Odd. I didn't know she had any....
2013.09.29
To My Friends
(For this to be effective, you really must take a second or two to imagine each of the following.)
Imagine this for a moment: Someone publishes a book about you titled, “Exposed: The Secret Life of [Your Name Here].” Go ahead, imagine it. Say the title out loud with your first and last name. Feels gross, doesn’t it? This book is filled with nasty lies about you and half-truths distorted to make you look as inhuman and unsalvageably evil as possible. Imagine that in writing this book, the author (or her ghostwriter) consulted with a woman you once briefly knew years ago, who stopped being your friend for reasons so esoteric she sounds like she was reared in the Dark Ages – oh, but at the time those weren’t the reasons she gave you, so she either was dishonest then with you or is now with everyone else, but either way, her mission is to trash you. Then imagine, if you will, that this book, filled with degrading, embarrassing, spurious details about you, however untrue, is dedicated to someone who used to bully, beat, and abuse you so copiously that your body, mind – especially your mind – and soul still bear the scars of these horrific experiences. Imagine also that a portion of the book’s sales are donated to a so-called “Legacy” fund bearing your abuser’s name and founded by people whose burning, twisted desire is to watch you die.
Now, there isn’t much you can do about this book except to mourn it as a tragic and unnecessary waste of trees and keep stepping.
But wait.
Now imagine this: I am your self-professed friend and supporter. But I buy this very book, “Exposed: The Secret Life of [Your Name Here],” thereby instead supporting all of the above and throwing money into the fund named in honor of your abuser and enriching the very people who want you dead.
How would my purchase make you feel? Hurt? Betrayed? Disgusted? Would you still consider me a friend? JAA
