Now, before i begin, i apologise if this is in the wrong forum, i cannot think of the appropriate forum for this to go in.

this is very triggering, so approach with caution if you are offended easily.

i was just sat down at the dinner table with my family, there were 5 of us there and we were all having pleasant conversations. until a few topics came up that hurt me so i had to defend it, they were:

1. my family were saying that people who dont drink alcohol are wierd, so i said "i dont drink, am i wierd?". as you may be able to guess nobody dared reply so the subject moved on...

2. after dinner, whilst we were all still at the table my sisters boyfriend started reading the paper, and there was an article about a self-harmer who cut their arms, int otal she had cut about 2000 marks. my sisters bf sat there and said openly "people who do that are mental". now i think its fair to say that that kind of comment is wrong, i dont mind people having opinions but i strongly disagree with the condemning attitude some people have. so again, because it effected me (i used to self harm years ago that they didnt know about. plus, i know several people here at PC who self harm and i wouldnt ever think of them as mental or anything like that, it doesnt mean anything because you self harm, its an emotional state of mind you are in at the time). so i sat there and said "i self-harmed in the past, am i mental?". again, the subject rapidly moved on. i could of carried that debate on and argued that its not being "mental" at all. but they know that if someone upsets or offends me, they will know about it. i seem to have this gift of stopping an arguement, debate, or even a conversation quite quickly and fairly too. flase opinions arent valid in my eyes, and i detest people who look down on others for being slightly different. i actually find it quite offensive, mainly because i have been there myself and i know so many fantastic people here who are also in this situation, and i think people here are fantastic, and i am honoured i know people here.

and finally, 3. my sisters bf (again, he started it) was saying about this handicapped person he works with, and they were taking the mik so much out of him, and it was disgusting to listen to. i didnt join in with this conversation, i just sat there eating my dinner and stayed quiet, i couldnt believe the conversations that had taken place today, it was sickening to be honest. i couldnt listen to that, its wrong to condemn people for having a handicap, so all i said was "shut up, thats not fair!", and the conversation did move on.

i am outraged at the type of people i am surrounded by in my life, they have such sick attitudes on fellow humans, and i felt so offended today at that dinner table. people can be so rude about others just because they are "different" than themselves. i am glad people are different, and i am glad people have more to their characters than my family do.

what do you do when confronted with a situation such as this? it was downright prejudice and it was wrong to sit there and listen to it without sticking up for them. im just shocked to think that these people are my family, who share the same genes as me. i am just so thankful i am so different.

let me know your opinions on this and i am very sorry if this was in any way triggering for you. but i had to talk about it here, it offends me too much to sit there and listen to it and to stay quiet. it just isnt me!

simon