Speaking up for what is right.....

......is hard to do especially in a small town. While it is great to live in a small town it is not easy to speak up when many in town have conformed to accepting how things have always been. People do not like change, they do not like what they do not understand and conforming to what the majority thinks is right is safe. I say safe because following the crowd usually means you will be accepted by others. Kind of like how kids won't speak up for the victim of bullying as they are afraid the bully will turn on them. The same happens in Social Groups, I on the other hand will speak up for those that have been wronged, those that say it like it is, those that call out a business for doing wrong and for those that cannot speak for themselves. Even in High School, if I saw a kid being picked on I stood up for the kid, if a teacher was unfair, I spoke up. It probably comes from how I was put down at home, I was the underdog at home so I stood up for the underdog everywhere else. I always felt people had a right to be themselves as I always wanted to be accepted for who I am. I always felt judged because I had different views than others in my family and I still get judge for my views. What many do not realize is what I have been through in life has left me with a different perspective on various topics.

Gluten Free in restaurants - A couple of times this has been a 'hot topic' in local social groups. Many restaurants say they have GF options but do not follow GF protocol. This can be dangerous for those with Celiac but when I bring that up, I get bashed saying I am hurting local businesses. I do not want to hurt local businesses but their GF options can, have and will hurt those with Celiac. If they feel that having a GF option is OK then they should state - If you are GF by choice, not need than our food is good for you. If you have Celiac Disease our food is NOT safe for you. In my opinion if they truly want business from those of us with Celiac then they would follow GF protocol and make sure their food is safe for us. I should add that if I really wanted to hurt some local restaurants I would quote what has been said and written by some of the restaurant owners. But I won't because their comments just prove their ignorance to what GF means and I made the choice not to dine at their restaurant. I shake my head at the fact that I am wrong for telling the facts of GF options but people stand up for the restaurant that are misleading customers. What is worse is when I see friends like the comments that stand up for the restaurants, makes me feel that they don't care what happens to my child when my child is contaminated. Knowing my son has classmates that have peanut allergies I make sure that Karl does not take anything with peanut butter to school even though he LOVES PB as I take food allergies seriously. All I ask is that friends and others understand that I stand up for those with Celiac because it is a serious allergy too.

Bullying - There is a large problem with bullying throughout the world and our small town is no different as bullying takes place here too. The problem is many do not want to talk about it, face it or deal with it which only creates a larger problem. The worst are those that act like they want to help but never really follow through with actions. I have seen this in some schools (here and in RI), most likely because many do not understand what bullying is or how it is hurting Society. Back when I was a kid, two people with disagree, get into a fight and all would be done, that is not bullying . Bullying is when one person or a group of people picks on another relentlessly, gangs up on weaker person and/or Socially ruins a person with Slander. I have seen this happen to two of my children for different reasons. K was bullying by 5 kids (one large male) in High School because a boy like her. It got to the point that the Superintendent had to pull her from school for her safety as they threaten to kill her. The school (RI) handle it by telling ALL children to stop, never understood why Karissa was told to stop when she had done nothing wrong. Seven months later and many calls to the school without results, I called the State Department of Education. One phone call from a DOE lawyer, 2 girls were suspended and one arrested. D was bullied on the bus but because students were afraid to say anything so the group of bullies were believed. Only way to stop the bulling for him was to drive him home from school. Whenever there is a story in the media about bullying, everyone says there needs to be more laws, rules and school regulations to stop bullying. There are enough laws, rules and school regulations in place. While I agree schools need to follow them more, they will not stop bullying. In the old days kids were allowed to stand up for themselves, once they defended themselves the bully usually stopped. Nowadays school rules state you cannot defend yourself or you will be punished so kids back down and take the bullying. This is wrong, kids need to be allowed to defend themselves. What message are we sending when a victim is told to walk away and report the action if witnesses are too afraid to speak up and the bully is believed not the victim. Once the bully knows the adults believe him/her then the bullying gets worse for the victim. Then unfortunately some victims feel the only way to get away from the bullying is to take their life. So yes, I will speak up that our town has a bullying problem because every child should be safe in school and should be accepted.

Today while standing up for another Mom's post, someone questioned my comments. I will paraphrase since the post was deleted and I am not sure if I remember the exact words. "you seem to help others but are negative to local business and schools around you."

Well I do work hard to help others and sometimes that means calling out those who do wrong. I have always tried to find the positive in life but sometimes, life sucks, the truth needs to be heard and I will not keep quiet because others feel that being quite is right. I will speak up, state the facts and back up others that have the courage to speak up. Later while cooking I was thinking about the comment of me being negative. Maybe my comments did sound negative that could be because I am tired of many being wronged and the post was about a child getting sick from being glutenized. I do not know the child but I was furious that the child had puked 14 times because of the gluten in their GF food. The Mom that posted about the incident wanted to warn other Celiac families and people were mad, hurt and upset that she spoke the truth. Sorry if the truth hurts but that truth could save another child from being sick all night, could save an adult from having a severe seizure or saving another from believing that 'GF options' mean the food is safe. If a restaurant does not want to be outed for not being 'true gluten free' then they should tell all customers that order GF that the food may be contaminated. Celiac is a serious disease and more people need to understand it.

All in all, I will speak up!!! As much as I wish I could be positive about everything, Life is not always positive. I choose to be honest about what is happening, I choose to stand up for others, I choose to do the right thing in life. What many need to realize is that the right choice is usually the hard choice so stop thinking I should be quiet and realize that there is truth in my message and the issues need to be handled not ignored.