Us and Them
By Cathy Jameson
I never liked Pink Floyd until I was an adult. As a child, I thought their music was ‘old people music’. I apologize for being so naïve. I liked several other artists from the 1960s and 70s when they were very popular when I was younger, but it wasn’t until I was an adult myself that I grew to appreciate Pink Floyd. I don’t know if it’s the lyrics, the instruments, the vocals or a combination of all of that that finally drew them to me. When I hear a Pink Floyd song now, I am immediately mesmerized so much so that I tune everything else out to listen to what’s coming from my speakers. That happened to me when I heard Us and Them last week.
Us (us, us, us, us) and them (them, them, them, them)
And after all we're only ordinary men
Me
And you (you, you, you)
God only knows
It's not what we would choose (choose, choose) to do (to do, to do)…
Maybe it’s because I’m older, but the lyrics of that song speaks volumes to me now. I’m sure being the mom to a medically-fragile child has something to do with it, too. I didn’t choose what happened to my child, but consequences from events that I allowed, that contributed to long-term medical problems, affected him poorly. Those consequences affected both of us, and may continue to, for the rest of our lives.
In the beginning, I thought I could live with the outcome of what happened to Ronan. He lost skills. He lost the ability to speak. Since he had them once before, I figured I’d just work to reverse the damage the vaccines caused and get him those skills back. Ronan was young. Time was on our side. It was just a few vaccines. Surely, recovery was a possibility. And I thought I was being naïve about my taste in rock bands…ha! Recovery is possible for some individuals, but it hasn’t happened for my child. It is a hope for our family, but I have yet to find full restoration for my son.
Before my son got sick, I would’ve consider the people we were to be assigned to work with me on an Us and Them level. In the early years, we saw plenty of specialists and spoke to countless medical people. But the more intense things got as I looked for help and for answers, Hey, doc, could it be the vaccines that caused this??, it became an Us versus Them situation. It still is that way when I approach certain people, and I know that other parents have faced similar experiences.
Us Parents fighting The Establishment.
Be it a doctor, a nurse, a school nurse, a therapist, a school administrator, a teacher, or lately, a politician or elected official, some people take pleasure in saying no to moms like me. It takes a lot of patience, time, knowledge, and emotion to raise a special needs child. As time goes by, one would hope that things might have gotten a little bit easier. For parents in our community, it seems like some parts of life are getting harder. We’re not just fighting for our kids’ medical needs and educational needs like in the early days. These days, we’re also fighting for our rights, including ones that have already been established. Instead of going forward with some people who sit in positions of power, it feels like we’re going backwards. Until Us vs. Them dissolves, I don’t think we’ll get a chance to make too much progress. I do believe that it could be better for both sides. But the fact that there are “sides” negates that possibility.
Us and Them.
Will we ever be able to go back to that? Complete harmony hasn’t always existed in the world, but could we find time to have civil discussions? To see eye-to-eye? To treat each other with respect? To set vaccine differences aside? To work together and put children first? With how politicized everything has become, to include vaccinations, I think we’re a long way off from any sort of Us and Them relationship. They aren’t willing to work with Us. And we’re not going to jeopardize our kids or their health for Them. We did that once already. It’s something I know many parents will never allow to happen again.
Us vs. Them.
…who'll deny it's what the fighting's all about?
Out of the way
It's a busy day
I've got things on my mind…
Those lyrics.
That song.
When I heard it recently, I was once again mesmerized.
As I listened to one of my now favorite songs on the radio, I was whisked somewhere else and to some time else, where things were not so hard, where I never had to worry about expressing my convictions, when I never had to defend myself as much as I do today. I miss those days and pray they will return sometime soon.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDbeqj-1XOo
Cathy Jameson is a Contributing Editor for Age of Autism.
Some sectors of medical science appears to have caught an industry strength dose of the "Fuzzy Wuzzies" Only tratment option available is a longitudinal gentle skelp arond the back-side of its own dear perception, straight into the middle of next week?
Them- Speaking out of both sides of the one mouth at the same time say!
All vaccines are safe and effective . All vaccines are unavoidably unsafe.
Poem By Emily Dickinson.
Tell all the truth but tell it slant
Success in Curcuit lies
Too bright for our infirm Delight
The Truth's superb surprise
As Lightening to the children eased
With explanation kind
The Truth must dazzle gradually
Or every man be blind .
17 year old Murray Allan Mearns Academy Aberdeenshire now permanently expelled from school .
Go fund me page to help him find another school/college placement had raised a couple of thousand puonds to support him with this . Go fund me set up cancelled, with no explanation and all donations refunded . Similar experience as Professor Chris Exley situation!
Orwellian or what?
"The other 1984" Slade Runaway Youtube
Well done Muray! The school needs to stick its emotionally /psychologically bullying policy presentation -right up their own jumpers !
