They tried to make her go to rehab and she said, Yes.

I should first state that I am not an ultra-conservative. In fact my political leanings are very much dependant on the topic or issue at hand. This tale is about how a simple ride on public transportation can make you at least cognitively race to the right.

Yesterday, I took a very crowded bus from downtown four miles south. In the seat in front of me were two women in their mid-thirties. I am assuming here although, they both looked a bit older. I gathered that they had not seen each other in a while. The white woman had her hair pulled back in a very neat bun. The black woman’s do was similar but not so neat. This does not really matter, just setting the scene. Their conversation went something like this:

BW: Where you been, girl? I ain’t seen you in a long while.
WW: I just got out of rehab.
BW: Really, I thought you were doing so good?
WW: I got my settlement check. It was 30 grand and I relapsed.
BW: What settlement check?
WW: You know from when I fell at work. (She mumbles but, I got the impress it was at a fast food restaurant)
BW: Really, $30,000?
WW: Yeah, but I only got $8,000. left.
BW: $8,000.?
WW: Yeah, like I said I relapsed and spent the rest in 2 months. I woke up and two months later that’s all I had left. Yeah, they took my kids. That’s where um comin’ from now. They gonna give them to my mother for now until I can get things straight. My dad got the rest of the money, but, they don’t know about it. (I assume “they” here means the courts and the county).
BW: Dang, so how you gonna get them back.
WW: Well the first step was finishing rehab. I got another $20,000 comin’ too.
BW: Fa what?
WW: The whole amount was for $50,000. The 30 grand was just the first check.
BW: So, you get another $20,000?
WW: Yeah. (she puts her head down as if she were sad or ashamed. I’m not certain which?

I stared out the window while the words representing WTF! repeatedly paced through my brain. I had a million questions that I could not ask for obvious reasons and will ask a few here.

Does she need to reimburse the county for care for placing her children in foster care? Does she need to pay for her own rehab? Does she need to reimburse the courts for their time? Does she believe that she has any responsibility to the taxpayers that will have to foot the bill for her very bad choices? Do the powers that be know that her dad had squirreled away the money for her? I’ll save you the effort. The answer to all of the above questions I believe is a resounding, NO!

My eyes drifted to the guy across the aisle with muddy boots and a face that I felt certain was weathered 15 years beyond his actual age. He was a hump, a proud hump that I imagine got up every day and went and humped for the man to pay for his life; to provide for his family and give them a bit better than he had coming up. I felt far sorrier for this guy than I could ever for Miss Rehab. Yeah, I fully understand that a whole lot of bad, bad direction has made her the person she is today. I fully understand that in many ways the society, schools, government etc. have failed her and her children but, I can’t help thinking about that guy and a whole lot of others like him who have tried and more times than not succeeded in making good choices. His good choices have resulted in barely making it himself while supporting a system that believes in redemption/rehab. What about him? He gets to hump for his good choices. She on the other hand gets to blow the money obtained from a nuisance lawsuit while at the same time create “bills” she won’t be held responsible for. Yes, indeed I know that life is not often fair but, I still ask, is this situation fair? I believe that we are a society and as such should care for those who either temporarily or permanently cannot care for themselves but, where should the line be drawn? If your life sucks and you are handed $30,000., and you do not use it to move your life forward; should those of us who are pushing forward each day be responsible for your bad choices? I say, no, no, no.

A Little Squirrelly

Around 2:30 in the afternoon yesterday, the electrical power went out. The cooking gas stayed on but, the electrical power was out. The house alarm kept making this horrific screeching noise to alert me that it was off line. The nearest neighbor across the street was not affected. The problem seemed to be contained on my side of the street. After a couple three hours the power company came out to alert all involved that they need a bigger truck and would be right back. They said that the problem would take a couple hours to fix and to be careful with candles and “oh, by the way… squirrels had angrily attacked the transformer which knocked out the power.” They of course needed to replace said destroyed transformer thingy.

Roughly three hours came and went before the bigger truck with the replacement part returned. They made quick work of things. The process took roughly 30-40 minutes. The interesting story here really is how I spent my time in the dark.

After making a cup of tea and a peanut butter sandwich for dinner, I then allowed my mind to roam pondering the possibility that this was personal and the squirrels had it in for me. You see the inset photo I took a while back is key here. A bit earlier I had watched that same squirrel along with a friend rip a hole in the neighbor’s garbage and remove that very same half full (and it was half full and not half empty) Dorritos bag. They both dragged the bag around to my door where they proceeded to party. The second squirrel was camera shy and scurried away when I began to snap the shots. Eventually, the second squirrel dashed off and I tossed the Dorritos bag. A short while later three bewildered looking squirrels appeared to be glaring at the door. In the darkness I wondered if they wanted revenge and putting the power out was their first step. I even texted Dr. M and Dr. D who both suggested comical solutions being unaware of my true peril. One even suggested an appetizing dinner might be in the offing. Anywho, having exhausted my unrealistic fears I moved on in ridiculous thought.

I wondered how squirrels who acted so well, “squirrelly” in the yard and on the fence could shimmy up a utility pole and chew around live power lines until they had destroyed things and power was out? These same squirrels knew how to make a party with popular munchies but, at the same time could not get across a roadway without becoming pizza. What a curious lot. They were indeed crafty. This led me full circle to my belief that they were coming for me; then the lights came back on.