My use of the word "retard" in my stories.

Having a step-child who works with developmentally disabled children and is seeking a career in helping them (something I think is awesome), I wanted to clear the air about my use of the word retard and variants therein.

A person with a learning disability, a developmental condition, neurological trauma, or any of the multitude of ways that person might grow up needing assistance...to me is not a retard. Never have been, never will be. What they are going through is not their fault and every reasonable effort should be made to allow them to live out a happy and comfortable life. They have the same rights regarding Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness as the rest of us.

So why do I use the word retard? Because I have to deal with educated people. People who have gone to college. College which today is very computer intensive. There are online classes, online research material, they need to type up reports and papers to get their degrees.

Yet they cannot remember more than one password. Upon telling one such man of science and learning that he cannot use a password more than once, seemed unable to think of a password that fit in our guidelines. Even if that guideline could be something as a noun (with the first letter capitalized) and a bunch of numbers, being more than 8 characters long. This could be "Fluffy1234" or "Hundai2004", or any reference that a number could be attached to. Yet this man from an ivy league school and a Mensa member seemed unable to grasp the concept and could not conjure from the depths of his psyche another proper noun to which to use as a password base.

Hence "Retard"

Or in the "Password Stupidity" story, this woman who is a nurse, for whom the job is to read the labels of various beneficial (yet at times dangerous if not administered properly) drugs. Once read, the person must then follow the instructions that the Doctor entered into the computer system. Then following those instructions, mix the drugs in an attempt to treat and/or cure an illness or injury.

Yet, this person could not follow the simple instructions given to her in taking care of her password. So...how can I trust this person if she comes near me with an IV bag and a solution of some concoction, to have followed the complex instructions of the doctor when my five steps were beyond her.

Again, Retard!

To me, a "retard" is someone who has intelligence, yet flat-out refuses to use the brains given to them. Yes we all have our "D'Oh!" moments where we do something stupid, but most of the time we remember what we did wrong and try to correct it so we don't do it again. Looking at my log book and counting the 63 times in the past year that I have had to reset this one idiot's password (a password that expires every 90 days), I come to realize that there are people who, by choice, are acting dumb.

That to me is a retard.