We’d like to remind Forumites to please avoid political debate on the Forum.
This is to keep it a safe and useful space for MoneySaving discussions. Threads that are – or become – political in nature may be removed in line with the Forum’s rules. Thank you for your understanding.
📨 Have you signed up to the Forum's new Email Digest yet? Get a selection of trending threads sent straight to your inbox daily, weekly or monthly!
Query - Epilepsy, Seizures and Brainstorms
Comments
-
- posted about a year ago, its an illness, just that, 50 years later its still an illness, no one should change the word, changing a word that is used without malice is a pointless excessively politically correct endeavour without purpose. If someone intends malice they will do it anyway with or without the word.
Reproduced
1964, French polisher for a big retailer north of England, sitting in the canteen getting my bacon banjo. The canteen was buzzing with the story of ' joe bloggs ' who was getting the sack because he was a ' grand mal fitter '
The lads would not work with him, he was [ they said ] somewhere between unsafe and frightening. The Union man was a useless wimp, and during the heated discussion I ' blurted ' the blokes ok, your a pack of ****'s - I'll work with him. The manager approached me with the Union man in tow later that day and explained that he was a liability, the customers were afraid of him and his workmates said he was hurting their bonus because of the many times per day he was ' foaming at the mouth '.
Long story short, I challenged the manager to give him a 13 week chance as my ' van lad ' he offered a month. BTW the man concerned was about 35 plus years old.
- he did ' foam at the mouth '
- he did fit at least twice and sometimes six times a day
- I usually found him behind a couch or bed where he had crawled when he felt the ' aura ' coming on
- the customers were afraid .. .. until I turned him into a recovery position and put a hankie under his mouth
- when I explained the situation to them, they were great and made him [ and me ] a cuppa
- he did more soddin work in an hour than any previous ' van lad ' did in a week, and matched my workrate, he was a good bloke
- he was ' kept ' on by that company and was still working there more than 10 years after I left their employment
I met someone from those days about ten years ago and asked about the ' grand mal fitter ' and was told he retired from the company in the middle 90's on a full pension.Disclaimer : Everything I write on this forum is my opinion. I try to be an even-handed poster and accept that you at times may not agree with these opinions or how I choose to express them, this is not my problem. The Disabled : If years cannot be added to their lives, at least life can be added to their years - Alf Morris - ℜ0 -
clivejohnson wrote: »Totally agree with you- only one thing to (politically!) correct Epilepsy is not an illness-it's a condition.:beer::D0
-
out of interest would you find the terms "!!!!!!,or looney" offensive?
Your getting a little hung up on labelling. It's attitudes like your own that create fear around open, honest discussion about conditions.
For someone who doesn't want to be labelled, you seem to be doing a great job of labelling yourself!
as a ....0 -
Actually you are incorrect too, epilepsy is actually a group of conditions- there are over 40 types, and they are now collectively known among epileptologists as "the epilepsies".
- Koicarp.. if clivejohnson is wrong and epilepsy [ collective epilepsies ] is/are not an illness/condition, what do you think epilepsy is ?Disclaimer : Everything I write on this forum is my opinion. I try to be an even-handed poster and accept that you at times may not agree with these opinions or how I choose to express them, this is not my problem. The Disabled : If years cannot be added to their lives, at least life can be added to their years - Alf Morris - ℜ0 -
I've known people to describe the weather as "a bit bipolar", now i could take offence and say they are trivialising the condition but to be honest it's just a phrase. And as much as i'm not overly keen on people introducing me as "the crazy one" i don't particularly take offence to it. Hell i even describe myself as crazy. I might get a bit offended if people started calling my a psycho though i have had psychotic episodes so it's actually kind of descriptive in a way.
Its all subjective anyway, what one person finds offensive another won't.This is a system account and does not represent a real person. To contact the Forum Team email forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com0 -
Richie-from-the-Boro wrote: »Its been doing the rounds for years, its just more political correctness from the word police.
You are so right, PC nonsense. Sorry, but if you find it offensive, I suggest you go and lock yourself away somewhere. Rofl, what next, don't call me disabled, I am physically challanged! Lol0 -
Brassedoff wrote: »You are so right, PC nonsense. Sorry, but if you find it offensive, I suggest you go and lock yourself away somewhere. Rofl, what next, don't call me disabled, I am physically challanged! Lol
It always annoyed me when an ex would ask for things in a strange way - 'could you help me please, because my girlfriend's - [lean in and whisper] disabled?' Always made me feel like he was saying I was weak. Was probably the way he said it most, though - he did tend towards passive aggression behaviours.
I on the other hand would say something like 'can you give us a hand carrying this, please?'. Practical help requested, not trying to elicit sympathy first.
Bah, humbug. The ex was a !!!! and I'm a stroppy cow. Can't change who I am, no amount of taking imaginary offence on my behalf is going to change that.I could dream to wide extremes, I could do or die: I could yawn and be withdrawn and watch the world go by.Yup you are officially Rock n Roll0 -
Odd isn't it? Taking umbrage at being described as epileptic, diabetic but people are practically queueing up to claim DLA and proudly declare themselves 'disabled'. Still I suppose there is no money in simply being diabetic.0
-
Richie-from-the-Boro wrote: »- Koicarp.. if clivejohnson is wrong and epilepsy [ collective epilepsies ] is/are not an illness/condition, what do you think epilepsy is ?
As I said above- a group of conditions. Epilepsy is not one condition- that thinking is years out of date.
If anyone is interested in epilepsy this is the place to visit for quality information: http://www.epilepsy.org.uk/info and this is where to go to find out how to help somebody having a seizure: http://www.epilepsy.org.uk/campaigns/take-epilepsy-action you could save a life.0 -
krisskross wrote: »That sounds like just word play. As far as I am concerned both statements mean the same thing.
I agree and I'm epileptic. As far as I'm concerned it's a quicker way of saying it should I have to tell anyone. It doesn't define me at all.
I can't see for a second why 'brainstorm' is offensive, it's not used in relation to epilepsy.
The reason that '!!!!!!' and 'looney' are now offensive is because they were used as derogatory terms. To my knowledge no one has started using 'epileptic', 'diabetic' or 'brainstorming' as a derogatory term, so why are they offensive?"Good financial planning is about not spending money on things that add no value to your life in order to have more money for the things that do". Eoin McGee0
This discussion has been closed.
Confirm your email address to Create Threads and Reply

Categories
- All Categories
- 352.1K Banking & Borrowing
- 253.6K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
- 454.2K Spending & Discounts
- 245.1K Work, Benefits & Business
- 600.7K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
- 177.5K Life & Family
- 258.9K Travel & Transport
- 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
- 16.1K Discuss & Feedback
- 37.6K Read-Only Boards