Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Just my $0.02 on "religious" businesses

     I've been reading a lot of posts on Facebook about religiously affiliated businesses that are fighting the mandate to provide health insurance to all employees. They say it is because they don't believe in allowing employees access to contraceptives and the "morning after" pill. They have the right to believe whatever their religion teaches, but that does not give them the right to tell other businesses how to operate.
     I won't go into the government mandate. That is a separate conversation, that I'm STILL not sure what I think about. BUT, I know how I feel about access to oral contraceptive medication. There were several times in my life where my doctors put me on birth control, not to avoid pregnancy, but because I had other medical conditions that the hormones were necessary to control. I won't lie about enjoying the benefits of birth control a time or two, but there was also the time I had been trying to get pregnant, but my long-term health was more important to me than a chance of becoming a parent. I know there are other women who have to face this choice. Or, like another woman I know, know that pregnancy will likely mean a death sentence. Should they be forced to reject am important part of a committed, relationship when there are other options available?
     I don't think it's fair for these companies to attempt to dictate how their employees should live when they are not at work. This is one of the many reasons I will continue to choose not to spend my money with businesses who clam to be "Christian companies". I won't name who they are, because those who know which stores I mean don't need to be told. And while I don't care for these companies, I respect then enough not to speak poorly of them in a public forum.
     Thank you for listening to my rant. I just got a little frustrated when my Facebook feed was once again full of posts about this...again...

Sunday, November 4, 2012

I don't know what's going on

     I don't know how I ended up where I am lately. I'm back into this ugly funk, where I feel like no one wants to be around me. I know this isn't really true. It's just... People around me have their own personal lives, and I'm still used to sometime who demanded I spend every minute with them. Last night, I had several bad dreams about people telling me to go away. They ranged from me being a child, and hearing "This is grown-up stuff, go play," to being myself and having friends point and laugh while I say in a corner away from everyone else.
     I just can't seem to shake this. Even though I know the truth is merely that I live on a different schedule from the rest of the world. But would it change if I could get off of night shift? I don't like these feelings, and I don't know how to deal with them anymore. And I don't know how to tell this to the people who are around me.
     All it took to set me off this time was a situation involving some friends, but not me. I was having a good time hanging out, until they needed to discuss their problem. I was very politely asked to give then the necessary privacy, but I still went from having social contact, to being trapped by myself again. A few minutes turned into the entire night and hours of bad dreams.
     Now it's early in the morning. Everyone else is doing their thing, such as sleeping. I'm watching TV and debating whether to go out for breakfast by myself