I am a very angry person. Most of that anger is directed toward men. For those of you who’ve read me awhile, it’s my own personal “open secret.” I like anger because it’s powerful. It keeps others at bay and keeps me safe. And it covers for all that hurt I feel inside. I have had […]
So a month ago I drove 5 hours away to interview for a promotional position. I didn’t get the job. This week the folks in that area contacted me. They were very impressed with me during my interview. They chose someone else over me, not because that person is more qualified, but because they had already interviewed for […]
Around the world, government agencies charged with protecting the vulnerable are perpetually having a rough go of it in the media. So while perusing the regional newspapers as I am sometimes wont to do, I found an article about children who had died despite there having been recent involvement with that area’s child protective services agency. And wouldn’t […]
Friday evening, Vermont Department of Children and Families social worker Lara Sobel walked out of her office building in Barre City, Vermont, and was gunned down by Jody Herring. Lara was a 14-year veteran of the agency. She was married and had two young children. Herring was also a veteran. According to WCVB5 Boston, Herring was well-known […]
I’ve just gotten home from a law enforcement assist. A caregiver is going to jail, and I was needed to watch a young child until a relative could come pick him up. As we waited together in the parking lot of my office building, the little one asked me to hold him, and I did. We talked about the dark […]
I am exhausted. My body aches from the stress and the long hours. My mind hurts from the non-stop adrenaline needed to stay on top of my work. But there will be no rest for me these three days off. We are seriously short of staff and I have to work overtime just to try […]
Sometimes ya just gotta blow your own horn. Today is one of those times for me. I am a child abuse investigator. That’s not quite super-hero status, but my feats of skill and strength are no less amazing. In a 48-hour period, I was assigned 7 child abuse or neglect cases to investigate, three of […]
I have lived my entire life in the South. I was not quite a year old when the March on Selma took place. I’ve seen Klansmen in their robes riding in the backs of trucks, waving their flags, in broad daylight. I remember a time when white people threw around the N-word without first looking around […]
I hate the Domestic Violence cases. I never know what I’m walking into. Sometimes a neighbor hears a couple in the midst of a heated argument and calls us out of concern. Good for them. Better to be safe than sorry. Sometimes a report is made in bad faith by a former boyfriend or girlfriend […]
Dogpaddling Through Life 