Honorable Mention For the Dumbass Award of 2011

“We are all born ignorant, but one must work hard to remain stupid.”~ Benjamin Franklin 

 

Even thinking about making this a blog post lowers my IQ points at a sharp rate.

 

Kim Kardashian filed for divorce from husband and NBA player, Kris Humphries today after only 72 days of marriage.

 

When I had first seen this, I thought it had said “72 hours”, and I thought “That’s gotta be a mistake.” Even though we know how celebrities do their nupitals. But no, this one lasted over 10 weeks.

 

Didn’t it just seem like last week we were bombarded by stupid things on television, such as the “Kardashian Kountdown” and other pre-wedding activities? I couldn’t wait for them to just get it done and over with. But I figured one of them would file for divorce in less than a week. And it really wasn’t a surprise that it would be Kim Kardashian.

 

Why in the world is this waste of space famous?

 

Why? Why? Why??

 

I had thought that the building blocks to her celebrity status had something to do with her family. Her father, was one of the attorneys in the O.J. Simpson murder trial in 1995, which of course was widely publicized. But I just recently found out that Kim’s parents actually divorced long before that.

 

Then I found that the mother was married to Olympic champion, Bruce Jenner. So I still thought that it had something to do with the Kardashian’s rise to fame.

 

No, not really.

 

The name of Kardashian never really became popular until Kim Kardashian was seen with socialite and equally deplorable, Paris Hilton- Queen of the crotch shots from exiting vehicles. Totally reminds me of a YouTube video I watched where it was said, “Flashing is bad”- or something like that. I digress.

 

 Apparently though, Paris Hilton and Kim Kardashian were best of friends at one point. Some report that Kim Kardashian was a stylist for Paris Hilton. But whatever the case may be how they crossed paths, they were on the scene, together. And because Paris Hilton was annoying millions of people by being in everyone’s face, Kim Kardashian became equally annoying and even more in your face.

 

But then something struck me as odd. I don’t know if it can be proven, but I read that Paris Hilton began to actually hate Kim Kardashian, and she broke all ties with Kim.

 

Is the kettle black yet, Mr. Pot??

 

The next thing we know, there’s one greasy sex video tape that was “leaked” involving Kim Kardashian. I seriously doubt that. Hollywood sex tapes are a dime a dozen, and so the news of Kim Kardashian having one was of no big surprise, to be honest.

 

HOLLYWOOD SEX TAPES ARE NOT LEAKED, PEOPLE!!!!!!

 

But allegedly after that, Kim Kardashian was offered millions and millions and millions of dollars, and even a television show of her own, in which we all know about.

 

Personally, I have NOT viewed the sex tape, and I have only seen parts of ONE episode of the “reality show” involved the Kardashian family. So retarded!!

 

Many say that Kim Kardashian is famous because she is a model, actress, and businesswoman.

 

Umm, actually no. The MOTHER is a businesswoman. And if you’ve really watched Kim do any kind of role, you will know that her acting is “subpar” and I question whether or not you can call it acting at all. But then again, she has done many modeling jobs. Including Playboy. (Again, no shocking news there.)

 

So Kim Kardashian is  a model, a socialite, and really big dumbass. I don’t even think that the stuff that she has marketed would be around if it wasn’t for her mother helping her out. Of which I know understand, the mother is business manager to all of her children.

 

Then NO, this filing for a divorce is NOT NEWS. Many people didn’t think it would last 27 days, much less 72. There’s got to be a ploy behind all of it. And definitely there was some business going on, with tons of money exchanging hands with this wedding to Kris Humphries- the poor bastard.

 

What makes this wedding and obvious divorce so ridiculous?

 

There was a pre-nup. What the heck was anyone thinking?

 

Pre-nups are for the weak and untrustworthy. Pre-nups basically say, “If this marriage doesn’t work out, then I’ll keep my stuff and you keep your stuff that we had before we got married.”

 

HELLO?? Anyone home???? Signing a pre-nup, even though is so commonplace in Hollywood, is basically saying “I’m gonna marry you, but I’m covering my own ass just in case.” A pre-nup more or less states that the two parties involved are EXPECTING the marriage to fail.

 

So then why bother getting married at all??

 

Kim Kardashian and Kris Humphries did not get married because they “loved one another”. That’s just bullshit right there. Somebody or both of them had something to gain.

 

People in general don’t seem to get married for love any more. For sure, people in Hollywood. They seem to get married because they can gain something. And that’s not to say ALL marriages are the same. But that is the way it seems nowadays.

 

And now it is being reported that Kim Kardashian doesn’t want to pay spousal support.

 

Why is that, Kim? Is it because you don’t want Kris Humphries to tap into your tens of millions of dollars while his own career pays him only $3,200,000 a year? Screw that!! I say let him nail Kim for all that he wants. It will be payback for this elaborate scam in the first place.

 

For once, JUST once, I would love to see a judge or a court say “No, I will not grant you a divorce.” to these so-called celebrities and socialites. Or even better, when celebrities get married, and then file for these quickie divorces- then they should pay a ridiculous amount of money for a fine. Let’s say: at least 50%?? That would seriously cut down on all these stupid marriages that were never intended to be “happily ever after” even before they got the engagement ring purchased.

 

It it terrible the way Hollywood treats the institution of marriage. Always has been ever since anyone could remember. But then again, its terrible the way Hollywood treats anything that the rest of the world beholds sacred, loving, and meaningful. And we wonder what is wrong with the youth of today’s generation.

 

Kim Kardashian never has and never will be a great role model for anyone. Ever. Stop paying attention to her. Stop buying her stuff. Let her wither away and we’ll all be happy, and then we can move on to ignoring the next dumbass in Hollywood.

 

But I can almost bet that in the next twenty years, that Kim Kardashian will be replaced with some other socialite woman who is just as bad or even worse as she is.

 

The whole thing just stinks. The wedding was foul too. There’s something going on behind the scenes and it’s all about the money.

 

So congratulations, dumbass!!

 

I will end this blog post with a YouTube video from Michael Buckley. His opinion is quite similar to mine in a great and many aspects. Leave him a comment saying that Dambreaker sent you. I’m sure he’ll enjoy the feedback as much as anyone else would who is making YouTube videos and standing up for themselves, and actually having the courage to use their voice over this ridiculous story, that isn’t even really news. Or at least it should not be.

 

I’ll allow his frustration, anger, and language express what I have not yet expressed here.

