confidence and begin life anew with our undying love and support! We are right here!!

(Page 2/?)

[<< Previous | Next >>]

((✨Updates Wednesdays✨))

what is the january mood?

my dream is to lie in a big bed under a big quilt in a little old stone cottage and it’s sunny out and i can hear the sounds of bird’s singing and feel okay in a big way

If you or a loved one is a lesbian who settled for reading copious amounts of mlm fanfiction in middle school because there are a total of 3 well-written wlw fanfics and mlm fanfic was the only gay media available to you at a young age, you may be eligible for financial compensation!

So I found a site that does a subscription box for your period- it sends you basics like hygiene products, pain medication as well as snacks and pampering stuff to make you feel good, 

but the best thing is they have a specialty boxes, like vegan or kosher only snacks but also 

they specifically offer boxes for menstruating guys and nb folks. 

which is pretty darn cool.

it’s called bonjourjolie and I think it’s 1000% awesome tbh 

an extensive and thorough list of lgbt+ artists to support instead of buying corporation pride gear

so @beautysnake made a very good post about promoting lgbt+ people that are selling pride gear this year and the notes are a wealth of resources and ive taken it upon myself to provide a detailed, well documented masterpost of things made by and for the lgbt+ community.

i had three criteria while making this and i ask that you follow these outlines as well if you add to this post:

the artist is NOT sketchy/creepy (fetishization, “fujoshi”, and things similar to these things being available on the artists story automatically disqualifies them)

if multiple pride flags are being sold, there MUST be a lesbian flag included. not sapphic, not wlw, but LESBIAN. preferably community, but the original works too

this is the big one, and if you contribute to this list i BEG you to pay attention. lgbt+ people of color deserve to not only be represented and celebrated in our community, but to have their content equally promoted. merch that is made by poc/includes the philadelphia flag will be bolded.

now let’s begin! if ive missed anything, made a mistake, a link doesnt work, or someone nasty passed through the filter, shoot me a message and ill fix it!

lgbt poc pride patch by SunnySellsUSA - $9

pride flag stickers by vainwin - $3 

holo pride knife stickers from lieswithin - $3

PRIDE KNIVES PRIDE KNIVES PRIDE KNIVES INCLUDES LIKE EIGHT DIFFERENT FLAGS

iron on pride stickers by CMGsCreativeStuf - $5

there’s a sale right now! i think the design is really nice!

spoopy queer art by grrrlspells - $2-20

PROBABLY MY FAVORITE I REALLY REALLY LIKE IT THERES PINS, STICKERS, PRINTS, A LITTLE BIT OF EVERYTHING! I WANT THE QUEER VAMPIRE PIN! WE LOVE GOTH GAYS!!!

lets get this juice by rexio - $16-20

super cute juiceboxes AND space lgbt designs!! 

subtle pride pins by thepinprick - $8-16

pride accessories specifically designed to be subtle but still very fashionable and full of self love! one of the few places ive seen selling pride lapels, lace locks, and cufflinks! i really really like that? i gotta show up to a wedding w/ trans cufflinks pls.

lgbt armory by foxlight studios - $3-15

a well known series of pride accessories that deserves a spot on this list! stickers, embroidered patches, and enamel pins all available here! im partial to the trident trans pin myself but i wanna buy the sword lesbian pin for my friends :3c

pride by ambiguousnothin - $16-32

cute, cartoony designs for tshirts and hoodies of snakes, slushies, and birds that say FUCK OFF! 

pride kitties and others by catmintstudios - $3-12

stickers and pins of super adorable cats and dogs wearing pride flags! and lil acrylic keychains of gay birds ;o;

pokemon pride stickers by chunkytomato - $5

handmade personalized lgbtq jewelry by prideasylum - $14-18

the level of options and customization for these are INSANE theres SO MANY THINGS TO CHOOSE FROM and you can get your name on the necklaces! there are pronoun bracelets too! all on sale for pride month!

proud & perfect enamel pins by kerrincunningham - $15

lgbtq+ mythological pride stickers by kairyudee

ANOTHER ONE OF MY FAVORITES!!!!!!!!!!! 18 DIFFERENT CREATURES!!! ALL GORGEOUS

pride swords by frostyfallon - $3-30

PRIDE SWORDS PRIDE SWORDS PRIDE SWORDS NO COPS AT PRIDE JUST OUR SWORD SHIRTS

pins by queencheetahdesigns - $7-9

all pride items are on sale this month! i need to show yall The Moth.

pride cone enamel pin by thegeekstudio - $9

absolutely gorgeous pins on my god

ALSO PKOJIUHGYTY GAYMER PIN.

I LOVE IT GOD I WISH I WAS ONE OF THOSE 5 PEOPLE OKKIOJUHYG

AND THATS ALL I HAVE FOR NOW! I SPENT A LONG TIME PUTTING THIS TOGETHER SO PLEASE SHARE, CONTRIBUTE, AND SUPPORT THE PEOPLE ON THIS LIST! HAPPY PRIDE!!!!!!!

When you die, your atoms are reborn into something new, meaning that we’re all made of bodies of the past

What Not To Wear: oh, you work outdoors and like to wear shorts and boots and flannel? Gross. You must wear Fashion now. Here’s a three-piece suit and some designer shoes.

Queer Eye: oh, you work outdoors and like to wear shorts and boots and flannel? You know, if you just try a different cut of jeans and get some clean new boots you can still look like a professional in your shorts and hiking shirts. Also let me recommend some breathable fabrics so you don’t stink as much when you get sweaty.