Talk about one of your worst fears coming into fruition ─ or nearly so, Twin 1 had an incident on Skid Row where one of the homeless she’s there to service attacked.
When she services Skid Row on the weekend, her non-profit
consists of a team of volunteers, some volunteering as security to keep her
safe.
Doesn’t always work out as safe even then, as one time she
was talking to a woman, assessing her needs, and the woman suddenly went postal and got in a few good punches to
Twin 1’s face before security took the woman down.
Chalking that up to a mental health issue, Twin 1 soldiered
on and continued to service the down and out of Skid Row ─ more and more often
during the week, alone, which I have a big problem with.
But no one can tell her anything ... especially me. Which is
why she’s experienced so many hard things in life that now motivate her to
understand, commiserate with, and try to help those who can’t help themselves.
All well fine and good. If that ─ through her own self-created
trials and tribulations, is what the Universe has prepared her to do, so be it.
And she’s had some successes in that some of the people her
non-profit supported did get housing, jobs, back on their feet.
One Trans person in particular has been her biggest success.
Assisting this person for years, including her in some of
the news stories, this person was spotted by family in one of those broadcasts about
Twin 1’s work on the row. Family had been looking for the individual for years.
Her mom flew to Los Angeles, took her back home to Mississippi (I think it was),
and I occasionally see photos of this person looking healthy, happy, safe with
family.
Again, all well fine and good but, like I’ve said before, if
there’s one thing I’ve learned during this parenthesis in eternity, it’s that
no good deed goes unpunished. Not only that, but that the people one helps can
be all kinds of ungrateful ─ not be there for you when you need help.
Sure enough, alone on Skid Row, handing out supplies through the car window, a woman began beating the car, tried to
break through the windshield in an attempt to get at Twin 1 and no one waiting for supplies stepped up to help.
Fortunately, one homeless guy Twin 1 has known for a while
came along, chased the woman away.
As for the people in line who failed to intervene, they acted
like the whole thing was an inconvenience to them ─ asking Twin 1 not if she
was okay, if she needed anything, just “Can I just get my burger now”.
Twin 1 is making excuses for these people, “Mom, because
they have to live here, they were probably hesitant to step in”.
That’s bull crap and I say screw Skid Row.
She won’t.
Instead, she’ll continue with her weekday trips ALONE but,
interpreting the incident as a wakeup call, she will be equipping herself with a
long-handled taser and bear spray, because she says it doesn’t come back at you
like pepper spray.
Other than that distressing bit of news, I was up early this
morning, cooking up a storm those items I didn’t want to go bad in the freezer,
because we’re under a Red Flag Warning power shut off, once again.
Such is life.
Oh Shirley, I am sorry to read this. I know you have been worried about Twin 1 for some time. How disappointing that the people she was helping didn't rally around immediately to give her aid. I know many of them have mental health issues but it shouldn't all be take- take. Hope that she, and you will be O.K.
ReplyDeleteTwin 1 is fine, taking it in stride but I'm pissed because 1) no one she was helping intervened and 2) I just knew something bad would eventually happen because the Row is so dangerous.
DeleteSorry to hear about Twin 1's trouble. Not surprised. Our church used to host a shelter for the homeless one week after Christmas. Many of the guests were mentally ill, used to do things like stop up the toilets with paper towels, complain about the food, get into fights. No shelter this year because of Covid.
ReplyDeleteIt's difficult to know what to do about the mentally ill homeless. Some people just can't be helped.
DeleteWhose car got beaten?
ReplyDeleteMy daughter, Twin 1. A mentally ill homeless woman decided she wanted to drag Twin 1 out of the car (from where Twin 1 had been handing out supplies through the window) and hurt Twin 1. So, when Twin 1 rolled up the window to protect herself, the woman began trying to break through metal and glass of the car to get at Twin 1.
DeleteI did Ministry Work with the Marginalized as a Volunteer for over 25 Years, you should NEVER do it Alone, too Risky. One Friend who had often gone with our Group made that fatal mistake when all the rest of us were out of Town. She personally delivered a Food Box to a Family with Four Kids, the Parents turned out to be strung out on Dangerous Drug and horribly tortured and murdered her in front of their Children. Doing good Deeds will not Protect you from Evil and from unfortunate circumstances happening, especially in areas you are Serving that you know to be rough and have to be Careful. I do Hope Twin 1 quits going Alone, I understand your Concerns for her and fully realize that far too many will take Kindness as being Weakness and try to exploit it. Also, having Raised Children who were Seriously Mentally Ill, one thing I learned, the only thing you can predict is how unpredictable things can be when someone's Mind is impaired by severe Illness and inability to regulate Behavior appropriately all of the time.
ReplyDeleteWow. That's so horrible and so true. Twin 1 isn't going to listen. She never has. Always has to learn things the hard way. She tells me the guy who helped her is a gang member, "Mom, they have gangs there and he's asked the other gang members to watch for the lady in the white car, see that no one bothers her, she's done a lot for the community". All I heard was "gangs". So if that's suppose to make me worry less, it isn't.
Delete