Spread the Word to End the Word

"Kisses anyone?"

If you use the R-word Brady says "kiss this"

Today is the official "Spread the Word to End the Word" day. This is a powerful campaign sponsored by the Special Olympics to help eliminate the word "Retard(ed)" from our vocabulary. In our honor of this movement Brady wanted to share what this word means to him. Well, fortunately at this stage it doesn't mean anything. The only words that hold value in his life are; eat, drink, more and Bill. BUT this doesn't mean that he doesn't understand hurtful gesters or tones. I applaud the Special Olympics for taking on such a task, but my true hope is that people become aware of the power of ALL their words. Too often the word retarded just slips out of peoples mouths. I have personally heard it twice this week alone from close friends of mine (please don't rerun all of our conversations in your head, it probably wasn't you). Truth is, no matter what the actual word is, if it was meant to hurt, it shouldn't be said.

Hopefully, today you will take the pledge at www.r-word.org. There is no way for us to track who has pledged, so please don't feel obligated on our behalf. If you want to make a mental pledge GREAT! Make today the day that you erase the r-word and replace it with kind and uplifting ones.

Jeff, being the factual, level headed part of our team did a bit of research on the root of this word. In an effort to be impartial, here is what he found courtesy of Wikipedia:

The term "mental retardation" is a diagnostic term denoting the group of disconnected categories of mental functioning such as "idiot," "imbecile," and "moron" derived from early IQ tests, which acquired pejorative connotations in popular discourse.

The moral of the story: once a word has been labeled as hurtful, it goes out of fashion. The r-word has met its expiration date! I only hope those awful skinny jeans follow the same path.