I love my friends. I know their faults, but still I love them. But there are limits to loving a friend. There are certain rules, both written and unwritten, where you set boundaries. There are certain ideals where you don't meet eye to eye. You may fight about it, but then you make up afterwards.
A few days ago, in one of those social networks, I stumbled upon a video posted by a friend on her wall. It contained a video of a harelip cleft palate child who was singing. Of course, his speech can not be understood. The person responsible for uploading the video wrote a disclaimer. It said that the video was not meant to harm or mock the child, but merely to showcase his "talent." Bull.Shit. I am known to be feisty and emotional among my friends. I do not deny this. When I saw that video, i was outraged. How dare that person. Shame on him. I don't know why my friend posted this on her wall. I can't read minds. But it was insensitive, tasteless and tacky.
I feel every child who has gone through or is going through the pain of being ridiculed in public because of their speech defect. I was that child too. I remember, way back in gradeschool, I used to go home to the arms of my Lola crying and weeping my 10-year old lungs because my schoolmates and my neighbors tease me "ngo-ngo" and mimic the way i talk. During parties, I get treated like dirt, I get the ugliest gift best suited for the ugly girl. I don't get to join the chorale, because, of course, who would understand "ing-el Ells?" Everything changed when my Mom enrolled me in Speech Power. I was that mousy, shy, scared little girl who had no self-confidence when I got in the program. Two months after, I came out a different person. I was still shy and scared and mousy, but my speech improved a lot. From then on, I spoke to my heart's content, 1000 words in a minute, 5,000,000 words per mile. Haha! :)
So there, I feel you, babies.
And in my own way, I will champion your cause, our cause. I won't stay quiet when we get ridiculed. It doesn't matter if I lose a friend for it, because, maybe she was never a friend in the first place. I will fight them, come hell or high.
