Let's have a discussion, one where we mention physical and mental issues, how they can impair the ability for people to function properly, and why empowering people who use them to alter peoples' perception of them is severely negative - and the people whom behave in that manner are scum. Also, I suppose I should also talk about how this actually pertains to Destiny and myself for having this opinion. Tonight I was perusing the fine selection of wares the Destiny Forums contained and came across a post regarding how one person believed themselves worthy of a paid position because of their skill at the game, past experience and the all-important illness they were suffering. What intrigues me the most about the post is that it was, essentially, prefaced with the fact that they have an illness. In fact, the very first thing this person wants you to know about them is they have a condition. Not their skills, their qualifications - anything that truly displays the reason they deserve a job. Did you know: outside of filling in your name on an application, for pretty much anything, the part that asks if you have any kind of illness/disability is, indeed, the shortest part of the application process. Do you suffer from a disability or chronic illness: No/Yes. If Yes, what illness/disability do you suffer from? That is it. Everything else asks for references (professional or personal), the types of work you performed in the past and everything those duties entailed. Instead, this person takes to the forums in a bold attempt to gain sympathy and attention for his personal plight. So, what gives me the right to hark on someone for trying to make a name for themselves because of their ailments? Because I suffer from a disability. That and my moral compass isn't so jacked up that I can't find my way to any place I choose to go. I have epilepsy. Not Grand Mal seizures, by any means, but sometimes incredibly severe. When I am about to experience one, I feel a warning sign - an intense feeling of Deja Vu - which lasts a scant couple seconds before I am stricken with an episode. At that point, I get extremely nauseous, my throat tightens as if I am about to vomit. Whilst experiencing that I also have ... visions, flashbacks, sudden pictures or memories that flood my eye of mind - I see the real world, but my brain sees things that have already happened, random imaginings, or experiences that never happened. I can;t be sure as to what they are because I cannot remember anything I see when it happens. I do know that if I try to latch onto one of those memories the nausea worsens to the point I almost feel faint. While this is going on I have no control over my motor skills. I may start walking randomly to ... anywhere. I may start humming a tune, or whistle (I apparently hum a lot). I may snap my fingers. The most important part is that I have no control over my body at this point - I am on auto-pilot. This entire experience lasts from mere seconds, up to just a couple minutes. I always try to look at my watch or a clock when I feel a seizure coming on, as to properly write down the time that elapsed during that episode in my seizure diary (or seizure novel, because manliness - From Hell's heart, I seize at me). This will also leave me drained for close to an hour, sometimes longer, depending on the length of the seizure. On good days, I won't have any. On normal days, I'll have one, maybe two. On horrible days, I will have many - the last horrible day I had recorded 12 seizures. I try to sleep on days like those, to rest and recover, and I will have seizures while I dream, and the seizures are much worse when I am unconscious. And it is on those days where I need to be watched because after the first four or five, I will slowly start losing my grip on reality - those memories/visions taking hold and I become so exhausted and delirious that I believe I am no longer in the real-world, that I am in some kind of dream state. It's on those days I have thought about killing myself, because I feel like I am actually asleep, that this world isn't real, and need to wake up from this nightmare. Those days are very few and far between, but the thought of experiencing those again gives me a pit in my stomach. I've lost several jobs because of these seizures. I used to be a journalist, then these cost me. Then I was a baker, lost that job, as well. Worked at a convenience store. Worked at a milk farm as a hired hand. Each time a new job came into my hands, within a couple mere months I would lose the position. Never due to the seizures, of course, as that would be a violation of Equal Opportunity Employment, but always for a different reason, a fake one. And times have not been kind to me because of this. I've had to get help from people, the family pitched in and let me move back in with them because medical reasons - the MRI's and other tests I had to do cost me a fortune, and I am still in debt with hospitals around the region. I still have been unable to get another job because epilepsy has taken away my privilege to drive, which makes finding work even harder. However, I had a great group of people I associated with donate to help pay those bills off, and I am forever grateful for them, because they helped me survive. I've had friends let me house sit for some extra money to pay my bills. I've had others just give me money. My parents still continue to do a lot for me. I have the most wonderful and most supportive girlfriend on Earth, who has stuck by me through all of this and has never wavered. I'm very blessed, despite my limitations. I'm a very lucky man. Others are not as fortunate as me. Others suffer not just from their ailments but from the extra costs accrued due to them. Those are the people that truly need the support. And that's why I am outraged, so much so that I take something (my epilepsy) that I rarely talk about to anyone, let alone a forum full of people whom I do not know, by the actions people take in order to gain an 'advantage'. They play the sympathy card in order to be looked at more favorably. It's disingenuous, despicable. This is akin to a parent, who has someone who can watch their kids, take their children into an establishment to pick up, and return, an application as a means to be looked at differently - have an added edge against their competition. Using a condition to try to further a career goal, or get started doing some kind of work is low, it's deceitful. Borderline manipulative. They want to be seen as someone who suffers from something rather than a person who can actually do what others are most likely more qualified to do. They prey on peoples' consciences, their empathy and sympathy - their *need* to do a good deed. That's how I see that person. Bungie does good. Not, does well - they do good. The most famous instance of this, for Destiny, thus far, was the Fate of All Fools situation. They gave someone a weapon because they were suffering through surgery after surgery. And it;s special. No one else, as far as I know, has it. That's a gift, a very special gift, and it's heart-warming. So the cynic in me wonders how many people talk about their illnesses just to get a free item, or special treatment, while the other, light-hearted part of me wants to believe these impassioned stories are there to encourage strength. But the specific post, which prompted me to write this out of the disgust I felt, seemed like nothing more than someone attempting to take advantage of a user-base and developer for personal gain because of their physical plight. In essence, how people react to what they endure shows their true character. I suffer from epilepsy, as well as other things I won't mention, and I expect no special treatment - I don't want that. The only things I ask for are to be treated as an equal to someone who is as skilled as me and for understanding when I am suffering from a bout of seizures. I am a person, a human. I am a male, a gamer. I'm compassionate and passionate. I get angry when I feel wronged. I get sad when I'm hurt emotionally. I laugh when I find something funny. I'm no different from any other person who reacts the same way I do in certain situations. The only difference is that I have a disability. I'm different, but I'm not different. So, don't support those people who want to capitalize on the good will of others - behavior like that should not be tolerated. Do anything other than that. They are not good people, just a person feigning good - otherwise they wouldn't try to use their character and ailments as a weapon.