Attack of the Mean Tweets

I had to wait a few days before writing this for if I didn’t, it would be laced with extremely angry, foul language which I don’t deem appropriate for this arena.

To give you a little background before I get to the topic, I am very active on Twitter, Advocating as much as I can, sharing information that I feel what is worth sharing. I use an application called #TweetDeck which allows me to see multiple trends and searches all in one area. (I do anything I can to make my Alzheimer’s life less complicated.) Naturally, I have searches for Alzheimer’s, Early Onset Alzheimer’s, ENDALZ, and other hashtags related to Alzheimer’s.

I also read other tweets, some of which I find interesting, some I just skim by and then there are the eye catchers. These are the tweets that jump off the computer screen and shouts, “READ ME!” So, I do.
These tweets can be breakthroughs in the pharmaceutical area, they can be funny tweets or they can be, as it was in this particular instance, a mean tweet.

I came across this tweet and it shook me a bit:

Tweet: Up late at ma’s looking up random hashtags and of course most #EarlyOnsetAlzheimers tags are people joking about their memory #NOTFunny.

Here is a young lady at her Mother’s (who has Alzheimer’s) looking up #EarlyOnsetAlzheimers to find information about the disease and she found this. I thought to myself, “This can’t be true. Are there really people using the Early Onset Alzheimer’s hashtag to make jokes?” So, I went searching. This is just some of what I found:

Tweet: When my coworker gets mad at me for asking him the same questions daily sorry I’m like an 80 year old! #EarlyOnsetAlzheimers #Oopsie

Tweet: I just actually had to think about whether it was 2015 or 2016. #earlyonsetalzheimers

Tweet: Why do I keep forgetting that I have food in the oven?! #surpriseditdidntburn #earlyonsetalzheimers #ijustwantsomedinner

Tweet: My dog is on my bed, and I don’t remember how she got up here #earlyonsetAlzheimers

Tweet: Good thing I watched snapchat to remind my boyfriend he has a probate going on like right now. Lmao #EarlyOnsetAlzheimers

Tweet: Sat at the burrito shop for 30minutes realizing I called in at the wrong place …. #EarlyOnsetAlzheimers

Tweet: Literally could not think of the word EBOLA and just wrote the letter E on my test. #killme #EarlyOnsetAlzheimers

I was appalled. I couldn’t believe the ignorance, the insensitivity, the shallowness these individuals were exhibiting.

In anger (yes I know not to send e-mails, tweets are facebook posts when angry…but I did) I posted one of my own and here are a few responses I received.

(I am withholding their names to protect their assholishness)

The ALZ Guy ‏@TheBrianLeBlanc Aug 4
My Tweet: I cannot believe there are people this cruel using #EarlyOnsetAlzheimers to make jokes. REALLY??? 

Reply Tweet: @TheBrianLeBlanc I’m sure youll forget all about my tweet soon #norulesontwitter

Reply Tweet: @TheBrianLeBlanc when you take a joke to seriously… #Womp

Reply Tweet: @TheBrianLeBlanc I see you play the victim card so well you’ve made a career from it #envy

I then began to see some tweets from others who felt the same I did:

I then began to see some tweets from others who felt the same I did:

Tweet: Do you really have to be such an ass?

My Tweet: I’m not a victim of anything. I have ALZ. I Advocate to make people aware of this horrible disease.

Then the “Twitter Bully” posted this. I felt as if I were back in 3rd grade!

Tweet: @TheBrianLeBlanc  #norulesontwitter #hestartedit #lastword

He may as well have said “Nanny Nanny Boo Boo.” He started it? lol
I realized at that point the type of immature, ignorant bully-type individual I was  dealing with.

I also realized by showing my anger just fuels his little mind and gratifies him.

So, I blocked him.

I started thinking about why this got to me so bad. Yes, I have Early Onset Alzheimer’s and I love a good joke as much as anyone else. Was I being unreasonable? Was I taking this too seriously?

Then I realized I had been surrounded by Alzheimer’s for over 30 years starting with my Grandfather in the 80’s. I saw my Mother go from an extraordinary, church-going, intelligent woman; someone who could sing like an angel; someone who was always there for her children for as long as she was able; to someone who could no longer communicate and no longer knew who her children were. I don’t wish that upon anyone, yet it will all happen to me, just like it did to those who came before me.

I also realized that newly diagnosed individuals use #EarlyOnsetAlzheimers to find out information that may help them cope, help them understand, help them get through to another day. They don’t go there to find people making jokes or pretending to have this disease.

So, for all those “Twitterers” out there who thinks it’s funny to use #EarlyOnsetAlzheimers to make jokes, I ask you to go to you a nearby care facility. Look at the faces of people with #Alzheimers. Look at the faces of their friends and family. Go to my Twitter account and look at my face. Take plenty of mental pictures so the next time you want use #EarlyOnsetAlzheimers to make a joke, use your brain to recall what you saw and realize that each day, those of with Alzheimer’s Disease lose a little piece of our brain each and every day.

There’s nothing funny about Alzheimer’s!

Until next time . . . PEACE

B

I Have Alzheimer’s, BUT It Doesn’t Have Me!