Posted by: Morag | July 09, 2019 at 03:05 AM
Aimee, you gave me a chuckle which is always good for my well-being. From Wikipedia on Pink Floyd:
The group first referred to themselves as the Pink Floyd Sound in late 1965. Barrett created the name on the spur of the moment when he discovered that another band, also called the Tea Set, were to perform at one of their gigs.[20] The name is derived from the given names of two blues musicians whose Piedmont blues records Barrett had in his collection, Pink Anderson and Floyd Council.[21]
Posted by: michael | July 08, 2019 at 11:35 AM
Welllll, it was not just a few vaccines for my kiddos, I just kept a going cause I had the education and I knew what the professors had told my dear children's pediatricians.
Pink Floyd part 2 in "Another Brick in the Wall" said it best.
We don't need no education
We don't need no thought control.
No dark sarcasm in the classroom
Teacher leave them kids alone
Hey, teacher, leave 'em kids alone
All in all it's just another brick in the wall
All in all you're just another brick in the wall
We don't need no education
We don't need no thought control
No dark sarcasm in the classroom
Teachers leave them kids alone
Home schooling would have been best before the vaccine injuries.
Home schooling would have been best after the vaccine injuries.
Especially the youngest cause school took up precious time from one on one with me trying to catch him up.
Posted by: Benedetta | July 07, 2019 at 11:20 PM
pft-the 50s and 60s were better times and I watch all my favorite tv shows from those days on a channel called metv and it brings me back to simpler times when you could walk around your neighborhood all night if you wanted to and go trick or treating all alone with your friends and no parent chaperones, and nobody trying to lure you into a car and the safety that was so wonderful. We grew up in very good years and we all got measles, mumps, chicken pox, etc. and were sick for a week or two and then it was over and back to school and a normal life. These illnesses were part of everyone's childhood and nobody suffered any severe effects from them at all. Just part of growing up without big pharma shoving needless vaccines on unsuspecting parents all in the name of PROFIT. We, the families, are now left to care for our children for as long as we live. Our children were sadly born at the wrong time in history when the greed of the pharma industry sacrificed our children's safety, again, for the sake of huge profits. And the tragedy continues to this very day.
Posted by: Gayle | July 07, 2019 at 09:35 PM
I'm definitely going to check out Pink FLoyd. I knew about him, of course, but I wasn't familiar with his music.
Thanks, Cathy!
Posted by: Aimee Doyle | July 07, 2019 at 05:13 PM
Remember when doctors made house calls, milkmen delivered milk and eggs to your door, playgrounds and baseball fields for kids being open 24/7 , 30 cent gasoline, and rabbit ears on your TV? Well, except for the last one those were good things
Of course, many kids grew up in a cloud of 2nd hand smoke, DDT was said to be safe and sprayed everywhere, lead in paint, the air pollution in urban areas (oh my), and the fad of tonsillectomy’s. Try telling your doctor you didn't believe in the latter after your child came down with a sore throat.
While there were civil discussions there were issues that were not so civilly discussed. Russia, abortion, vietnam war, bussing, civil rights, etc. Many punches thrown over those issues
Asking someone who sits or stands next to you not to smoke ? Good luck.
And we did have vaccination. Polio vaccines contaminated with SV-40. An early measles vaccine that was quite harmful and ineffective. I was too young to remember doctor-patient discussion and my mother has Alzheimers but I doubt refusing a polio vaccine for your child went over well.
That said? I do find myself watching a lot of 50’s and early 60’s shows. They seem like better times.
Posted by: Pft | July 07, 2019 at 05:00 PM
These days you cant say its a good morning as someone will have a different opinion and be offended..Ill turn the volume up..much safer and enjoyable!
Pharma For Prison
MMR RIP
Posted by: Angus Files | July 07, 2019 at 03:24 PM
"Haven't you heard, it's a battle of words..."
Pink Floyd provides a fitting soundtrack to our dystopian nightmare.
Posted by: nhokkanen | July 07, 2019 at 02:08 PM
This reminded me of many years ago when a doctor criticized me for what he called a "them and us attitude". I wish I had thought to reply, "It's not us who have a them and us attitude, it's them."
Posted by: Grace Green | July 07, 2019 at 09:20 AM
"Will we ever be able to go back to that? Complete harmony hasn’t always existed in the world, but could we find time to have civil discussions? To see eye-to-eye? To treat each other with respect? To set vaccine differences aside? To work together and put children first?"
"Civil discussions"? Respect for each other? Work together and put children first?
Not bloody likely in a world where vaccine "tyranny" prevails .. not only are there no "civil discussions" .. there are no discussions at all .. indeed .. all signs indicate the little opportunity to "disagree" via social networks .. facebook, twitter, etc … are being eliminated as were most philosophical, medical and religious exemptions.
TYRANNY DOES NOT ALLOW "CIVIL DISCUSSIONS" .. and .. make no mistake about it .. we live under the TYRANNY OF A VACCINE INDUSTRY THAT HAS GONE COMPLETELY MAD .. NO DIFFERENT THAN WHEN THE TYRANT WAS MAD KING GEORGE.
Posted by: Bob Moffit | July 07, 2019 at 06:34 AM