Blog Backlash and Jordan's Letter to the Reader

Emergency clarification necessary. I walked into the cafe here in the Stiacciole and my friend who reads the blog and comments shot me a look from hell. This friend left me a highly aggressive comment on the Blinging Boas blog and I could not understand for the life of me where that came from. Well, she let me have it this morning - she called me every name in the book and proceeded to tell my friend what a slut I am. I was like, what is wrong with a little innocent flirting with Paotie? All I did was lick my lips and talk about an experience with a boa. Apparently this was not the issue...the issue was with this question:
...They are the best when you are PMS, can you believe I got my period a week early? Do you know how aggravating it is that I missed the opportunity to be a bitch for a week? Totally shocked me.
You see, while the word "bitch" in English should be translated as "stronza" in Italian, Italians translate "bitch" as "whore." Well now, reinserting "whore" for "bitch" sheds a whole new light on that little sentence doesn't it? After I blushed for twenty minutes and tried to defend my virgin soul, I explained to her that my blog is not the place to share my entire being with the world...just bits and pieces. *smile* This is a family place, after all...

I am the queen of sticking my foot in my big, fat mouth. I believe I've already made that quite clear.

Yesterday's blog caused a bit of a reaction, especially in regard to Melissa's comment:
Jodi,

I have to take the opposite view on this one, and I wrote Pepsi and told them so. Before Rachel was born and we were introduced to the world of deafness, my notion of the deaf was that they couldn't hear, period, and that they all communicate with sign and attend special schools for the deaf. Over time, I found out that it is actually only 25% of the deaf who consider themselves part of the deaf culture.

I have worked for the past 20 years to ensure that accurate information is out there readily available to parents of newly diagnosed deaf babies sbout all the options available to them. Unfortunately, most of the general public still have the same misconception of deafness that I did 20 years ago. Pepsi could have used this ad to inform others of what deafness can be today and possibly change the life of a baby born deaf today. Instead, it perpetuated the stereotypes. The public already knows about the deaf culture, but most people don't know that deaf kids can hear and speak very well with appropriate early intervention.

I understand this perspective and that was why I shared the information regarding how the FIADDA tried to raise awareness during the international airing of "Lo Zecchino D'Oro." I believe it is AgBell's job to advocate for the oral approach, avt etc in Deafness, therefore I understand the point of sending the letter. I am the first to say how important it is to raise awareness in regard to how effective the cochlear implant is in giving a deaf child the tool/s he or she needs to hear and speak.

However, the letter was not only advocating, it was a subtle demand for support, just as the Pepsi commercial was not only produced for the mere purpose of making the Deaf Community happy, but to reach a specific target audience and win bonus points with the family members of this audience, so they would think twice when confronted with a Pepsi machine chillin' next to a Coke machine. Btw, the commercial did not air in Italy.

Just my humble opinion...

McConnell original, too cool not to add:


And this is Jordan's letter to the Reader that will be a part of the Italian edition of RALLY CAPS: (My son is a star!)(translated from Italian)

Dear Readers,
My name is Jordan Eric Del Dottore and I am eleven years old. I have a five year old sister named Sofia Madyson. I am in the first year of the Leonardo DaVinci middle school with a specialization in Musical Education, where I play the guitar. In my free time, I read, play baseball, study English, practice playing the guitar, play Playstation with my friends, go to the movies almost every Sunday, go to the beach, sleep at my friend Simon's house and spend a lot of time with my grandparents and Uncle Ale.
To be deaf for me, means that when the processor of my cochlear implant is off, I can't hear anything. Sometimes I like not hearing anything and to be in complete silence without noise, for example when my sister asks me a thousand questions or after a long day of school.
Instead, ever since I received my cochlear implant (after eight years of wearing hearing aids) I am able to hear all sounds like my mom's voice, people who talk to me on the telephone, music on the iPod, the voices on the television, the noise the chairs make when my classmates move their chairs and my dad when he calls me from the basement to come and do my homework.
My Nonno Steve and my mom wrote RALLY CAPS to allow you to meet a deaf child with a cochlear implant just like me and many others.
Have fun reading!

Warmly,
Jordan Eric Del Dottore

Yeah...that's my boy!