Friends, I am burned out. I need a vacation. A weekend getaway even. It’s been extremely hard to get out of bed these days. I suffer from CPTSD thanks to a lifetime of trauma, anxiety and major depressive disorder, in addition to being autistic in a world not made for me. I’m not on any medication because I’m afraid of the side effects. I’ve relied on talk therapy to get by. Springtime is especially difficult for me due to my pollen allergies and it is a dangerous time of year for anyone suffering from mental illness and I hope that if this describes you, that you aren’t alone. Please seek help if you need it. These are really the toughest times for anyone with a conscience living in this country.

That being said, am grateful that thanks to your help, we hit the 500 supporter mark right as I was recovering from Covid.

Now the next hurdle - 1,000 supporters - seems like a steep mountain to scale. To date, only me and my husband have been funding this campaign. Although I am unemployed, I used some of my meager life savings to pay for views. My husband supported me by chipping in $150. I don’t have thick enough skin to ask any of y’all for one red cent. Granted I wouldn’t turn away any donations, but I don’t have it in me to ask anyone I know or don’t know for money. All I ask is that you find places on other platforms to share my petition link since I’m not on Tiktok, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, etc. 

I find it hard to get out of bed these days. I have been running on empty as a mother to two autistic children who has been recovering from nonstop complex trauma over the past two years. My toddler just turned two and so did my marriage, with little fanfare because we’ve been recovering from illness and have had no respite. I just ended two years of therapy when my Medicaid coverage ran out, so I’ll be scrambling to find a new therapist.

I realize my cause is not a popular one. One of my supporters used the name “Free the dollar dogs” and I think it refers to bringing back dollar hotdogs to Phillies games.

I was born and mostly raised overseas, so I never learned the mechanics of American football or baseball, but I understand the popularity of these as the national pastime. A petition to bring $1 hotdogs back garnered over 15,000 supporters last I checked. Part

of me wishes I was the hotdog water - I’d get

more support and vocal supporters!

Kidding aside, I know firsthand that Black women are THE most disrespected demographic in the United States, which is why I’ve had to struggle for every signature on my petition. Compared to dogs, hotdogs, the overwhelming majority of petition viewers will not feel any empathy for me. And that’s OK. I have you all. I wish we could be Facebook friends because you seem to care about a stranger you’ve never seen, whose real name most of you don’t know ( and it’s only because I signed an NDA when I got a pathetic settlement for sexual harassment). I don’t have a job so I can’t afford to be sued by my former employer for speaking out about what they did to me! One day I may start a separate petition about that, so stay tuned! 

Wishing you love, peace, and chicken grease,

Adriann ( aka Blathering Blasian)