Today's Soapbox: This Makes Me Sick!

Yemeni Child Bride Dies of Internal Bleading
Those of us who have a choice should be thanking our lucky stars.

Today's Soapbox - Hip Hip Hooray for the FAA

FAA to Allow Pilots to Fly while on Anti-Depressants

I applaud the Federal Aviation Agency for making this bold step towards ensuring pilot safety and mental wellbeing. I had no idea that pilots were not allowed to take anti-depressants without losing their jobs until I heard this on the news today. My first thought was, “how many stories have I heard about pilots flying planes while still drunk after a night on the town with no sleep (I’ve heard countless stories of this behavior from a good friend who was a flight attendant for several years and knows first-hand about pilot shenanigans), but anti-depressants aren’t suitable for flying.” How bass ackwards is that?

Pilots are human beings remember! They aren’t superheroes with superhuman strengths and enhanced mental capacities. They are like the rest of us. I couldn’t imagine how miserable I would feel if I became depressed but couldn’t take medicine for fear of losing my job. Talk about a tail spin into a black hole! More importantly, how scary is it for passengers like myself to be flying in a plane where pilots are self-medicating without consulting a doctor?

As a girl who suffers from anxiety and depression, I am thankful that America is finally waking up and the stigma of depression is slowly disappearing. Depression and anxiety are mental diseases that should be treated with the same respect as cancer and diabetes.

My hope is that pilots who have been scared to come forward in the past will finally have the courage to speak out and seek a proper diagnosis.

Today's Soapbox

Yesterday, I was reading a blog whose author is a copywriter, and one of her posts was about finding something to blog about. She suggested that bloggers go to Google News and write a blog based on some of the news stories they read. I took her advice today and went to Google News. Here are two noteworthy headlines (not copied verbatim) from the past week, on the local and national news fronts: Teacher shoots assistant principal and principal at Knoxville elementary school Professor shoots six, kills three Talk about depressing headlines! My immediate thought is, "Is this nonsense ever going to end?" I mean really, what is America coming to when our educated citizens are the ones shooting up people in our schools and universities? For those of you who have them, what do you tell your children when they don't understand how to deal with anger because they've witnessed the aftermath of their teacher blowing up their principal because she didn't renew his contract. Or better yet, what are we supposed to think when a professor, the apex of our education system, makes the selfish choice to injure and kill her colleagues because she wasn't rewarded tenure. Just go work at another university lady or be thankful that you have a job as a PROFESSOR! I never should have followed the advice of that blogger yesterday because this makes me so angry. Thousands of people have lost their jobs, livelihoods, and faith in this wreckless economy, but they have chosen to be thankful for what remains and to be patient in their search for a happier ending. To me, the hope that these men and women possess is the true picture of what being American means. The media should make a conscious decision to report more stories about these brave Americans and quit giving face time to ignorant shooters! But I'm just saying...