 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=da7CUl5gK3o

 

 

 

Like I said, and have said before many times. I am abundantly exhausted with the media. This divorce isn’t going to make or break anything in our lives. Nobody really even cares, nor did they care whether or not Kim Kardashian and Kris Humphries was going to have a successful marriage. Why?? Because we already knew that they would not.

 

Hollywood reports on the most brain-numbing of things, and has for decades. I just really wished that I could have remained ignorant of the entire situation.

 

Maybe there is a religious compound that will take me in somewhere, even though Heaven’s Gate is practically no more–so that’s out. Maybe I can find a nice farm to have me brainwashed of this ugliness. One could only hope!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Totally Terrifying Moments Of Youth

“I’m terrible at horror movies, by the way. I get scared so easily. “~ Oliver Stone

 

I am not the kind of person that hides the fact that I love to watch horror films. I’m also not the kind of person that tries to hide the fact that something made me jump out of my skin while watching horror films. But there is one film. One stinkin’, lousy film that just about scared the shit out of me when I was still living at home.

 

That film is “Demons”.

 

Demons or “Dèmoni” was the original title, released in 1985 and written by Dario Argento and directed by Lamberto Bava.

 

Allow me to give you one heck of a spoiler for you, just in case you have not seen this foulness.

 

On the Berlin subway, university student Cheryl is pursued by a mysterious, masked man. However, rather than attack her he offers her tickets to a free screening at a local, recently renovated cinema. She talks her friend, Kathy, into going with her. At the crowded theater, they meet two young gentleman, George and Ken, and sit with them. Before the film begins, a woman named Rosemary scratches her face with a bizarre mask in the lobby. The film is a violent, disturbing horror film that features the mask from the lobby.

 

 Feeling ill, Rosemary goes to the bathroom. The scratch on her face bursts open, spewing out a foul pus. She is soon transformed into a bloodthirsty, fanged demon. Rosemary attacks her friend, Carmen. Carmen rips through the screen and transforms into a demon in front of the rest of the cinema goers.

 

The group of uninfected race to any exit they can find, only to find that they have all been bricked up. Although they attempt to barricade themselves in the balcony, many of them are attacked and infected by the demons. One of the demons escapes into the city when four punks break in to the building through a back entrance. The punks are soon transformed into demons as well.

 

In the cinema, only George and Cheryl remain uninfected. Using a motorcycle and sword props from the lobby, they ride through the auditorium slicing down many demons.

 

Suddenly, a helicopter crashes through the roof. George and Cheryl use its winch to climb to the roof. There they are attacked by the mysterious man from the subway but are able to kill him by impaling his head on an exposed bit of rebar.

 

The two climb down onto the streets and discover the demonic infection has spread throughout the city. They are picked up by well-armed survivors in a jeep. As they drive to safety, Cheryl transforms into a demon. She is killed by one of the other passengers, leaving George as the only survivor from the cinema.

Yeah, that doesn’t sound like much in words like that, so let me tell you my side of the story:

This movie was rented from the local video store by myself and my younger brother. We figured we’d satisfy ourselves with yet another horror film. The thing of it was that movies that were rated R by the MPAA were not allowed in the house. A rule my parents had made. But this time, they were out of town.

And I should just briefly mention that because of a bad choice that my brother had made about a year earlier that dealt with underage drinking of alcohol while the parents were away caused the parents to believe that some supervision was necessary this time around. Some how, we had influenced that particular person to allow us this rated R treat into the house to watch. Heck, that person even sat down and watched it with us.

It wasn’t anywhere near Halloween, just some random day that we decided to rent a movie.

We watched this film at night and we were fine. Although when it was time to go to bed, I declined to even get off of the couch. I said that I was going to sleep on the couch because I was “too scared to sleep in my own bed”. That was actually a lie. The fact of the matter was at the time, the family had two new house pets. One puppy and one kitten. The puppy had actually taken a dump in my bedroom prior to being trained to do it outside and of course the smell was still in the bedroom. So I didn’t want to go sleep in there.

And so there I was, laying on the couch in the dark. Revisiting in my head what I had just seen. There is one particular scene in the film where the punks are in a vehicle, involving themselves with illegal drugs. I think cocaine.

Someone spilled it all over the female in the car and there someone was, scratching it off of her breasts with a razor blade. Now knowing what I knew about the film at that point, I wondered if he was going to cut her, and then she’d end up like one of these creatures.

And then the whole idea of turning into these horrible things just from a scratch??? How could that possibly be? What was the point to it?

Just when I was pondering these totally ridiculous questions, the kitten (which was mostly black in color) and come into the living room without me knowing it. The thoughts poured over and over again… turned into a monster by a scratch.

About that time, the kitten had started to swiftly crawl up the back of the couch, using its claws and I WAS DONE! It scared me so bad that I jumped off the couch and ran around the house screaming like an idiot.

The kitten had reached the top of the couch and then jumped onto my body before I even began to bolt from the living room. Its claws dug into my flesh as it landed.

After I finished screaming like a sissy, all I could hear was a faint and ever so innocent “meow, meow” from the cat that just scared me so badly. I woke everyone up in the house and scared them to death as well. When they realized why I was screaming so maniacally, well, my younger brother just rolled his eyes at me and referred to me as something similar to a female reproductive part of the body.

I was done with Italian horror films. I never watched another one voluntarily again.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN, WORDPRESS!!!!!

 

 

Souling

Trick or treat, baby?

“I don’t know how long I’ll be trick or treating. Maybe I’ll be 80 years old and still trick or treating.”~ Kieran Culkin

I went to research the different customs across the world of Halloween. I thought like many other holidays, that certain countries celebrated Halloween on different days and such.

 But my research was thwarted and I began to dig deeper on this custom of “trick or treating”.

The custom of going door to door dressed in a costume, or “guising” has been done in the USA probably long before the 1950’s.

I honestly didn’t believe in the fact that trick or treating was solely an American tradition or custom. And I was right.

Trick or treating resembles the late medieval practice of souling, when poor folk would go door to door on ‘Hallowmas’ (1st of November) which is All Saints Day, receiving food in return for prayers for the dead on All Souls Day (2nd of November). It originated in Ireland and Britain, although similar practices for the souls of the dead were found as far south as Italy.

