So What the Hell Do You Do?

On the way back from a work related event, Director/Buddy & I popped into a store that was going out of business to see if there was anything that caught our eye. After checking things out for a few minutes we decided there wasn't, and so started to leave. As we're making our way out to exit the store, I notice a man paying for his things and his little boy--probably 7 years old--sitting down waiting on him. The boy looked sort of sad and dejected. Once you've been around kids with hard home lives, you sort of come to recognize that look. He also had the markings of a bruise that was healing around his left eye.

Now, he could've fallen off of his bicycle.

He could've run into the door, and blacked his eye. I did that once when I was 13 (it was a slumber party, we were running around after the lights were out).

He could've gotten into a fight at school before it let out with some bully.

Or his dad could've popped him in the face.

Call it the social worker gene, but something about that scene just did not feel right to me. It was a combination of the old bruise and the little boy's posture and the look on his face. But even if that were true, what the hell do you do about it? This has plagued me all afternoon. I'm not a fan of butting my nose in other people's business--unless I see/hear a woman or kid getting beat on by someone. I don't know his name. I don't know where he lives. I guess I'm just supposed to ignore it and go on, mainly for sheer lack of evidence. But if it really, honestly looked like something bad was going on, what are you supposed to do?

Another example: I have neighbors right across the street who don't deserve to have kids. Especially this one broad. She has a little girl, probably 5 years old, and a little boy who can't be older than two. I don't think she lives at the house, I think she just comes to visit a lot and sometimes leave her kids there. This woman doesn't talk to her kids; she screams at them at the absolute top of her voice. She never watches them or she abandons them to the people who live there, and mostly, I'm sure, because of her own attitude, her little girl in particular screams and cries at the top of her lungs. Just a few days ago, the little girl was playing with a water gun, and wanted it refilled or something, mom says "I'm fucking tired of this bullshit" at top volume; the little girl, of course, screams and cries louder, so the mother grabs the water gun and throws it down and stomps on it. It's broken. "Now!" she yelled. "Is that any better?" No, dumbass, it clearly isn't. Little girl hits new octaves with her screaming. "I'll buy you a new one, OK? Just shut up and get in the damn car!" And off they go.

This isn't anything unique. This is the kind of interaction they have whenever they come around. She calls her daughter a bitch. I haven't seen her hit the kids yet, but she may as well. They're so screwed around right now, that the only way they can get anything for themselves seems to be to keep up a campaign of screaming until she caves in. But the mother yells way before they start screaming. That can't be good for them. The woman is damn near psychotic. So what do I do about it? Nothing? Foster care isn't always the best solution. Sometimes the devil you don't know is more traumatic than the devil you do know.

But these situations disturb me. I'd like to come to some kind of resolution.

-- Virgil