Who has heard our voices? Who would believe our tales? How do we even speak up? Where is the courage to speak up? What would they think of me when I speak up? When I summoned courage to try to speak up, I heard some funny statements made by them and I withdrew into my shell. Things happened again and this time around I was forced to speak up. But what did I get? Laughter! Ridicule! I was told that I didn't know what I was saying. I was asked how it happened but it wasn't out of concern, it was mere ridicule and sarcasm. They kept laughing and laughing at me. I swallowed up my courage, returned to my shell swearing never to come out and accepting what happened to me as the new normal.
This has changed my thinking. Nobody wants to listen to you. Those who do, just want to laugh in the end. Your story is just a form of amusement to them. When they remember your story at drinking spots, they laugh, calling you a fool. You pass and they point fingers at you and you live with the deep regret of speaking up.
I have closed up my shell. I don't need help anymore cause it isn't worth it. I would rather die in silence than speak up and be ridiculed or laughed at.