A Soul cake is a small round cake which is traditionally made for All Saints Day or All Souls Day to celebrate the dead. The cakes, often simply referred to as souls, were given out to soulers (mainly consisting of children and the poor) who would go from door to door on Hallowmas singing and saying prayers for the dead. Each cake eaten would represent a soul being freed from the depths of Purgatory. The practice of giving and eating soul cakes is often seen as the origin of modern trick or treating as we know it today.

So in general, the practice has been going on for centuries.

The custom of wearing costumes and masks at Halloween goes back to Celtic traditions of attempting to copy the dark and evil spirits or placate them, in Scotland for instance where the dead were impersonated by young men with masked, veiled or blackened faces, dressed in white.

Modern traditions of trick or treating vary in its custom. In some places, children are required to perform or entertain with a joke or to sing a song before the treat is actually given to them.

So it isn’t uncommon for other places to actually have the children WORK for their treats.

After the age of ten, there was one house that I definitely had to work to get to the front door. The family always intended on scaring children to the end of their wits. But if they made it to the door, they were rewarded with their own can of their favorite carbonated beverages. (The husband worked for the Coca-Cola company at the time.)

I went when I was fourteen. I was rather successful. Then I tried again at sixteen and was turned away with the common response of “Aren’t you too old to be doing this?”.

I found it ironic to be asked that question when I was met at each door by an adult who was already dressed in THEIR OWN costume!! I thought “how ridiculous!”.

After that, I focused more on scaring the crap out of children that came to MY house looking for treats instead of begging for it. I just was never any good at it.

I would continue to dress up for Halloween throughout my teenaged years. But the older I got, the more I became lazy. Probably the last time anyone dared to ask me, “What are you dressed up as?”, my automatic reply was “A schizophrenic.” Some got it, others found it tasteless.

Definitely in the 21st Century, there are no children performing. The standard greeting of “Trick or treat?” is just followed by the dispersing of treats and then depending on whether the child is polite or not, a verbal “thank you” was given and then it was off to the next house to repeat the process until that home was emptied of its bounty. Or it got too late in the night and it was in fact a school night.

So yet again, the roots of tradition are quite fascinating. No child in America today is praying or singing for the dead for cakes, that is for sure.

The Halloween Humiliation

“One man’s transparency is another’s humiliation.”~ Gerry Adams

Last night was the annual October showing of the cartoon, “It’s the GreatPumpkin, Charlie Brown.”, one that I would have to say that has been a part of my life each and every October. And each time I am reminded of my childhood memories of Halloween and Trick-or-Treating.

Sufficed to say that even in my adult life, I have watched that cartoon every October ever since I can remember and have missed it, but once in my life time.

And with those childhood memories comes a tale of a child’s Halloween nightmare.

Living on a circle drive, my parents were very serious about us, their children, not to wander too far down the block on either side. But one year for Halloween, we were actually “smart” enough to have gone all the way around the entire neighborhood as fast as we could without the parents wondering where we were.

Naturally this was back during a time when Halloween or parents were concerned with the dangers of children being out at night. Still though, when we went out each Halloween, we always had an adult with us, whether it had been my father or mother. But this one year, we were left to the supervision of the two elder siblings to watch over us in the night as we went door to door begging for candy.

For years, our neighbors were kind of predictable. We knew which neighbors gave out healthy stuff like boxes of raisins, and we knew who had “the good stuff” which was chocolate, chocolate, and more chocolate. Not to mention bubble gum. Our favorite house actually was the one who handed out the bubble gum. Not to say that its better than chocolate since that is a matter of opinion, but those neighbors across the street and one house over, had that gum in a candy dish– all year long. We knew it was a for sure bet.

But this particular tale would have moved my childhood into the next chapter of Halloween activities as our small-sized plastic pumpkins with the handle on it would prove not to be enough from the bounty that was inevitably before us. If we only were smart enough at that young of an age to have used our pillow cases!!

It just so happned that year on Halloween  on that same evening, or late afternoon, there was a wedding and I went with my father and younger brother to that wedding. We knew that there would be a reception, and let’s face it… when you are that young, the dream of having wedding cake as well as assorted salted nuts and those pink, yellow, and green colored mints added on to the piles of candy that would have been taken during the night was a child’s wet dream before they even knew what one was.

Needless to say, my father did not allow us that dream.

We had a choice: Wedding reception or Trick-or-Treating? We thought that we would get more out of the evening if we went home and went door to door. We were SO right!!

Also with the underestimated candy luggage was the action of doing away with the old standby Halloween costumes that were easy to slip on, like a shirt with a mask that was held together by a thin rubber band and tiny holes for the nose to breathe out of and of course the eyes to see. That Halloween, we did not have to dress up like a character from Scooby-Doo or a princess or whatever it was that we had. I think a Frankenstein monster, we had one too? I don’t recall. What I did remember was actually being “grown up” enough to wear the make-up and paint.

So we went out. We skipped over those who were bearing fruits and nutrition-filled food, as well as those just handing out caramel apples and went straight across the street for our gum. That year, we got TWO pieces of gum and we thought that this was the beginning of a marvelous adventure.

Door to door, house to house. Both sides of the street. And then we had reached our “limitations” to what we were used to. Going any further in the neighborhood was unheard of, but the elder two siblings said “Let’s Go!!”.

We left nothing unchecked. Each and every house was struck. Several neighbors that we never saw face to face or even knew as neighbors would definitely remember our faces as we stomped across front yards and cut across lawns to get to the next front door faster from the house before.

Our lousy plastic pumpkins were full before we even made it half way. The thought of going and knocking on strang doors started to bother me, so I every once in a while I would surrender my candy-filled pumpkin and tell my brother, “I don’t like this house. It’s creepy and the porch light isn’t on. I don’t want ANYTHING from this house.” And so my brother would go ahead and take my pumpkin and come back several seconds later. Clearly, I would end up with far less than he would.

My humiliation came to me when we had finished the entire lap around the block and came home for the inevitable “parental scanning for dangerous objects and mother/father candy taxes” were applied. Yep, we had to go through that TWICE.

Needless to say that a majority of the chocolate items were gone before they gave back our candy. But then I would see in my brother’s pumpkin some items I had never thought possible to be given out for Halloween.

Someone had given him a Little Debbie’s Star Crunch. It was untampered with in a singled package. And on top of that, he had a single dollar bill.

When I asked him where he got them, he simply smirked with a bold smile of bragging and said, “You said you didn’t want anything from those houses, so I didn’t get you anything.”

