Mom Gets Offensive Bottles About Mental Health Removed

I love it when readers take action.

Karen Easter writes a blog   about mental illness and she gets especially irked when she sees or hears things that are stigmatizing. She told me in an email that she has grown particularly tired of jokes on Facebook about mental illness so she was already primed for what happened next.

Rather than having me explain what she did, here’s her account:

How do I adequately explain what I just witnessed in my favorite local pharmacy/grocery store? 

I walked down the beverage aisle after picking up my son’s meds from the pharmacy to find a large display of sports bottles. You know, the kind with silly quotes on them. Only I spotted one that wasn’t so silly. It stopped me dead in my tracks. 

“My Goal In Life Is To Have A Psychiatric Disorder Named After Me,” it said.

Another said “You Say Psycho Like It’s A Bad Thing.”

Grrrrrrr ….. my hair started to stand on end.

I was so taken aback, I took out my cell phone, took a photo then walked away.

It nagged at me while I continued my shopping.

It nagged me at the checkout line.

Finally, I asked the cashier if the manager was nearby, she said he was in the back of the store. I asked, could I see him?

He was a young, nice looking guy about my son’s age. I asked if he could come with me for a minute, he said sure. We walked up to the display and I explained there were a few sports bottles with offensive sayings he might want to take down. His face literally fell when he saw the two I pointed to.

Wow! He got it! He totally and completely agreed! Immediately he began removing them from the shelf, profusely apologizing and thanking me for letting him know.

Seriously, these bottles are offensive!See, it really does pay to speak up. So please be on the lookout for an offensive sports bottle display coming near you. And if you spot any, please ask that they be removed.  Thank you! 

 Because illness of any kind is nothing to joke about.  

This was a small gesture. It didn’t make national headlines. It involved an irritated mother, a considerate store manager and a single store. But major changes often come one small step at a time. Thank you Karen. You brightened my Wednesday!