I’ve been really grateful for all of the donations and support I’ve received for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention Out of the Darkness Walk fundraising I’ve been doing. While I know that not everyone cares that I am doing this, nor does everyone care that I lost my brother to suicide, I’ve been trying to focus on all of the positive aspects of this endeavor — the fact that people are willing to talk to me about this (like my colleague who has dealt with suicide in his own family), and the fact that others are willing to donate and reach out and say encouraging words. These are all things I appreciate a lot. For those who don’t reach out or say anything or donate or help in any way… well, that’s fine with me as long as they know I don’t care about them, either.

Today, I had an annoying interaction in the kitchen with a colleague I am Facebook friends with (because that is now a type of “status” in life now thanks to Mark Zuckerberg). I was preparing my tea this morning, and this colleague walks by me and says hi, and says, “So I saw that you did that walk over the weekend.” I responded and said, yes, it was yesterday. He goes around the corner and leaves the area. He never comes back. To make sure he knew I knew he was being a jerk, the next time I saw him a bit later, I said with a smile, “You still have until January 1st of next year to donate!”

Sometimes, it’s fun to be a jerk, especially when others are jerks to you first.