Neither my mother or my father would take that Star Crunch from my brother. So this fabulous snack treat, and some pocket change totally was lost because I didn’t trust the houses on the other side of the block. So humiliating!

I would learn never to turn down Halloween treats, from anyone at anytime no matter what. We were still going to have to go through the parents to make sure everything was safe. But all that meant was more for us for the next week. Even if we lost the grandest of all treats to the parents, we still had awesome replacements because nobody from that point on when we went out, would dare say “I don’t want anything from this house.”

 

Idiot Award For October 2011

“Acting is the perfect idiot’s profession.”~ Katharine Hepburn

Subscribers and friends; Ladies and gentlemen: The Idiot Award is back!!

However we have a tie!

This month’s winners: Lindsay Lohan & Playboy magazine.

It was reported today that the 25 year-old actress was approached by Playboy magazine to do a shoot for their publication. Playboy: Seriously, what the heck are you thinking?!?

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/gossip/2011/10/lindsay-lohan-playboy-naked-nude-photos-1-million-dollars.html

Playboy offered the actress $750,000 for the one time deal but Lindsay Lohan wanted an even one million dollars. To which Playboy had denied, yet later on agreed to a sum of higher than $750,000 but not quite the million that Lindsay Lohan was wanting. Whatever it was decided on is in between those two figures.

I honestly have no idea what either camp was thinking when this proposal came to light. I’m not sure what exactly Playboy could have wanted from this tragedy of human waste. Although it would appear that avarice would’ve been the main force behind Lindsay Lohan’s decision to do this. But that is mere personal speculation, so I’ll move on.

Even though back in 2005, she was quoted to say that she would never do any work in her films that would require her to be naked. So I don’t know what the difference is now.

Lindsay Lohan had done many films in her acting career. Films like the re-make of “The Parent Trap”, “Mean Girls”, and “Freaky Friday”. It had seemed as if Lindsay Lohan was becoming a bright and shining star for the Disney Corporation. Yet in 2007, her personal issues would become public knowledge and then the slippery slope downwards would begin for her. And then of course all the drama and bullshit from the entire Lohan family would be spilled into our faces, like we even cared about it in the first place.

The details are murky at best at this point, and it leaves the world to sit and wonder about what this is going to turn out like.  But then again, she hasn’t really left much for the imagination as she has been photographed countless times exiting vehicles without any underwear. And other “priceless gems” where she is actually topless.

The entire WORLD has already seen what Lindsay Lohan “has to offer”. And therefore, this whole idea is absolutely ridiculous!

She’s been in so much trouble with the law as of lately that it makes me personally wonder how this could help make her public image a lot better. What kind of a stunt is she and her family trying to pull over on us to help bring her back into the loving fold that she had so personally chosen to abandon.

I think that Lindsay Lohan could have been a tremendous actress and very successful. She also could have been one of the most attractive females in Hollywood in recent years. To think or to say that she could have been the most sought after actress in such a long time, only to see that she threw it all away by being charged with numerous DUI’s. Not to mention having failed the terms of her probation, which was also something that she chose to do.

Failure to do so caught her in deeper trouble with the courts. And the whole media blitz on her for the past several years, caused a lot of pain for her personal fans.

So when I saw her in handcuffs a few days back, in that deplorable dress and make-up, I cheered. I am STILL tired of Hollywood actors/actresses breaking the law and getting away with just a slap on the toe, much less the wrist.

Her partying life style which has claimed so many in Hollywood did not show any prejudice towards Lindsay Lohan. Yet- she was the one that made the choices she did in her life. And now she’s trying to work off her community service hours in a morgue with menial tasks like trash removal and cleaning the bathrooms.

So when I heard about this deal by Playboy, I very much literally and physically became sick. I threw up so bad over a situation that isn’t even my business. And I totally regretted learning about it in the first place. The media still SUCKS!

Therefore, congratulations to the winner(s) of this award.

My own heartfelt reactions and thoughts are actually mirrored by the ones that were posted on YouTube today by Michael Buckley from the WHATTHEBUCKSHOW. I’ll leave you with that link so that you may see and hear his thoughts and reactions. It it as the very beginning of the video and lasts several minutes before he goes on with other Hollywood type news. I also would agree on his opinion about Dina, Lindsay’s less than admirable mother.

http://youtu.be/dEyVF3wwWs8

 

 

Panhandling

“Grant me the treasure of sublime poverty: permit the distinctive sign of our order to be that it does not possess anything of its own beneath the sun, for the glory of your name, and that it have no other patrimony than begging. “~ Francis of Assisi

One half mile up, one half mile back is all that I went and I got nailed TWICE by panhandlers. The first sitting calmly at a bus stop that I passed by, the other one in the middle of the sidewalk with nowhere to run.

I believe that the first person believed he knew that what he was asking for, was probably wrong so when I said “NO”, his response was “Okay, thanks.”

The second person was a bit unavoidable as I was going to pass him up on the sidewalk. He asked me to give him any spare money that I may have. Not spare change, spare money. Honestly, I have never heard of spare money.

And even the second person probably knew that he was doing wrong when he replied back with: “That’s okay.”

Actually, is it?? Is it okay for him to have stepped right into my path on the sidewalk to ask me for money? I did some quick research about panhandling and begging.

The definition of so called “Aggressive panhandling“ may vary. In the USA, aggressive panhandling generally involves the solicitation of donations in an intimidating or intrusive manner. Examples may include:

• Soliciting near ATM banking machines.
• Soliciting from customers inside a store or restaurant.
• Soliciting after dark.
• Approaching individuals from behind, as they are exiting their vehicles, to solicit.
• Soliciting in a loud voice, often accompanied with wild gesticulations.
• The use of insults, profanity, or veiled threats.
• Refusing to take “No” for an answer or following an individual.
• Demanding more money after a donation has been given.
• Invasion of personal space, cornering, blocking or inappropriate touching.
• A “team” of several beggars approaching an individual at once, often surrounding the person.
• “Camping out” in a spot where begging negatively influences some other business (such as in front of a store or restaurant) in the hope that the business owner will give money to make the beggar go away.

In 2004, the city of  Orlando, Florida passed an ordinance (Orlando Municipal Code section 43.86) requiring panhandlers to obtain a permit from the municipal police department. The ordinance further makes it a crime to panhandle in the commercial core of downtown Orlando, as well as within 50 feet (15 m) of any bank or automated teller machine. It is also considered a crime in Orlando for panhandlers to make false or untrue statements, or to disguise themselves, to solicit money, and to use money obtained for a claim of a specific purpose (e.g. food) to be spent on anything else (e.g. drugs).

