Full disclosure: I am not Fred Rogers, nor do I play him on TV, and I especially am no one who can hold himself out as a model of forum behavior.
That said: this thread was inevitably going to segue at some point into a discussion of vaccines, and then the anti-vaxxers.
I made what I thought was a benign joke about the latter group. In fact, when my patients come in after a flu shot, and I ask them how they feel, they often say, "Fine, except a little soreness at the injection site, plus I'm feeling a tad autistic." I do treat a number of physicians. Now, some could think that this is generally in poor taste, but it's a slight against a group many think are causing a great public disservice and with serious potential consequences. This was NOT any joke about those with autism.
Now,
@Wetworks took this the wrong way, and went so far as to call me a dickhead. But here's the thing: he has a child with autism. And no one, including me, can judge the fact that he got a little emotional until we walk a mile in his shoes. A child with a chronic illness is a devastating thing. I know. I have one.
My point: we often don't know a person's back story, what baggage they have, what traumas life has given them, what they're currently struggling with. So, a note to me and everyone else when we get too clinically logical and ruthless with our responses: be kind.
And a shout-out to
@Dan S and
@JwRosenthal, who always manage to be gentlemen even when the going gets quite bumpy.
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