Bridget Brown

We seem to reach Peak Asshole around Halloween.

Imprecise, hurtful language is a problem, because it legitimizes other people’s use of the c-word. This perpetuates the stigma around mental illness, because if a mall full of people, or a rampaging toddler is “crazy”, that re-enforces the image that mental illness isn’t real disability. It says “crazy” just equals chaos, impulsiveness, or the inability to get your life together.

For the first time in 15 years, I didn’t have to ask for permission to get a haircut, so I chopped it all off. Oh, and I bleached it — from very dark to bright white. This was against the advice of everyone I had asked, all of whom told me to start with something less drastic to make sure I didn’t freak out.

This cautionary caveat was almost always immediately followed by, “What is your husband going to think?”

Liberté Chan, a weather anchor at KTLA in Los Angeles, was handed a sweater by her male co-anchor and told to cover up on-air because of these types of viewer emails. People watching her weather report determined that her dress, which showed her arms, was too revealing. This is ironic, because so many of us who have worked in news have felt a trend toward wearing less and less clothing.

We had to walk through the casino. To a 2-year-old, hell is a room full of buttons you aren’t allowed to push. To the parent of a 2-year-old, hell is a room full of buttons your 2-year-old isn’t allowed to push, plus cigarette smoke.

What would I say to the police if I was to report it? This idiot choked me and mashed his teeth against mine and I know what was on his mind, but we were the only two people around so, uh, you’ll have to take my word for it?

Whether it’s during a job interview or standing up for yourself with a salesperson, if you already feel awkward in everything you do, you might as well go for the things you want and embrace the collateral awkwardness. It would be there anyway.