In Santa Cruz, CA, there are regulations for panhandlers on where they can and cannot “spange” (beg for “spare change”). For example, they must be a certain distance away from the door of any business.

In parts of San Francisco, CA, aggressive panhandling is prohibited.

In May 2010, police in the city of Boston started cracking down on panhandling in the streets in downtown, and were conducting an educational outreach to residents advising them not to give to panhandlers. The Boston police distinguished active solicitation, or aggressive panhandling, versus passive panhandling of which an example is opening doors at store with a cup in hand but saying nothing.

9.23.030 Place of panhandling – Violation. It shall be unlawful for any person to panhandle when the person solicited is in any of the following places within the city limits of Longview, Washington:

• (1) At any bus stop; or
• (2) In any public transportation vehicle or facility; or
• (3) In any vehicle on a street or on a driveway providing ingress or egress to a street where such driveway is open to the general public; or
• (4) Within 50 feet of any automated teller machine (ATM); or
• (5) On private property, unless the panhandler is in physical possession of written permission from the owner or lawful occupant thereof. (Ord. 3051 § 2, 2008).

9.23.040 Manner of panhandling – Violation. It shall be unlawful for any person to panhandle in any of the following manners:

• (1) By intentionally coming within three feet of the person solicited, unless that person has indicated that he or she does wish to make a donation; or
• (2) By intentionally obstructing the path of the person or vehicle of the person solicited; or
• (3) By intentionally obstructing the passage through the entrance or exit of any building; or
• (4) By soliciting anyone under the age of 16; or
• (5) By following a person who walks away from the panhandler, if the panhandler’s conduct is intended to or is reasonably likely to intimidate the person being solicited into responding affirmatively to the solicitation; or
• (6) By using profane or abusive language, either during the solicitation or following a refusal. (Ord. 3051 § 2, 2008).

In Austin, Texas:

County Judge J. David Phillips has upheld a 2005 Municipal Court ruling that a city ordinance banning the solicitation of drivers is unconstitutional under the First Amendment.

The ruling comes after John Francis Curran was arrested in June 2003 for violating a section (16-1-20) of the Code of the City of Austin prohibiting the solicitation of motor vehicles when he stood on an Austin street corner with a sign saying “Donations of any kind will help.”

Apparently, its against someone’s right to free speech to stop a person from the urge to beg in the streets of Austin, Texas. And that is probably why there seems to be someone with a cardboard sign on just about every major intersection of street and highway.

Some of these signs are actually creative! One sign that I have seen said, “Need fuel for space craft to link up to mother ship.” Others are quite truthful. “Why lie? I need a beer!”. In which we all know that the percentage is so high to know that’s what they are doing with the funds they receive anyways.

Many panhandling signs seem to have a few things in common:

They say that they are a vet…. another thing that is usually always there is “Anything Helps”…. and of course the final note to their non-verbal begging would be “God bless!”.

Nobody truly knows if these people are homeless veterans or not. So it is always wise to use caution when either you approach them or you allowing them to approach you.

One thing is for sure, they are out to feed their addiction to illegal drugs and alcohol. And this is why panhandling is viewed in a negative light. Because we already can assume that more times than not, the person begging for money is just going to purchase illegal drugs and alcohol.

There comes a time when many of us begin to fall on hard times. The economy is bad and what not, and so many people go to the streets to beg for money. There are those who are just out there to collect, and then there are those extremely rare cases when a person has fallen back on some serious hard times and the only way that they know to get back on their feet is to panhandle for money.

But it is not a clear line that separates the two. The ones who are in real need of help, often are blended in behind those who are not as sincere and are just out for personal and selfish gain.

In my personal opinion, for those who actually do need the help and are seeking it probably still have made the wrong decision. Simply because panhandling is never looked upon in a uplifting manner. Instead of looking for work, they look to beg. There are services and organizations that can help. Either they don’t know where to go, or just choose not to because they know that panhandling works so well.

On any given day, a panhandler can make anywhere up to $200-300 (USD) a day. In that case, heck- why work?!? Just beg. But that is something that I would never personally condone under any circumstances.

But still for myself, the negative experiences I have gone through in the past six years have started in this manner. Four or five of those started with someone coming up to me and asking me to give them something, whether it be money or cigarettes or whatever. And the end results turned to the fact that I had to physically defend myself because they were aggressive towards me when I told them “NO” in the first place.

When that second guy came, I was scared. I knew that he was going to ask for something. Although I was fairly certain that it was not going to be for cigarettes, he had two new packs in his hand, a lone cigarette and a lighter in the other. So obviously he did have money before to buy smokes. But it still made me worry a little bit if he was going to be aggressive. Thankfully he was not. Neither was the first.

In my own situation, I sometimes wonder if I should go out and panhandle. For two reasons.

#1- I experience hardship often more times than I admit to.

#2- With as many panhandlers as there are here, I wonder just how “sympathetic” the population would be towards a panhandler in a wheelchair? The science behind that theory baffles me. Would it be true that the population would give more to a person begging in a wheelchair, rather than someone walking up and down in the middle of the street??

So it seems as if panhandlers are using their right for free speech. Or so the state laws say that. But what about mine? Am I allowed to tell these people “NO!” if I do not want to give them anything, especially if they are so wasted out of their minds on illegal drugs and alcohol? And once they get aggressive towards me or someone else, where does the law come in on that?

Quite interesting to think about. EVERYONE involved should be protected by their rights to free speech. The panhandlers to ask, and the population to say “NO!”.

Anger

“Be not angry that you cannot make others as you wish them to be, since you cannot make yourself as you wish to be.”~ Thomas Kempis

Angry. Pissed off. Ticked off. Hacked off. Boiled over. All of these things are used to describe a person’s anger.

There are two kinds of basic emotions. Fear and love. Anger stems from fear, and not love.

Anger is an automatic response to ill treatment. It is the way a person indicates he or she will not tolerate certain types of behavior. It is a mechanism that we fire back in which an unpleasant stimulus is met with an unpleasant response.

Anger is an emotion related to one’s psychological interpretation of having been offended, wronged or denied and a tendency to undo that, commonly by retaliation.

But I feel that we can go deeper into this. It is my feeling that anger comes from the loss of control. Once we realize that we have lost control over something, anger is our way of responding to it to show that we find the result unsatisfactory.

