Ah, Academia.

I'm usually pretty apologetic for my diarrhea mouth.

I have run the gamut of really crappy things to say to people at even crappier times. The real gift of the foot-in-mouth-individual is their impeccable timing at delivering the checkmate. Some of the gorier examples:

"Oh, you just had a new baby!? It's got ten fingers and ten toes, right?" The damn infant had ELEVEN fucking fingers.

"You're not really fat, you just have a really great personality that lets people get around your appearance!" Enough said.

"Holy shit, what happened to you?" A really really really awful face lift/chemical peel that invoked images of a cheese grater to the face while being caught in a NASA wind tunnel.

So, yeah, I admit that I have issues with not only timing but a profound lack of social graces. But when I was smacked down in front of my classmates by an adjunct for my erroneous contrast of Alzheimer's patients and addicts, it felt really unjustified!

I mean, getting diagnosed with Alzheimer's is a UNIDIRECTIONAL voyage. There is no "coming back" from the edge or beating the odds. At least there exists an OPTION for recovery with addiction. Yes, I think that addiction is a disease and yes, it's a struggle...but shit, at least there are odds to face.