#flunking out of this program on purpose out of spite

[butchmammon]

need to write a lil something about an mc with adhd spiraling into burnout bc of the workload from the RAD and seeking support and accommodations from the siblings & diavolo

[mathewryf]

This makes me think about someone in my life right now. He's in his 80s, and he's lost a lot of the physical ability I remember him having.

He watches a lot of news that's very right-leaning, and we have our political disagreements. But he's also been a father figure for my sisters and I since we were 14.

For all of our political differences, there's a million more good memories and good deeds shared between all of us.

In particular he helped me pick my ass up out of flunking middle school and high school.

Most people would think someone struggling with grades would need help studying, but anyone who knew me back than knew that was the only place I didn't need help. I barely studied at all outside of class and I still sat among the highest scores in class, if not THE highest. It was to the point that, at one of the schools I attended, the director of the STEM program pulled me into the office with the most befuddled look I've ever seen.

The real cause of my nearly flunking out was rooted entirely in what I'm now recognizing as undertreated disabilities. Even still, at the time I was an enigma. "If I'd just apply myself..." was something I heard endlessly.

Now, the man I'm talking about, he was just as lost in what was going on with me as the rest of the adults in my life. In spite of that, though, he stuck around to help my sisters and I pull ourselves together.

His approach to helping me started at the most important part of my daily life, and the part that bears the heaviest load in my life now:

Giving me motivation to get out of bed.

I'm serious. As simple as that sounds, without that constant effort I would have never made it anywhere.

At first it started a lot more forceful than I'd like. He bought a super soaker specifically for the purpose of getting me to stand up. Much as I hated it at the time, it worked. And it didn't take long for him to stop using it because there was something waiting for me every morning.

A scrambled egg and chocolate milk.

Once again it sounds simple, but it was enough that I eventually was able to get myself out of bed on my own. It got to the point I was ready to go before I sat down to eat.

Now truth be told, that whole sequence of events only happened regularly over the course of a semester. BUT. It created a habit. More importantly, it planted the seeds in my mind of how to motivate myself to get up and start the day.

It was at that time that I took a step towards making my own motivation. Namely, I learned to cook the scrambled egg myself!

From then on I would think to myself "I need to get out of bed on-time tomorrow so I can cook an egg." Over and over I focused on that.

And finally, at last, I learned how to take that thought process, and apply it to more than the egg.

"I gotta get up, I gotta go to school."

"I gotta get up, I want to play video games."

"I gotta get up, my dog needs a walk."

"I gotta get up."

"I want to get up."

It's seems so simple.

But because he did that, I graduated a year early, and I eventually managed to land a job and hold it long enough to move up a little bit.

Without him, I wouldn't be able to tell myself, every day, "I want to get up."

Of course I am returning the favor ten-fold. When he needs help, I'm there. Just like he was for me.

there’s something so sad about how we treat old people nowadays. historically, humans have accomplished so many great things because we valued our elders, took care of them, and gave them meaningful retirement. meanwhile we have seniors aged 60+ working in retail just to survive. can you imagine working your entire life, just to work until you die? in fucking retail? 

old people are not useless, they’re not a drain on the economy, and theyre not all bigoted windbags. theyre people! people! who have lived their entire fucking lives under capitalism. they deserve to retire peacefully and pursue their interests during the final years of their lives. they deserve to be taken care of. they deserve to go with dignity. 

there’s a hundred things wrong with how society views old people, but i never see anyone talking about it.