I debated whether or not to post about this, and I waited a whole day to think about it, but I still feel like I need to say something.
First off, I should say that I've never been addicted to alcohol/drugs/etc, nor have I had someone close to me go through that. So I don't have much experience with it, and I don't mean to preach on the subject. And I don't mean to direct this to Tank specifically. I've just dealt with this sort of thing a bit too frequently in the last few months and I felt a need to vent <g>.
I guess I'm at a point in life where I've had to deal with some very difficult things, and I'm very aware that even when you're in a lot of pain, most people around you have no idea. (I don't mean family, of course they know. I mean coworkers, people you pass on the street, etc.) That makes me a little less judgmental than I might have been in the past. Because you don't know what the person next to you is dealing with, or what drove them to whatever they're doing now.
And I don't think anyone can tell anyone else they haven't suffered much. Because unless you've been there, you really have no idea. Even if you
have been there, it seems insensitive and judgmental to tell that person how they should be reacting or feeling.
And none of us have been where Clark is. Clark's been put into circumstances completely beyond our experience. None of us have been introduced to a 'soulmate', explicitly paraded through how happy life might be with her, and then abandoned with absolutely
no hope of attaining it.
I'm not saying drugs are the way to go. I'm not trying to defend that. I just have more understanding now that people break sometimes. None of us can be strong all the time, and different people handle that in different ways. I don't think we should dismiss what other people are feeling just because they've chosen a 'bad' way to deal with it (be it drugs or some other mechanism).
Getting down off my soapbox now...
Yvonne, I've loved all of this, although I've been quiet in comment folders because mostly I'm a shy person <g>. But I've been happily printing it off in little pieces and taking it to class with me, because I couldn't wait three or four hours until I got home again. It's been painful, and I have no idea how you're going ot fix it, but I've been incredibly impressed throughout with the premise and the writing itself.
Kaylle
