And why you ask? I was sitting in MCDonalds at Wal-Mart today (yes, taking the easy way out for lunch-but the Southewest Salad is really good) and there was a lady talking really loudly on her cell phone, and was quite emotional. First I wanted to yell at her for using profanity repeatedly and words such as stupid, idiot, etc in the earshot of my children. As she made multiple phone calls, I soon realized that what she needed more was a counselor-she was in tears for the duration of the phone calls.
Here is what I learned about her from my table trying not to listen but to eat my lunch:
1. Her son accused her boyfriend of hurting him.
2. The bruises were accidents and if he (the boyfriend)had not grabbed him, (the son) he would have been hit by a bus. Another time he was playing with kids and tripped over something.
3. She wants nothing to do with her son because he is a liar and everyone believes him, who is a kid, over her who is an adult. (She kept saying her son's name, but I will keep it out-I feel sorry for the kid even though I have never met him.)
4. She is not going to try to get him back if he keeps "getting her in trouble."
5. She has a new boyfriend-the one who supposedly hurt her son-but her mom hates him and never wants her to be happy.
6.She will do anything to get her boyfriend out of jail and clear his name, even if she doesn't get her son back.
I really wanted to first tell her that she should not be talking like this in earshot of children, not to mention a room full of compete strangers, but then I realized that she is probably really hurting inside and needs lot of help. So then I wanted to talk to her about her life in general. Why has her son been taken away, what is the root of the problem with her mother, does she have lots of relationships that fail or are abusive? Does all this contribute to the fact that (not to put her down in any way because I share her problem there) she is morbidly obese? So many questions...... Why did I worry so about this lady? Do you ever see someone in public and just wish you could help them? I hope she can get the help she needs.
These are the times that I really miss my old job. I enjoy helping people come up with ways to solve the problems in their lives. Maybe someday, but I guess I should focus on my own issues right now:):)
3 comments:
Wendi,
You have such a good heart. I would have just been ease dropping glad that I was not in her position. That empathy makes you such a great mom also!
This reminds me of my very brief stint at CPS. It still amazes me that there are so many women out there who pick their boyfriend over their children. Poor kid. I hope he and his mother both get some help.
Wendi,
Let's be honest--she really just needs to lose weight to attract a better quality of boyfriend! She is stupid to pick her loser boyfriends over her son. In that state, she should drop the losers and get herself together so she can get her son back.
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