Our body language commonly shows the signs of anger. Much like the wild beasts, we snarl and growl and give off facial expressions that allows others to know, we are not happy.

But I think that it is correct to say that it stems from fear. When something happens that we lost control over, we are fearing what could happen next because the end results are not going to be what we had expected it to be. We can no longer guide our destiny as we once were, and so we’re left with the outpouring of this particular part of emotion of fear, by expressing that we are really pissed off.

There are a lot of things that cause us to be angry, some of them include:

• Other drivers.
• Being placed on hold with a business or customer service, or being handed off from one person to the next, and spending all that time doing so.
• Our perception of other people’s activities and actions that we believe to be wrong.

I believe that it is very natural to be angry. However, I do think that there is a right and a wrong way to handle our negative emotional state.

Everybody has heard the phrase, “anger management”. Hollywood did a marvelous job in portraying a more funny side of it. But there are some people who would definitely be considered a good candidate for anger management in reality.

Being angry is done by choice. You choose to be angry. Those people who could most benefit from managing their anger have a problem with knowing when to stop being angry and they allow themselves to be in a cycle, rather than just going through the steps and motions of being angry. They repeat it over and over and over again.

This is how anger begins.

1. The Trigger. Something has caused us to become angry. Whether it be loss, or words, or actions or anything else that will “trigger” the emotion.

2. Internal Angry Reaction. At this point, you realize that something is different and that it is unpleasant.

3. Internal Intensification. The point in time in which your body begins to justify its emotions, most of the time people with anger problems justify their anger improperly based on false assumptions. Internally, there is an onset of chemical release, and such things as your heart rate and breathing increase dramatically.

4. External Barrier Break. The more obvious signs of anger that others can clearly identify. Such as screaming, shouting, crying, gesturing, and fist pumping.

5. Explosive Peak. This stage is prone towards the violent and physical side of expressing anger. Dangerous to oneself and others. This is also the stage in which people may react verbally, and ultimately say something that they did not mean.

6. Exhaustion and Withdrawal. The emotion of anger, or at least the majority of it  

7. Remorse and Apology — or – Intense Justification. The final stage of anger. The realization that someone might have said something that they didn’t mean, and now they are feeling remorse and regret. Those who realize their errors use this time to apologize for their outburst.

8. Repeat. For many of us who do not have issue with anger problems, this stage doesn’t always apply. Those who do, always hit this stage and return swiftly back to number one.

Breaking the anger cycle begins with developing awareness of your personal triggers and identifying opportunities to change your reactions. If anger is a choice, then we should probably take note to our triggers. And if again those triggers come up, we might find the strength within us to attempt to deal with it in another way, rather than anger. It is not always easy to do that though.

I still believe that anger is a natural human response, even if it is a choice. Expressing anger is far better than suppressing it. Studies show that women live on an average of 10 years longer than men. And it could be related to the fact that women have an easier time expressing anger than men. But I can’t say that is for sure.

Life has never been designed for control. We are not supposed to be puppets on a string. We would absolutely hate it if we were. Just think about whether or not YOU would want to be pulled around by strings, I doubt that you would.

So then when we do lose control, we become angry. Never keep it bottled up inside of you. It only does so much damage to your body, both physically and mentally. Keep track of what is triggering your anger. Then move towards a Plan B, if you are your own cause for anger and frustration. Fix what needs to be fixed.

Remember, there is a difference between expressing your anger and taking it out on someone. Know what those lines are and stay away from causing yourself and your relationships so much harm and damage, and at the same time, allow your mental state to be clean and healthy. Deal with whatever it is you must deal with. Learn from mistakes if there are any, and press on in life.

Pariah To The Petition

“The right of petition, I have said, was not conferred on the People by the Constitution, but was a pre-existing right, reserved by the People out of the grants of power made to Congress.”~ Caleb Cushing

If you are reading this, I need some Calgon. I’ll provide you with an address in which to send it later.

This could be a sort of “part 2” to the previous blog post called “Brainless Warriors”. But it doesn’t deal with all of the content from that post. Rather it deals with part of it. The part of the post where I speak of residents here wanting the community room opened during the weekends.

Last night, it was brought to my attention as an attachment to my e-mail that a petition had been written to go towards the Board of Directors to have the community room opened on Saturdays.

When I read this so-called petition, my IQ dropped 100 points. It was poorly written, poorly worded, and barely took up an inch of space if it would have been printed out on paper.

And because the language of it was so vague, it was basically including everyone who lives here. Including myself. And I was not good with that.

So I played with this thing for about an hour or so last night and fleshed the entire thing out. By the time I got done with it, it was more than half of a page long, and it was more specific to addressing what these certain individuals were wanting to discuss with the Board of Directors.

By comparison, the original draft that I received actually looked like a seven year old child who was trying to stand up to their parents over them being grounded. It was THAT BAD. Nobody in their right mind would have looked at it, and taken it seriously. I sure as hell would not have.

Tonight, a call was made to me to tweak it just one more time to finish off some corrections that were needed. I am hoping that I am not bothered with this any more. Although at this point, since it has been told that “I have a copy of it”, that is only going to be wishful thinking on my behalf.

I do not intend to sign this stupid thing, at all. I honestly do not care if the community room is kept open or if things stay the way that they have been for the past five years. I have no idea what’s going to happen, but I suspect it’s going to be bitter. VERY bitter.

Two copies of this petition were made for two residents to go door to door to get people to sign it. Enough lines were provided so that one person from each apartment unit could sign it. But they are not going to get that many signatures for different reasons.

The bottom line to this stupidity, is that the same couple that I mentioned that I was playing SCRABBLE with, want to watch college football on Saturdays. Commonly, their team will be playing on some sports network that they do not have because they no longer have cable. I was there when the cable company gave them their final chance to pay a bill, and they did not so the cable equipment was removed from their unit. Now they wanna go into the community room during college football season, and watch their games on cable. Since cable television is actually provided in the area.

They should just stay with going over to a neighbor’s place to watch television and just deal with it. OR pay their damned bill and get the cable turned back on.

But no, the ones who are responsible for instigating this whole ordeal, are the two previously mentioned. Others are following their path. But I choose not to be led to slaughter.

So who are these two people? The woman that cried about it in the meeting last week because she and her husband have never experienced it being open on the weekends, and the wife of the couple who just gets so intense about college football to the point where it is annoying and uncomfortable for others to even want to socialize and hang out with them to watch football.

