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But You Don't Look Sick

What An Excuse to Slur Someone

By Iria Vasquez-PaezPublished 3 years ago 3 min read
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For those who do not look sick, they have a practice of navigating their chronic illness while out in the world only because they know some folks lack the ability to see their illness through. If someone looks "fine" to you, you do not see that they have some underlying illness like lupus (for example, which Lady Gaga has) or rheumatoid arthritis that is causing them immense pain. Hence why I want to start a dating service for chronically ill folk but that goes on my after 2020 business ideas list. But you don't look sick, who says? Somebody who looks fine may in fact actually need a disabled parking space only for the sake of getting one.

What floors me is why normal people feel the need to mentally or emotionally abuse a disabled person? I mean I was at a mental illness organization in my hometown and I managed to deal with stigma related to my diabetes. I'm traumatized by family drama, which means nobody is getting a dime until somebody talks to me about it, but I'm not going around defining somebody's disability to his or her face. I mean some people have chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia, which is definitely invisible.

Never tell a sick or disabled person that they look fine because you really don't know. I don't look my age, guys, but I'm fed up with this situation of people assuming that I don't have any chronic illness going on because I look young and spry. I exited my last relationship only because I felt that it was wasting my time, and not respecting my illness of having a knee injury. This knee injury is now healed up nicely. I refuse to get back together with the Ex though, period, since he's a mean person who says mean things.

If someone doesn't look sick, people do not assume. Some people have chronic fatigue from long-term exposure to stressful conditions. But anyway, I'm working on finding myself a job. This situation is making me sick with stress/worry/fear. I'm wondering what jobs I could get with the current coronavirus crisis, since some jobs are remote due to COVID. I'm trying to keep myself optimistic and well, while avoiding people who could have it. I wear a mask, I wash my hands. But you don’t look sick they think, because I look 20 years younger.

Just because I do not look my age, doesn't mean that I don't have osteoarthritis also known as wear and tear arthritis. I can tell good pay phone jokes, along with Bill Clinton jokes. I also have floppy disc jokes in my head that need to be told. But anyway, yes, I'm fed up with people not assuming I'm sick, I infuse, I have type 1 diabetes, the virus is something I cannot afford to get. I'm pretty much living by myself until I get a roommate which is soon, and something I have to tell people about . I will be calling in Social Security next week.

Nobody knows how painful my life gets because they assume I'm not ill when some stuff that is exclusive to women makes me very ill. I'm using birth control for it, but it wasn't suppressed this time around. At any rate I'm working on getting myself a job, a good job, although I feel like I'm never going to find anything right now. But you don't look sick, is something futile to tell a sick person you cannot look at to judge as sickly. Not everybody can push through his or her pain. The brave new world of COVID is affecting every single man, woman, and child on this planet.

We chronically ill folks deserve resources as to how to get away from our families, more money, and less stress. SSI is maybe changing the amounts in January. I'm not sure about this one but I got an email in my box about this as they are trying to go paperless along with everybody else. I'm fed up with people going, nah, she doesn't look type 1 diabetic… no… yes I have it. Future workplaces, deal with it.

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About the Creator

Iria Vasquez-Paez

I have a B.A. in creative writing from San Francisco State. Can people please donate? I'm very low-income. I need to start an escape the Ferengi plan.

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