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What do you think of the term ‘Parkie’?
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I have always found that being rather non PC towards something I have to deal with can help me come to terms with said problem or in this case PD. SO yes I call myself a “Parkie”. I I am also a diabetic; so I can also call myself a “Sweety”.
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Ive lived with Juvenile Onset Parkinson’s for 50 years and i used to dislike the term ‘Parkie’ but as the years have past I have come to realize that not taking myself and the inevitable falls and awkward situations that befall me seriously enables me to cope much better. If I took every situation seriously I would become a very bitter, angry person and think woe is me. I choose not to and feel much better as a result .
Parkie is a term I know embrace as a part of a wonderful community of people
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I thought I coined the term “Parkie”. Damn, guess not! To those that are offended by the term Parkie: “Lighten up Francis,” as SGT Hulka said in the movie “Stripes”. My family has always used humor for recovery from the lows of life. I wrote a short story that talks about the early signs, the diagnosis, and how I shared the PD news with my family. It was published last spring by Chicken Soup for the Soul full of funny stories.
Is it how everyone handles “bad” news? No, of course not. I do feel the passion of the words written in this string by the folks who don’t like the term. I hope you understand that Parkie is an affectionate funny word that my PD Friends and I use as a coping mechanism.
Although we disagree on “Parkie”, I hope you join me as I loudly declare with my last and hardest Rock Steady Boxing punch of the session, “PARKINSON’S WILL NOT BEAT ME TODAY!”
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Don’t like it, not even a little.
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My wife and I find it offensive (and I think being told to “lighten up” is equally offensive: walk a mile in my shoes and maybe…..). All of us living with PD (for any length of time) know that it is a personally unique experience. It has gone way beyond being a joking matter to us, no matter how hard we try.
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I use the term Parky primarily to refer to my symptoms, not to myself (e.g. “I am super Parky today because my meds are off.”)
I do not think that someone in the PD community (patient or caregiver) using the term is offensive because it serves as shorthand, an inside reference, but if a random person on the street referred to me as a “Parky” I would take umbrage.
Eminem has no place using it as a subject in his music. Frankly it pisses me off that he hasn’t been taken to task for so flippantly diminishing the disease as merely shaking; as we all know there is so much more to it. I would like to see him face to face with MJF and see if he had the cajones/audacity to disrespect him in the same room.
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Hi Piet, I had totally forgotten about Eminem’s references to PD in his music and I agree with you. His lyrics are inappropriate at the very least. I wonder if he regrets them?
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If there’s laughter to be laughed then who am I to stop people from giving me funny nicknames
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Dislike, immensely, this term very demeaning.
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I play guitar and would’ve liked to get together with Michael J. Fox and Linda Rondstadt and start a band called “The Parkies”. My MDS says my sense of humor helps me alot.
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I like that idea for a band but not as a term. And I do have a good sense of humor. My kids think I should get a job as a salt shaker at a restaurant. At my recently deceased husbands military reunion three of us all camp Lejueune Parkingsons (I was the only wife) enjoyed meeting each other and said look we can shake hands using no muscles.
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I like your sense of humour, Bob!
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I think it makes fun of everyone with PD. I really dislike it.
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The term “Parkie” is demeaning and abhorrent.
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What AnneKristine Osoffsky said!
It is juvenile and an embarrassment to us with PD>
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I hate it. Like calling a disabled person gimpy. It’s a demeaning term.
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I call my disease, “James,” because that’s Dr. Parkinson’s first name. It helps to be able to “blame” James when my PD asserts itself.
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