Awww, Rivka - thanks for posting despite the cold.
Kaylle:
I'm very aware that even when you're in a lot of pain, most people around you have no idea.
This is so, so, true! Been there, got the t-shirt, as they say. I can remember thinking 'if they only knew how bad things are for me, they would be a little kinder' - but you can't actually bring yourself to say anything, because that would be whinging and/or asking for sympathy.
And thank you for your very honest comments - I'm glad you posted
As it happens, I (in my usual fence-sitting way) can agree with both Tank and you. My gut reaction is to think that addicts are weak and very, very stupid people, but then again, I try hard to understand and sympathise with their predicament and the reasons why they ended up the way they are. In Clark's defence, I don't think he would have even suspected he could become addicted to anything - drugs don't work on him, and he quite possibly wouldn't view red kryptonite as a drug in any case. So the addiction crept up on him, so to speak.
Is he a weak, snivelling wretch who doesn't deserve our sympathy? Personally, I don't think so (there's a surprise <g>), because at least he has the strength to fight his addiction. Having got himself into a mess, he's man enough to recognise he's in a mess, it's his own fault, and he has to fix it. Yes, he needed a helping hand to get started, but I think you really would have to be superhuman to recognise your own problems when you're so low as he was. Anyone who's had a long term illness will understand what I mean - you generally don't realise just how ill you are until you're better again. Then you look back and wonder how you ever survived.
On the question of Lois, my lips are sealed. <g>
Yvonne
