Originally Posted by KathyM

Curious

I take it you're not aware my favorite past-time is hanging out with the homeless on the streets of Chicago.

I take it you're not aware I grew up on the streets of Chicago. I take it you are not aware I was married to a black man, with him for 10 years, and encountered MANY people filled with rage. I've had plenty of encounters with schizophrenic "mad men and women" I've been shot at from a distance, had a loaded shotgun pointed at my nose, backed into a corner and threatened with death by a shovel, and ran for my life FAR too many times to count - beginning at the age of 10. Go ahead, call me Pollyanna again.

I understand where you are coming from. It's scary to live a life without fear, but IMO fear alone does not justify murder.

If I approach you on the street, dressed in rags, stumbling from the ataxia and equilibrium problems, mumbling incoherently because amyloid is in my voice box and my mouth doesn't work - will you recognize me and smile, or will you draw your gun and call the cops? Will you see me as a drunk/drug addict, or will you see me as a person suffering from a rare illness or someone who broke down and tried to take pain killers to ease her pain?

I'm going to dedicate this one to this poor chatty homeless woman who was labeled a menace to society and grew into an "evil cop killer."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irp8CNj9qBI