There are mere subtleties between being educated and tainted...

Sometimes my mind reels from all the things I am exposed to in relation to my profession. I often marvel that I do not have a propensity towards being jaded in regards to that which society deems "human nature", and at the same time find an amazing amount of empathy for those who choose to numb themeselves through a myriad of self destructive behaviors/addictions. A handout I recieved during my undergrad that said "you might be a social worker if..." in the same fashion that the "you might be a redneck if..."comes to mind and I just have to laugh at the accuracy of the seemingly extremist humor. One that I can remember is "you might be a social worker if you strongly believe that valium should come in a salt lick". I sometimes wonder if my sense of humor has become a bit tainted when things like this happen: I was at a baby shower and two little kids, a boy and a girl around the age of four pulled down the boardgame life off the table and were playing with the peices. When the girl's mother looked over she said something like how did they get into that life game, and the first thought that came to my mind was "well at least they weren't playing doctor"... I know kinda sick huh?! I should have left that little humerous quip in my head because I ended up learning the hard way (from the puzzled and somewhat horrified look on the girl's mom's face when she said well I would hope she isn't playing doctor at her age) that quips like that get lost in translation. I guess that is just one of those "you might be a social worker if" moments!