 Well, hello them. I just my brain just stopped working there. Let's try that again So last night I was scrolling through my YouTube comment section and I think I found it guys I think I found the most atrocious comment all within three sentences that I have ever received on YouTube I've been doing this for like five or six years now. This is a momentous day We should celebrate by going through it before I Unveil this gem. I want to address people who are going to say that I shouldn't be responding to haters, right? But like giving ignorance or trolls attention is not a beneficial thing and I've always been very torn on that But I do think that using sometimes not great comments as an example to illustrate bigger points is important and oh boy This comment it's not crude or vile or hateful It is a very clear representation of deep ignorance join me Let's read also the puppies are not in the video today because they refuse to stop playing with each other And so they are very sad relegated to the kitchen looking at me right now first sentence fantastic ma'am You make me feel so much better about myself. I'm really glad I could help right? That's great sentence, too I've always hated the way I look but when I saw you yellow freak I realized how fortunate I am and the piece de resistance I don't think I'm using that correctly the final part that I really want to talk about is you are really brave to Continue living I'd rather shoot myself than live as an incomplete person Let's digest reading this comment This is all phrased as a compliment as almost like giving thanks to me that this person now feels better about themselves in some way And isn't that nice? I'm so glad I could help I don't think that there is a better way to encapsulate how disabled people are Objectified than this comment. I've talked about this a lot before I have such a complicated relationship with the word Inspirational it's something that I am told on a daily basis people will approach me in public or leave comments online Talking about how I'm so inspiring to them. You're such an inspiration Joe And I always say thank you because of course like genuinely Thank you that is a lovely thing to say to someone but sometimes the darker underbelly of it is thank you for Existing as a broken disabled person so that I can feel better about the problems that I have Thank you for being gross to society and somehow still existing good for you So that I can have two minutes of being like wow if her life's so fucked up and she can still go to the grocery store Maybe my problems really aren't that bad. Okay, so the obvious that last line, you know I'd rather shoot myself than live as an incomplete person. I don't think I need to say this to most people But I'm not an incomplete person. I am indeed missing a leg your powers of detection aren't powerful I don't think that this is that subversive of an idea I don't believe that a leg or lack thereof is what gives me personhood or value on the planet And I'm very glad I don't believe those things because I think those ideas are absolute bullshit And the really heartbreaking reality is that people who lose their limbs like end up taking their own lives in part Because of this kind of viewpoint that you are irreparably broken and different and bad and Incomplete and it's not something you can ever fix because your leg ain't growing back One thing that I have noticed since losing my leg and something that I have tried to push back against is the notion that this is Something that is so drastically Different than the experience of an average person on the planet now if you stop to me there and we're like Joe Isn't like 90% of your content about how your life is different as an amputee. Yes But when I'm talking about the loss like the grief of going through something like this for a lot of people the trauma of it It is not that different when you're talking about impact on a human what actually makes us human losing a sibling Going through a severe trauma the list goes on There are horrific things that we often go through as people that fundamentally change us that we feel like pieces of us have Been cut off that we will never be the same that there was a before and an after to this one moment And that piece is very common to our human experiences So no, I am not an incomplete person Because a part of my body is gone this kind of mindset is what contributes to People with disabilities ending their lives or carrying around the shame for the entirety of their existence But they are not as good as or worthy as or deserve to be alive There's a chunk of society that doesn't think disabled people should be around and maybe they're not talking about Exterminating us. I think it is through comments like this and this kind of mindset that like yeah It makes sense if you off yourself if your body is different because who wouldn't this is so horrific and awful and disgusting And gross that oh my god, you would off yourself in a heartbeat and it's always presented as this Compliment, you know, I am applauding you for continuing to live in the face of this adversity But if we think about what is being said a little bit deeper, there's a dark message there I watched this stupid video earlier this week where this girl was talking about Special needs people being at the mall. Why is that allowed because it makes her sad? It makes her sad. Come on guys. Don't cancel me You know it makes you sad too to see those pathetic disabled people, but it's not new news to any of us I make people uncomfortable. We make people uncomfortable simply by our existence And if you are someone who has found yourself in that boat as I have before in my life It's worth examining like why does this make me uncomfortable? What is it about that that scares me or that I'm afraid of we abolished ugly laws Which basically meant disabled people weren't allowed in public because it's sad and the normie shouldn't have to see sad Additionally going back to that second comment I've always hated the way that I look but when I saw you I realized how fortunate I am it really speaks to this like tokenism and Objectification of disability. There are basically two kinds of disabled people that you are allowed to be one is the sad pathetic disabled person Who never leaves their house and deserves nothing but pity and the other is the continually inspirational Disabled person who is always positive and overcomes adversity and there's really nothing in between We're a little uncomfortable with like the middle ground of two things can be true at the same time You can live your life and struggle You can overcome things and grieve what you've lost when I've made videos talking about the Sadness or the grief or the loss I'll get pushed back from people who have previously left comments being like oh my god You're so inspiring on a video when I'm like running and then that same person will comment on a video where I'm talking about like This is a hard time or my prosthetic broke or I have to have more surgery or like This is just really freaking hard to live in a society that is not built for disabled people But when I say that out loud I am suddenly transformed from the palatable nice inspirational disabled person into the kind that we don't like and and I'll Get pushed back you should be more positive or like be thankful for what you do have from the same people who just called me inspirational because I am no longer the little piece of candy that they can take for two seconds to feel better about their own lives and That is the reason why I Sometimes have difficulty with being called inspirational because sometimes that is canceled out the second that I show a shred of humanity of Difficulty dealing with something because it challenges someone's view and I have now ruined their image of this like childlike Inspiring creature for them. So hey, I made this person feel better about how much they hate their body Maybe now they love their bodies. Heck. I hope that they do genuinely but like at my expense How is it my video that like changed everything for you? Have you not seen other disabled people existing in society ever guys? I had surgery a week ago. It's where this like new next car has come from I think they also removed some of the chill that I had and I'm feeling very sassy this week a long story short Don't don't be this person don't leave comments like this Don't tell someone that you now can accept yourself because they are so gross to you and yet they're still existing So maybe you should love yourself too. Don't call people incomplete because they're disabled. Thank you so much for listening I truly appreciate do my amazing patrons over on patreon. I truly appreciate your generosity Thank you for making these videos possible if you're watching this video right now You could have been anywhere else in the world doing anything else yet You chose to hang out with me here for a few minutes and I truly appreciate that I love you guys I'm thinking about you and I will see you in the next video. Bye guys