3,181 Comments Posted by Lynne

Hello, Poisonous, dahlink. Long time no see! :-)

http://i47.photobucket...spitalWestboroMA.jpg
http://i47.photobucket...InsaneAsylum1909.jpg
http://i47.photobucket...e/4NursesonStepc.jpg

Bloor or paint - no difference, really - they are both perpetrated by evil and abusive caretakers. ;-)

Whoa, Randall - chill. It would be a little warmer than out on the street or down by the river where a lot of them currently are (those who have survived living on the streets, that is). I assume you are down there handing out blankets and sandwiches, right? If not, don't come here and give us your own personal guilt trip. This is an urban exploration site - not a personal flogging spot.

Vale,

I have worked at many different institutions, two of which have subsequently shut down and I was aware they were closing when I left. There is always stuff leftover everywhere, but every time I leave I don't take so much as a pencil with me. It's called "stealing." It's old-fashioned, I know - so sue me for having an over-developed conscience.

At the same time, and assuming you don't have a conscience about that sort of stuff, when the property belongs to someone else and you are trespassing, people get a little wonky, worrying you could get hurt and they could get sued (for you voluntarily putting your silly self on their property illegally - go figure). However, as soon as you (or me or anyone) starts removing items, defacing the property, setting fires, and/or publicizing where these places are, the owners stop making it so "easy" for people to get in. Sure it's just a little trinket and souvenir to you. To the people who own these places it's one more reason to step up security and then no one gets to see anything any more. If you can't think of it as stealing, think of it as you are personally making it harder for the rest of us to get to see these places.

I could be wrong, but it is my understanding that landfills are public domain, in which case you aren't stealing when you remove something. There is an extremely large difference between removing something from public domain and trespassing onto someone's personal property and removing items that you may want. Hypocrisy is where it's OK if you steal from some place because you haven't had a face to face with the owner, but you wouldn't steal from somewhere that is "active". If someone wants to trash whatever they have purchased, it is legal in this country, best as I can tell, and even if you and I think it's a doggone shame, it's still the law. And heck, even if it isn't "the law" most of us still know what is right and what is wrong, and calling other people "hypocrites" doesn't give you any better rationale or "purer reason" for stealing someone else's property.

End of soapbox rant.

Marcia, darlin', hide your head and don't look for a little while. :-)

Where's that potato when we need him/her?

Well, dang, potato, now that's a funny comment! :-)

Ah, Marty, you old softy! ;-)

P.S. Hugs to Jo, Sian, and J.R.

"Insane people" = "people with psychiatric issues" (or problems or disorders). This isn't about being politically correct - it's about the real pain that a person feels when someone calls them "insane" or "crazy" and likens their time at a psychiatric facility to being in a "circus." Where I currently work (and at almost all other facilities and clinics across the nation) it is considered verbal abuse to call someone "crazy" or "insane," so you see just how easy it is to be "abusive" . . .

Corey,

Abuse went on there and everywhere. In your state. In your city. In your neighborhood. Maybe even in your own house. Why the desperation to find out if it happened here versus closer to your own home? Are you going to do anything to help anybody if you find out that "torture" went on? Some days it seems that people are getting their kicks from thinking that people with psychiatric issues may have been mistreated - a vicarious thrill that I find disturbing. Given the lack of funding and public support that occurred back then I can assure you that abuse went on at some point, if only for the fact that there wasn't enough money or staff to see to the needs of a very large number of people who had some pretty serious problems. Also, many of the techniques that you call "torture" were standard medical or psychiatric practice at the time. It's hardly fair to wait 50 to 100 years and then condemn people for not having today's knowledge.

If you are searching so frantically for something terrible that happened and yet aren't doing anything to help stop it from happening again, it's called "voyeurism" - it's getting a kick out of other people's misery. People who lived in orphanages, prep schools, and boarding schools had many, if not all, of the same experiences that happened to people in psychiatric and developmental facilities, yet I don't see many people running around looking for old boarding schools to find ghosts and "tortured souls". This is just another way of staring at people who are different, but it's a little more "politically correct" than doing it directly. Still boils down to the same thing, however.

If you are REALLY interested ("interested" meaning "caring" versus "staring"):
1. Learn the history of the field before you pass judgment on everyone.
2. Volunteer some time in the field to help others and see what the state of the field is like currently so you can talk from experience and not from some sappy second-hand faked story you saw on "Ghost-busters."
3. Learn the issues as far as funding for mental health in your state and nationally.
4. Vote to support the appropriate use of funding for mental health issues and encourage your friends and family to do the same.

P.S. Yes, I am a nasty old wench who probably doesn't deserve to live for being such a Crabby Appleton about this. :-)

Don't forget the part where they shot them with paintguns. =8-o

Then we've got some pretty good news for you . . .

Jo, remind me not to ever get in your way. =8-o

The material is too thin (needs to be canvas to be a straitjacket or the person will tear right out of it) and the bra strap is a bit of a give-away. I agree with the ladies about it being a form of straitjacket, however. The original French name for a straitjacket was a "camisole de force," or loosely translated an "enforced camisole." Us ladies know a camisole as an undergarment that is tight fitting and sleeveless, although now gals wear them as tops, wild women that we are.

Oh boy! A new batch of readers in the Comments section! :-)

Better move quickly, now. =8-o