Awkward phone conversations

I'm not one of those people who was born being able to chatter idly.  (Not if we're strangers anyway.)  I loathe those types of conversations.  So, you can imagine how annoyed I get while at work and the phone rings.  Normally the conversations are straightforward, and I can hang up in a matter of seconds.   Yesterday, however, a man kept me on the phone for a good 5 minutes.

He was complaining about drug addicts and dealers.  I know...a bit bizarre and unwarranted, freaking random.  He sounded a little intoxicated or high himself to be honest and at first I thought it was some sort of prank.  I think he meant well and was probably upset with the state of the world;  feeling helpless when people suffer. So he just blamed other people.  My responses were weak. They weren't me necessarily agreeing with the man so much as it was me trying to get off the phone with him quickly.

When I finally did get off the phone, I felt like the biggest turd. I realized at that moment that my fault of not wanting to speak to people for too long enabled this man to speak meanly towards a group of people who just need help.

People who suffer from addictions are easily ignored or mistreated.  They become a target for us to blame the wrongs of the world on.  Because we find their actions ugly or unsavory, we view them as sub-humans.  It's sad.  It's inhumane.  It's wrong.

Addiction is something that a person has no control over even though it is a choice.  They get overtaken by a moment of "feeling good" or in some cases, "feeling nothing",  when the rest of their lives are shit.  So they'll do anything to feel good, no matter how it affects other people or their loved ones.

Though, I speculate that people who have these problems feel alone.  They feel unloved, or worthless.  They bring all their faults to the forefront of their mind until that's what they start to believe.  Drugs, alcohol, cutting, mutilation...they become a sort of friend.  Something that is familiar.  Something that they understand.  The consequences become minuscule because they feel alone anyway, and they feel that they're only hurting themselves.

Now, don't get me wrong.  I'm not saying that they should be excused and that any bad behavior should be ignored.  I'm just saying that maybe instead of blaming them for the wrongs in the world, we should try to find ways to help them.  We enable them to continue on that path when all we do is sit and watch them.

The man who was bashing them on the phone said that if he were God, he would kill all the drug addicts and make them suffer.  How is that right? They're suffering enough.

When did the easiest solution become killing people?  Why is that something that we're ok saying, thinking, and doing?  It's not right. 

There is too much hate in the world.  Too much ignorance and lack of empathy.   This world isn't going to change if we continue to ignore and blame other people.  It's getting worse.

No matter our skin color, religion, or how much money we have (or don't have) in our bank accounts, we need to help each other out.  We need to value each other and focus on being humane to each other.  We need to have more compassion.  There has to be a way to do this.