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My cousin adopted a kid from near the US Mexican border. She told me when they first brought him home (he was 5), that he could barely speak, was terrified and
by ada1981 9y ago
My cousin adopted a kid from near the US Mexican border.
She told me when they first brought him home (he was 5), that he could barely speak, was terrified and kept screaming "oda!".
They thought perhaps Oda was the name of his brother who was sold into slavery by his birth mother.
He was unrelenting in his crys. Finally, exhausted, my cousins husband sat down at 3am and opened a Coke to drink. The boy pointed and screamed "oda!".
He wanted Soda. They gave him some and his entire nervous system relaxed and he could goto sleep.
He was raised in a drug house, spent most of his life locked in a closet with little food and plenty of feces.. and his mother bottle fed him soda.
When they adopted him he was like a feral animal, hiding and picking food out of the trash.
He's now 9 and doing much better (they had to ween him off soda). He's relaxed and is in a loving and safe home.
But fuck sakes, I don't think most of us have any idea the horror that many people are facing on a daily basis.
- fapjacks 9y agoWhat you call a "horror" is what most human beings throughout history would call "life". Not only history, but most human beings throughout the world today. We in the developed world enjoy a dream-like existence few in the whole of human history have ever known. Legit the biggest problem some people will have today is that someone forgot they didn't want guacamole on their burrito. Unfortunately, this has a way of completely twisting and corrupting one's view of the world, and it gives most people a very strange set of priorities. Most human beings alive today are living in dangerous shitholes. Some people need to carry an AK-47 to go to the market, but because they have semi-reliable access to food, they're better off than a lot of others. The one thing the infantry taught me is what the reality of life is like for the vast vast majority of human beings not living lucky in the developed world. And really, any history book will teach you that this is and has been the standard throughout our existence. I wake up every single day thanking the stars for the life I have. I think more people in the developed world could stand to be grateful for what they've got.
- esarbe 9y agoThis. > We in the developed world enjoy a dream-like existence few in the whole of human history have ever known. You just have to ask yourself; how many of my ancestors were able to afford a hot shower in the morning and you begin to realize, how mind-fuckingly amazing the life we have actually is. Thanks for putting it into words.
- Dylan16807 9y agoThat's no excuse for locking a child in a closet. Your ancestors may not have had hot showers or supermarkets but the children would either be with their parents or roaming free. A kid helping farm is better off in so many ways than one trapped in a tiny room.
- ada1981 9y agoI was surprised to hear people compare being locked in a closet with agrarian life.