This petition, in my own humble opinion, will be given to staff or someone else and then it will be thrown away. The Board of Directors closed the community room over the evening hours and weekends for a reason. Yes, at first I did not like it. But now I am used to it being closed and I personally just don’t care.

So it appears as if I am going to have to avoid answering the phone and the door for quite some time because I don’t want to be bothered by this dumb thing. Even if I did help with the language of it. Doesn’t mean I am for it. I just don’t want it representing me in a terrible light because the person who wrote it down in the first place doesn’t know how to write a petition properly, and sound intelligent at the same time.

Eventually I will have to face the music and explain why I am not foaming at the mouth to place my signature on it. I suspect that I will be the pariah at that point. They’re just going to have to get over it.

However, I will say this: The action as a whole, is respectable. This is the first time that they’ve handled the situation of Saturdays being open in years. Previously, all they have done is complain. One year, they tried to get people so irritated about the community room being closed that they thought an uprising would come. It sort of did, but it wasn’t enough once staff started shooting people down with common sense.

Either way, I really deep down suspect that whomever it is that these resident choose to hand this petition to, that person is just simply going to dump it into the trash. It would not surprise me in the least if that’s what happens.

But I am really done with it. I don’t want to have my name on it, or have my name spoken when it is in conversation. 

 

Unrequited Love

“Nothing takes the taste out of peanut butter quite like unrequited love.”~ Charlie Brown from the comic strip, “Peanuts”.

It stinks. It really, really, really, really, really stinks to love someone who does not love you back. And that’s pretty much the definition of “unrequited love”. All of our emotions, thoughts, and feelings are going towards that one person, and that person does not return any of them back. They are our entire world, and we are nothing but insignificant ants to them.

When I was in high school, I dealt with unrequited love. I called it the “one way highway of love”. And it was so very challenging to deal with.

Clearly, it seems like the end of the world is almost near and you would hate to find that special person that you feel so strongly for, to actually come to you and say to your face, “I do not love you.”

Whether it is someone in your class, perhaps a co-worker in the office, or whomever… when you realize nothing is ever going to happen between you and that person, your broken heart is all that you can think of. The desperate souls will at this point act out towards that person in a last ditch effort to try and make that person realize their affections for them, usually ending still in defeat and more heart ache. But all you want is to break free from the rejection and live happily ever after.

It is very natural to feel that every rejection is personal. Remind yourself that it wasn’t you, but rather the lack of a romantic connection. Bad timing, lack of availability and emotional hangups may all be complicating factors. Avoid the temptation to over-generalize and draw too much from one situation. Don’t allow yourself to be consumed with thought after thought after thought.

Accepting that they do not love you is the first step in overcoming unrequited love.

Accept the fact that he/she doesn’t feel the same way about you. If you continue to believe that there is a chance he/she will eventually love you, you will never move on. Understand the reasons why he/she doesn’t feel the same way. Understanding the reasons for the unrequited love will help you to move past the situation and get over him/her. Decide how much of this person you can bear to still have in your life.

If you have no choice (for example, if he/she is a co-worker and you can’t change jobs) then find a way to minimize your interactions. If he/she is a friend, you may need to be honest about your reasons for ending the friendship.

You are best served by having as little to do with this person as possible.

Get your mind off of him/her. Spend more time with true friends and your family, and surround yourself with those who love and care about you. Keep busy. Throw yourself into your work or hobbies. If you don’t have any hobbies there are plenty to choose from so it won’t be difficult finding one.

Focus on your future. Nobody has ever moved forward by constantly looking back. Set your sights on a new hobby, interest or personal ambition.

Accept that life will never be the same, but it can be better than it was before. Part ways with those objects that remind you of your crush. Get rid of any photographs, cards, emails or other gifts and items that trigger feelings. Give them a proper farewell with a ritual goodbye, if this helps you to cope.

Focusing on your future will make you take your focus off him/her. Remind yourself of your good qualities. Just because one person does not love you does not mean you are not a good person!!! Remind yourself of that as often as necessary.

Change your routine in ways that distance yourself from your emotions. Whether it’s the places you used to meet, music that reminds you of him/her or a shared circle of friends, these habits will continue to bring you back to your feelings until you change them. While in the short term this may seem painful and difficult, in time you will accept that it was worth it.

Appreciate yourself. Realize that you don’t need anyone to validate you and that you are still the wonderful person. Remind yourself that most relationships don’t work out and this isn’t unusual. Work on gaining independence so that you can be just as happy alone as when you’re in a relationship. That will make you more attractive.

If you’ve been hurt before, think of how you overcame that pain. You did it once, you can do it again. After a week or two of grief, stop yourself from indulging conversations about your lost love or from obtaining information about them. In time, your grief will fade on its own, provided you let it.

Ask yourself, “Why would I want to be with anyone who doesn’t love me back?” You deserve better.

Gain better understanding that this isn’t for you. And that there is something better waiting around the corner. Don’t hold yourself down to something that will never move forward.  A dead horse is just that, dead. Chaining yourself to it will only lead you to a miserabl new hobby of having to swat away flies.

Suicide

“Is there no resolution?
Vulture’s perched, ready to feed
Chalk lines left to erase
Toe tags for the deceased
Oh Lord PLEASE, send a savior”~ ‘Just Remains’ by SIX MINUTE CENTURY

Suicide Facts

• Suicide takes the lives of nearly 30,000 Americans every year.Many who attempt suicide never seek professional care.There are twice as many deaths due to suicide than HIV/AIDS.Between 1952 and 1995, suicide in young adults nearly tripled.

  Over half of all suicides occur in adult men, ages 25-65.

  In the month prior to their suicide, 75% of elderly persons had visited a physician.

  Suicide rates in the United States are highest in the spring.

  Over half of all suicides are completed with a firearm.

  For young people 15-24 years old, suicide is the third leading cause of death.

  Suicide rates among the elderly are highest for those who are divorced or widowed.

  80% of people that seek treatment for depression are treated successfully.

  15% of those who are clinically depressed die by suicide.

  There are an estimated 8 to 25 attempted suicides to 1 completion.

  The highest suicide rate is among men over 85 years old: 65 per 100,000 persons.

  1 in 65,000 children ages 10 to 14 commit suicide each year.

  Substance abuse is a risk factor for suicide.

  The strongest risk factor for suicide is depression.

