Special Needs

I'm sorry, but it's annoying when journalists resort to politically correct euphemisms that do not adequately convey the facts. Here's the lead sentence from a Comical article today:

The day before he was gunned down at the fast-food restaurant where he worked, a northwest Houston man with special needs proudly presented a Mother's Day card and a set of fancy earrings to the most important person in his life.

What the hell does that mean? Was he mentally retarded? Physically handicapped? What? We can sort of guess from the context at the end of the article, but we never really learn.

I'm sorry, but "special needs" doesn't mean jack. Hell, I'm a man with special needs! I need my Shiner Bock to be nice and cold, for one thing.

Don't get me wrong here. I'm not making light of the man who died. It sounds like a lot of people valued him, whatever his needs. But I am making light of the Comical writer, who seems to have some special needs of his own.

[Posted at 23:05 CST on 05/12/03] [Link]