Coca Cola Company Hurt Me: The Sad Truth

I normally and keep my posts light and fun, but today I am sad and upset. Very recently one of America's favorite brands created a bottle cap on one of it's products that has forever changed my view of the company. The cap says "You Retard."

First, let me just address this statement broadly. If I was opening a Vitamin Water Zero and read this statement I would be upset. It wouldn't even matter if I had a loved one who had developmental delays or not. Imagine that you were struggling with your weight and had just finished an awesome workout at the gym. You decided to rehydrate with this beverage and you are called a "retard" by the Coca Cola Company. Bet that made you feel great, didn't it? NO ONE wants to be called derogatory words!

Secondly, I DO have a loved one with disabilities. Here's where the mama bear in me comes out! It hurts and offends me every time I hear this word used because it is meant to be offensive to my son and all other people who are delayed. Lots of people have said things like, "It was only meant to be a joke" or "It's just a slang term, you need to relax." Well, guess what? The words ni**er, fa**ot, bi**h, j*w, ch**k, etc. are all slang terms! And I suppose if a person truly did not care about the feelings of the people in each of these people groups, they might choose to use these terms with the intended meaning behind them. However, I feel like MOST people are good at heart. I do not think that the majority of humans intend to hurt one another and attempt to avoid doing so. Hence the reason that the aforementioned words are avoided by most people and are considered "bad words". And you know what, I applaud humanity, on a whole for realizing the power in words and avoiding terms that hurt others. That being said, please understand that the "r" word is every bit as hurtful as the "n" word to those of us who have disabilities and those of us who love people who do.

So, I will end by saying, we are kinder than this word. We are smarter than this word. And on the whole, we are more loving than this word. I am saddened by Coca Cola, but I am uplifted by YOU, the people who care enough to choose a different word.