It’s been a while since I’ve checked the tinglyfeeling.com e-mail account, but I finally got around to it today. Mostly it was notifications about blog comments and new Twitter followers. I haven’t gotten around to checking everyone out and returning the follows; that’s on my to-do list. It’s just sort of hard to do in TweetDeck for some reason. Or I’m too dumb to figure out an easy way to see all my followers.
Anyway! One new follower in particular, @disabilitydating, made me feel a little … I don’t know … icky? Weird? Mislabeled? Here’s a sample tweet:
I know I’m blogging and tweeting as “a person living with Multiple Sclerosis,” or whatever, but I don’t think of myself as “disabled.” I’m just … me. And yes, I’m me + MS, but I really hope that people see that as a footnote to who I am and don’t define me as a “Girl With MS.” I do have a whole other identity in real life, as well as online, after all. That other identity has never been a fan of labels.
So I guess I was a little offended that they chose to follow me–and it sort of triggered my “Shut Up, I Can’t Hear You, NaNaNaNaNa” response. Because, while it may be true, I resent the implication that my having MS will make dating harder than it already is. It’s not like the thought hasn’t occurred to me, but I don’t like to be reminded of it either. I mean, come on. Give a single thirtysomething who has enough to worry about already a break.
I realize DisabilityDating is providing a very worthwhile service to disabled people looking for love. I hope it works out for them, really I do. And maybe it’s been successful for someone reading this blog (kudos, and please share your experience, in that case).
And who knows? Maybe I will need to use this site one day. I’m just not there yet. So, no offense to @disabilitydating, but I don’t think I’ll be returning the follow.
Oh, and I’m going out with some friends tonight and plan to rock this miniskirt (with tights, mind you–it’s raining again) and flirt with any eligibles.
