I have gotten so much blow-back from social media it has compelled me to write the following. When I was attending Dodsen Jr. High School in San Pedro, California (the only time I spent more than six months at one school) I met a girl whom I thought hated me. She was so standoffish. I had no idea why she hated me; she did not even know me.
Well, in ninth grade (Jr. High goes to ninth grade there) I ran into her on the first day of school. I was trying to outpace her on the way to class, but she pulled up alongside me and said "hi". I was stunned. Being the straight-forward person I am I said, "I thought you did not like me?" She looked at me and said, "I thought you did not like me!" You see, Connie Whiteside stood six feet tall, which was a little out-of-place for a female in junior high school, and she endured heartless teasing/harassment. We ended up walking to class together and became good friends.
I have one other story. Wendy. While my father was still stationed in Huntington Beach (San Pedro housing), I was walking home from school one day when a girl I had never seen before blocked my path on the sidewalk and began that shoving shit people do when they want to fight. I tried to walk around her, and she blocked me again. I tried the other side with the same results. She just kept shoving me. Now, as a kid I never understood fighting (I have since grown up). I saw absolutely no reason for this confrontation. (Did I mention she was/is black?) She kept pushing, I kept trying to walk around her, and eventually in her frustration she said, "Hit me! Hit me! Why don't you hit me!" to which I replied, "I do not even know you! Why do I want to hit you?" She stood there in complete shock for several seconds before she finally said, "Well, do you want to walk home with me?" LMAO! And we did, and we became good friends until her family was transferred.
My point is this: We all have baggage. People take one statement or action made by a complete stranger and draw all kinds of inferences without having the facts. I have learned in my many years of life that most of the time these inferences turn out to be incorrect. Not always, but a good portion of the time. People judge me because I am hard-nosed, so obviously I am a hateful, despicable, piece-of-shit. OR, maybe I am coming from a background where I cut through the crap more quickly than most and people cannot handle it. I can count the number of close friends I have had on one hand. I am not in a popularity contest. In fact, I was never an activist until a few years ago when the utter nonsense I was seeing drove me to it.
People wonder why I got involved in PizzaGate. In large part it is because I know what it is like to tell the truth and have everyone go out of their way to discredit you, to the point of challenging your mental health. I have been there. I know the sick feeling you get when you realize no one is listening and in fact have launched an all-out assault on your character. It does not feel good.
So, what does this have to do with PizzaGate? Everything. The character assassination is in full swing. If investigators do not have spines made of steel they will fall apart. We ALL have baggage. We ALL have skeletons (some more sick than others). We need to be prepared. For those who are sick, I have no sympathy. For those who are human I want to say this: Be ready for everything you have ever said or done in your life to be plastered all over the New York Times. IT. IS. OK. So what? Your detractors will love it; those who love you will defend you. SO. WHAT? We are all human. We have all said and/or done things that are embarrassing. It will pass. Do not allow this campaign to deter you from pursuing justice. Let it fly. Go right ahead. People who pursue truth will understand. Those who do not pursue truth are not worth our energy.
Fight on.
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