You wouldn’t expect someone with a broken leg to ride a bike, so why would anyone expect someone mentally ill to function normally?

Then again, since most of us are ill to some extent, should we all just cut each other some slack? Where do you establish your boundaries, your baseline level of tolerance, your proverbial line in the sand? Where does your crazy end and mine begin? Do we, should we, accept each other’s craziness and tolerate inappropriate behavior or stand up to it? Is there a safe and respectful way to confront someone’s mistreatment of you when they’re in the midst of a breakdown?

I draw the line at someone else’s behavior affecting my kids. Blow up at me? Fine. Blow up at me in front of my kids? Fuck off. Especially the dude who wanted to scold Owen for crying because “only little girls cry”.

I explained to him my opinion as succinctly as possible while covering Owen’s ears and distracting Nora with the toy display so I could help the gentleman with some directions by using my middle finger to find the nearest exit away from us. Not my finest hour.

You see, I’m not a role model for anyone but these little people think I am so they observe everything I do and their safety relies on me 24/7. If that isn’t crazy making I’m not sure what is. Coupled with my existing level of crazy it’s no wonder my eye twitches. I don’t expect anyone to care about my crazy, cut me slack for my crazy, or save me. Everyone’s life has struggles and mine are no more important than yours.

Most of us would like a guardian angel to appear and bail us out but, those of us functioning at healthy levels of crazy, know that this is a fantasy. The reality is that we struggle, all of us, at different points in our lives and should remember to be kind to one another. We all are stocked up on crazy and hoping for a little less and a little more acceptance. If you’re expecting your misbehavior to be tolerated, try elsewhere.