love letter to the police

Dear Officer C. in Alvarado,

You are my new police officer crush. You made me laugh, and I love your accent. Go arrest that guy for me.

love,
your friendly intake specialist

*****

They arrested someone in the Blackwell murder yesterday. Apparently it was a former boyfriend. I think we've all breathed a small sigh of relief. Not that murder by a lover isn't a terrible thing. But I think we all would have been hurt the worse if we knew that her murder was connected to her CPS work somehow.

We live with so much violence.

take responsiblity

I almost lost it on a client earlier this afternoon. It amazes me that after nineteen months of this, I can still be shocked by the callous disregard some people possess. It's not worth going into the sordid details, but the essential point is that I informed the woman I would be listing her as an equally responsible perpetrator of abuse. She didn't like that one bit. Oh no, the flat tone in her voice told me exactly what she thought of me. But honestly, the woman wasn't calling because she cared that her very young child was sexually abused. She admitted to not calling before because she was afraid of getting in trouble because she was living with a registered sex offender and letting this person have access to her child! What mother in her right mind would sign over custody of her child after learning that the child had been abused in the home she was sending him to? What mother in her right mind would wait seven months to a year before telling anyone about this situation? It's appalling to me that someone would be so much more concerned about their own personal gain and would allow their child to suffer one of the most devastating and cruel forms abuse for months and months.

It's this kind of bullshit that makes me determined to kick ass at my job and fight these people with everything I have. My coworkers and I were just discussing how terrifying and amazing it is that so many people are struck with this willful blindness. Whether it is the fact that their child is being abused, or that our elected leader is a crackpot whole stole the election, the capacity of people to just ignore reality is astounding. If it doesn't fit into someone's rosy ideal, then it seems to be swept away like dust.

I'm not saying everyone needs to be attuned to the daily horror of the world the way I am at work. Oh lord no. The psych wards would explode. But I'm saying that it is unconscionable and shameful that people are so willing to overlook these things and pretend like they don't exist. It's criminal that we allow so much of this to happen with hardly a flutter of an eye. This is one of those things that makes so angry I want to turn a state into a penal colony and send the entire blind lot there.

Iron Chef Alamo

Okay, to switch onto a more pleasant note, IRON CHEF ALAMO! Seriously, I want to go to this so badly. I don't have $75 to drop on a night out though right now, even if the proceeds all go to support the Capital Area Food Bank. I need a fairy godmother to take me out to things like this. Seriously, this is the coolest thing ever and a brilliant fundraising idea. Where is that fairy godmother?!?