  By 2010, depression will be the #1 disability in the world.

• In 2004, 32,439 people died by suicide.
• Suicide is the 11th leading cause of death in the U.S. (homicide is 15th).
• Suicide is the 3rd leading cause of death for 15- to 24-year-old Americans.
• It is estimated that there are at least 4.5 million survivors in this country.
• An average of one person dies by suicide every 16.2 minutes.
• There are four male suicides for every female suicide.

Research has shown medications and therapy to be effective suicide prevention.

Suicide can be prevented through education and public awareness.

Last year SAVE educated 10,618 youth & parents on depression and suicide prevention.

Last year SAVE received 810 requests for information from 72 countries.

In 2004 it is estimated there were 811,000 suicide attempts in the US.

• There are three female suicide attempts for each male attempt.
• According to the Violent Death Reporting System, in 2004 73% of suicides also tested positive for at least one substance (alcohol, cocaine, heroin or marijuana).

Symptoms and Danger Signs

Warning Signs of Suicide

• Ideation (thinking, talking or wishing about suicide)
• Substance use or abuse (increased use or change in substance)
• Puposelessness (no sense of purpose or belonging)
• Anger
• Trapped (feeling like there is no way out)
• Hopelessness (there is nothing to live for, no hope or optimism)
• Withdrawal (from family, friends, work, school, activities, hobbies)
• Anxiety (restlessness, irritability, agitation)
• Recklessness (high risk-taking behavior)
• Mood disturbance (dramatic changes in mood)
• Additional Warning Signs of Suicide
• Talking about suicide.
• Looking for ways to die (internet searches for how to commit suicide, looking for guns, pills, etc.)
• Statements about hopelessness, helplessness, or worthlessness.
• Preoccupation with death.
• Suddenly happier, calmer.
• Loss of interest in things one cares about.
• Visiting or calling people one cares about.
• Making arrangements; setting one’s affairs in order.
• Giving things away, such as prized possessions.
• A suicidal person urgently needs to see a doctor or mental health professional.

In an emergency, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline 1-800-273-TALK

Common Misconceptions

The following are common misconceptions about suicide:

“People who talk about suicide won’t really do it.”

Not True. Almost everyone who commits or attempts suicide has given some clue or warning. Do not ignore suicide threats. Statements like “you’ll be sorry when I’m dead,” “I can’t see any way out,” — no matter how casually or jokingly said, may indicate serious suicidal feelings.

“Anyone who tries to kill him/herself must be crazy.”

Not True. Most suicidal people are not psychotic or insane. They may be upset, grief-stricken, depressed or despairing, but extreme distress and emotional pain are always signs of mental illness and are not signs of psychosis.

“If a person is determined to kill him/herself, nothing is going to stop him/her.”

Not True. Even the most severely depressed person has mixed feelings about death, and most waver until the very last moment between wanting to live and wanting to die. Most suicidal people do not want to die; they want the pain to stop. The impulse to end it all, however overpowering, does not last forever.

“People who commit suicide are people who were unwilling to seek help.”

Not True. Studies of suicide victims have shown that more then half had sought medical help within six month before their deaths and a majority had seen a medical professional within 1 month of their death.

“Talking about suicide may give someone the idea.”

Not True. You don’t give a suicidal person morbid ideas by talking about suicide. The opposite is true — bringing up the subject of suicide and discussing it openly is one of the most helpful things you can do.

Suicidal Thoughts: What to Do

If you have thoughts of suicide, these options are available to you:

• Dial: 911
• Dial: 1-800-273-TALK
• Check yourself into the emergency room.
• Tell someone who can help you find help immediately.
• Stay away from things that might hurt you.
• Most people can be treated with a combination of antidepressant medication and psychotherapy

If You See the Warning Signs of Suicide…

Begin a dialogue by asking questions.

Suicidal thoughts are common with depressive illnesses and your willingness to talk about it in a non-judgmental, non-confrontational way can be the help a person needs to seeking professional help. Questions okay to ask:

“Do you ever feel so badly that you think about suicide?”

“Do you have a plan to commit suicide or take your life?”

“Have you thought about when you would do it (today, tomorrow, next week)?”

“Have you thought about what method you would use?”

Asking these questions will help you to determine if your friend or family members is in immediate danger, and get help if needed. A suicidal person should see a doctor or mental health professional immediately. Calling 911 or going to a hospital emergency room are also good options to prevent a tragic suicide attempt or death. Calling the National Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK is also a resource for you or the person you care about for help. Remember, always take thoughts of or plans for suicide seriously.

Never keep a plan for suicide a secret. Don’t worry about risking a friendship if you truly feel a life is in danger. You have bigger things to worry about-someone’s life might be in danger! It is better to lose a relationship from violating a confidence than it is to go to a funeral. And most of the time they will come back and thank you for saving their life.

Don’t try to minimize problems or shame a person into changing their mind. Your opinion of a person’s situation is irrelevant. Trying to convince a person suffering with a mental illness that it’s not that bad, or that they have everything to live for may only increase their feelings of guilt and hopelessness. Reassure them that help is available, that depression is treatable, and that suicidal feelings are temporary. Life can get better!

If you feel the person isn’t in immediate danger, acknowledge the pain as legitimate and offer to work together to get help. Make sure you follow through. This is one instance where you must be tenacious in your follow-up. Help find a doctor or a mental health professional, participate in making the first phone call, or go along to the first appointment. If you’re in a position to help, don’t assume that your persistence is unwanted or intrusive. Risking your feelings to help save a life is a risk worth taking.

Author’s Note:

Never in a million lifetimes would I thought that I would be covering this subject. No, I am not suicidal. But this subject as directly and indirectly affected my life. Suicide IS PREVENTABLE!! And I believe that if anyone is talking about it, that it should be taken seriously, even if the person says, “I’m just joking.” Death and killing oneself is not a joking matter.

If you know of someone who has suicidal thoughts, or you are having suicidal thoughts, PLEASE call 1-800-273-TALK, or 911. Because you never know what wonderful things may come your way the next day if you deliberately end your life tonight. Whatever is causing you this much pain, can be dealt with. And that pain is temporary. Seek help.

If someone is threatening suicide, PLEASE call 1-800-273-TALK, or 911. Even at the risk of embarrassing yourself or damaging your relationship with that person. It is far better for them to seek the treatment that they potentially may need rather than you save your thoughts because you don’t want to be embarrassed.