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The scene in front of my house this morning:Submitted by vkitty17 on Thu, 05/08/2008 - 1:16pm.
I always feel like I have to defend the safety of my neighborhood. "Safe and quiet" I say. Not this morning! I was sittin' on the couch arguing with my son to put his socks on (why does it take an hour to put on socks?) when I hear a woman screaming outside. A lot of times I'll ignore something like (goofy teenagers!), but this one sounded sincere. I look outside and there is a woman standing by a car talking about how this man had hit her. She was saying words like "get out of my car" and "this is my car" (he was in the driver's seat). She kept saying "you didn't have to hit me". Then she looked around and yelled "can someone help me please?" I went across the front yard and asked her if she needed someone to call the police. The man in the drivers' seat looked at me and gestured that she was crazy, being a drama queen. Regardless, my fiance dialed 911. She got back into the car, they drove off, we gave the cops their license plate number. Maybe she was being a drama queen and there was nothing wrong. Maybe he was an abusive boyfriend/husband/whatever. There's no way to know. But it's better to be safe than sorry, right? I mean, let's say she needed help? The police will help her right? Let's say she's just dramatic? The police won't hurt anything will they? I'm sure we did the right thing. Sometimes it's hard to know what the right thing is... If there is a problem, she can get help. And if there's no real abuse then hopefully that will be understood by all those involved. Although I have my doubts -- I think something really was wrong, even if they went off together. I mean, we all know that story, right? So you did good. On a complete side note. Your 'hood sounds a little like mine. I feel totally safe and love it but often have to defend it since it has a reputation as dangerous and sketchy....But there's more crime in my mother's cushy neighborhood (okay except for that isolated gang activity the next block over last fall, but they haven't been back!). eh, I'll still take my wonderful neighborhood!!!! Always better to error on the side of caution. And I have to say that from my work with domestic violence the men almost always respond by saying the woman is crazy or overly dramatic. It's like they have a script or something...good job mama! "I have no country. As a woman, I want no country. As a woman my country is the whole world." - Virginia Woolf "If men could get pregnant, abortion would be a sacrament." - Rose F. Kennedy I think it is always better to err on the side of caution. If you hadn't called the police you might have spent the rest of the day fretting about letting an abuser get away. This reminds me (total hijack!) when I was in high school and driving home late one night, a woman came running across the HIGHWAY clutching her shirt close and frantically flagging me down. I pulled over to let her in, thinking maybe she was escaping someone. I don't remember why she was out there, but she did request my assistance in tracking down cocaine, and after she told me she just got out of prison I agreed to take her home, to a city 20 miles away. I always wonder what I would do in a situation like that. I hope I would step up like you did. And I have no idea why socks are so difficult. Ella's been insisting on sandals for the last week, so I haven't had to deal with it, thank goodness. I think you absolutely did the right thing, don't even question it! This woman asked for help and you helped. Right on, mama, we need more people like you. BleuRoo Handcrafted Sweetness you def did the right thing! i wish everyone would look out for their neighbors like that, instead of shrugging and having the 'not my problem' attitude. sometimes getting involved in a situation like that can be tricky (ie, don't be surprised if you are called as a witness if charges are ever pressed against the guy!) but i think it's worth it to know that you've helped someone who needed you! |
good for you mama! You totally did the right thing.
http://cooksewbitchy.blogspot.com/