Ok so here’s what happened yesterday after I posted on fb. (What I posted was actually one post- but you know how fb only lets you put so much in each comment, so it ended up being 2 posts.) So it was about the chemicals in pesticides and what they do- they cause cancer to kids. I had never actually gotten to say that to my neighbor, so now everyone knew.) Well,  first one of my ‘friends’ posted on there about how pesticides/herbicides are bad for dogs as well, and that he would never spray, and couldn’t understand how anyone could. So then my neighbor’s bf gets on there and FREAKS THE F*#K OUT. First she said that it was everyone’s choice and everything causes cancer and we should live in a bubble if we were so worried about stuff that wasn’t a big deal and people should basically mind their own business. So then my ‘friend’ writes back and says that in that mentality, you should just hand your kids a cig and be done. He then went on to say that some things are worse than others and you should try to control what you can, especially the big stuff, and especially if you have kids. So then the bf REALLY freaks and says yeah, but that people are being HARASSED over this and she couldn’t understand, especially as the people being HARASSED are such SPECTACULAR parents!!!    I was like… huh? Harassed? REally? Now i wanted to write back so badly, but I didn’t. What i did do was try to contact my neighbor. I texted her straight up and said “Am I harassing you?”  Of course, no reply. I tried to think about what I had said… I had only nicely asked if there was any way to talk her out of spraying, and that I had lots of research on what it does to kids. She hadn’t said no. In fact, she asked me whether the stuff you can buy at the store is better or worse than buying from a company. I said its the same. Then i sent her two, TWO, texts that said i understood that its hard to accept when companies tell you its safe and its not and you start to believe that nothing actually is, and that can be really hard. That’s it. Now i thought this woman was my friend, sorta. So then I went and tried to talk to her. She didn’t answer her door. I went down the block looking for her but they all said she was home. So I texted again and finally she answered me and said that her friend was just expressing her opinion, just as mine was. And that they had our backs. I said i barely knew the guy. She said Oh, well he had kindof offended her. I said well he actually wasn’t speaking to YOU (specifically) but she said he was because she sprays her lawn.  So she was obviously offended by that guy and felt like I had told everybody about this tiny little incident… whatever. So i apologized. profusely. She said that the company she was using had a ‘just fertilizer’ treatment and she was going to think about it and work it out and did i want to have a look at the website?  I told her that it was very nice that she was offering to let me have a look and everything but ultimately it was her choice and she should do what she wants. Which is what I felt from the beginning, and why I had asked if there was any way I could talk her out of it, instead of just telling her what I thought straight out.

But the problem comes in because of my glorious overthinking mind.   Why did I feel like I needed to apologize? I hate that! Obviously none of these people have even turned the product around to look at the warnings on the back or asked what was in the “WARNING: POISON” truck when it pulled up to their house. They just accepted that something that would kill weeds in their yard and left a sign that says “don’t walk on the grass” would be perfectly acceptable to let their kids and animals play in without another thought.  RRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!

And now I can’t post anything on fb in case they think it is about them, even though I have been posting all year about spraying on lawns, taking out the tires on the chemlawn trucks, and chemicals and how bad they are.

I’m soooo tired of being the bad guy. To be honest, I really was trying to help. I thought if I could just share my research with my neighbor/friend, I know she would want to know. I know I read more than most people, and i do way too much thinking and research. I thought she would appreciate the knowledge. If i were doing something to hurt my child I would hope that I would either read about it or someone would tell me. But she just took it like I was attacking her, like she had cooked up those delicious pesticides on the stove and I told her I wouldn’t eat that junk. Whatever.

I sincerely hope we can all learn how bad this stuff is for you. Thankfully, there is actually a product that can get rid of the pesticides in our bodies and repair some of the damage. But is that enough?

over and out-prem