Friday, August 29, 2008

Level Red Toxic Human Alert

The air doesn't look dangerous this morning. But, apparently it is. Here in the Dallas/Fort Worth zone we are still under an Ozone Alert. It varies day to day from a Level Red to a Level Orange Ozone Alert.

I wish there were Alerts assigned to humans. Mandatory testing and then you're issued an Alert Badge. Level Green for totally non-toxic, well-adjusted humans, Level Yellow for humans with some interactive issues, but not toxic. Level Orange for humans with some degree of toxicity who are likely best avoided. And Level Red for those humans who should be avoided totally due to their extreme toxicity.

With no Human Alert system in place I have to rely on instinct and warning signs.

One big red flag warning sign is if you find out someone is a religious fanatic. You probably don't want to be friends with a religious fanatic. By religious fanatic I'm meaning a member of some twisted cult thing, like Hare Krishna.

Another big red flag is if a person is on any sort of psychotropic mind-altering prescription medication. If a person needs to have their brain altered to manage to get through the day this is a strong indication that there is some seriously degraded thought processes in play which could come out at any random time in an extremely toxic manner, despite the medications.

A long history of being in therapy is another warning sign. The fact that the individual is seeking help is a good thing. But the fact that the individual needs help is a warning sign.

If you make note of a person being self-indulgent in self-destructive ways, this is a warning sign that the person could be toxic. Such sorts are self-loathers who can quickly go from loathing themselves to spouting irrational loathing at humans with whom they interact.

Catching a person in a lie more than once is a huge red flag. I have a 3 strikes and you're out policy, likely due to my love of baseball. Okay, that was a lie. I don't like baseball. I've known one or two pathological liars who lie for no fathomable reason, almost as if they want to see what they can get someone to pretend to believe. Sadly, the liar's lies are usually quite transparent. And they easily get caught in their lies, because basically liars are not the brightest lights on the planet.

Currently I am totally free from dealing with any toxicity. That's a good thing. I intend, I hope, to remain free from toxic humans. It's a lofty goal.

2 comments:

Gar said...

If everyone you around you seems toxic, does that make you toxic?

I feel that way most of the time.

Durango said...

If everyone around you is toxic, it doesn't make you toxic, it makes you miserable.

I've been toxic people-free for over a week now. My miserableness level has gone down, but it's still not back to normal.