Having been that girl, I thank you on her behalf 😊

I had mastitis, and it was unbelievably horrible. My fever spiked to 105, I needed IV fluids and heavy antibiotics. I hallucinated from the fever. Thinking about going through that in a detention facility surrounded by uncaring armed guards who view you as nothing but a criminal makes me feel like vomiting.

Dammit, now I wanna see that movie.

I was hallucinating for a full day after my epidural. I had no clue for quite some time what was real or not. For a while, there were two bloody, winged figures standing at the foot of my bed. There could have been a circus parade through the delivery room, I would have had no clue.

I worked at an upscale resort with a restaurant/bar, and we had a strict policy against fraternization with guests. On property, at least.

Thank you. I was a quiet, gothy freshman when Columbine happened and my school decided to “look to the quiet ones”. My friends and I spent the rest of the year under a microscope. The armed cops suddenly patrolling campus knew our freaking names. We were made even easier targets for abuse because we couldn’t defend…

My daughter read that last year for a research paper on Columbine myths perpetuated by the media. It’s pretty great, from the parts I’ve read so far. She also read Klebold’s book, which she threw across her room in anger more than once. I think I’ll skip that one.

This just reminded me that “Teenage Dirtbag” came on Spotify one day, for some reason pulled from the Dawson’s Creek soundtrack, and “he brings a gun to school” was censored.

Wtf was that “Pillow Talk” episode? It was so bizarre, and not in the great way the show usually is.

The first person I confided in said “hey, you too?” and laughed. Yeah, same guy, same exact scenario. She acted like “lol that’s how he gets laid”, like humping unconscious girls was a normal thing. She seemed confused that I was bothered by it. I think about her pretty often, and it makes me so sad.

That’s exactly the word for it. Apparently one of the nurses tried to intervene, but he bowled right over her. Once my mom made him stop he demanded I be admitted and scheduled for an abdominal ct. Once I was in a bed with an IV and more lucid, the nurse who had spoken up came in and very gingerly asked if she could…

A friend of mine married a man from Australia, and they really struggled with this even after preparing as best they could. They each scrimped and saved for over a year before he came over so they’d have a cushion to protect them until he could work. Once here, he tried to volunteer at her mother’s medical practice…

Right!? Can I do something *good* so people will make this happen for me?

My former roommate got this several times, and she doesn’t even speak a word of Korean. She’d usually respond with “Do you mean Korea or Scotland?” That always confused ‘em.

When I was 16, I had a male intern perform a rough, rushed pelvic exam seven days after I’d had a caesarean. I had mastitis; my breasts were bright red, swollen, and radiating heat, but he decided I must have an abscess. I had a fever of 105 and was barely coherent. All I really knew was a man was suddenly between my…

Our menu any given week usually went something like: skinless baked chicken breast, steamed veg, brown rice; leftover chicken on raw veg and lettuce with homemade oil-free dressing; tilapia, steamed veg, brown rice; leftovers!; chicken sausage, salad, quinoa; me begging for the love of god, anything different, please,…

My dad’s ex robbed him blind in court, then showed up at the house while he was gone to just take whatever else she wanted. My dad’s friend happened to stop by to drop something at the house for him while she was loading all the art in the place into a truck. Luckily, his friend (a burly, intimidating woman who never…

It was...rough. The whole situation has led to some odd, sometimes painful family dynamics that we’re still sorting through 18 years later.

I had my baby at 16, and suffered pretty heavily with PPD. I was extremely lucky that my parents were willing and able to support both of us, but that didn’t mean that having a baby halfway through high school—a baby I didn’t know I was carrying until my water broke in the middle of the night and who was delivered by…

Oh good, I was hoping she wasn’t an actual local.