When Right turns Wrong

I've been forced to phone the police twice now. It was the right thing to do. But, when they showed up, it was a false alarm both times. Now I feel like that little boy who cried wolf and when he needed help, they didn't come. I'm going to be thinking very hard before I phone the police again.

The first call went out very late in the night. Bear was in bed and I was sitting up reading. There were loud voices just outside in the street. We live across from a park and this happens a lot. I have always ignored them before. But, then a shot rang out. No back-fire, there were no car sounds. A loud bang. I know a bit about guns and this sounded like high power. But, just one shot. And the voices were angry and and still yelling. I phoned the police. But, before they arrived it got real quiet and everyone seemed to be gone. I told the police just what I knew, which wasn't much. They circled the block a few times and drove the length of the park. But, they never did any search, or even turned a spotlight over the park. So I didn't feel they had done a very good job of checking it out and it made me nervous. That was the end of it. No report of any shooting, nothing.

Then two nights ago, around 10:15 or 10:20pm I was sitting here waiting for Bear to get off work at 11pm. There was shouting again. A mans voice and a womans voice. There is a street light across from the house. But, I couldn't see anything. Suddenly the man was pounding on my front door and shouting for me to call the police. He sounded frantic and was yelling that his wife was threatening suicide. I did not open the door. I did not see him. I did phone the police. And they were here within minutes. Two cars. But, again, no sign of anyone in the street. And, again, they talked to me and I told them what I knew. Which wasn't much. The officer in the other car did talk to a neighbor who walked out on her porch, but I have no idea what she knew. And once again, they patrolled, but never looked in the park or used a searchlight to see if there was anyone over there. It was "all quiet." They told me to call again if I heard anything, and left.

Two days later, and it seems that once again I've "cried wolf." Nothing in the paper about any attempted suicide or even any trouble. So what am I suppose to do the next time I hear trouble in the street or over in the park? Give the police the idea that there is some crazy, scared old lady who phones over every little disturbance. (Let me say, I wasn't scared either time. But, I'm not stupid either, and I know better then to go out and check it out myself.) Do the right thing and call anyway, and let the police sort it out? Or mind my own business, like most people do nowadays? Now I understand a bit better why no one wants to get involved. It leaves you feeling very awkward when it turns out like this. Still, how would I feel if I ignored someone who turned out to really need help? After two calls, how long before the police quit taking me serious?

My Tirade

Sub Title: I Can't Be Silent Anymore.


My husband likes wrestling. Last night I was forced to listen to something that has gone too far. And yes, I had to listen. This house is small and there is nowhere I can go where I can't hear the angry shouting voices. I wear earplugs to bed in an effort to get some sleep. They block out street and most noises, but they don't work well on voices.

Bear has always liked his wrestling. So when he isn't working the evenings when it's on, he gets to see it. It use to just be an annoyance I was willing to compromise over. But for several years now, each event and each wrestling federation has been trying to top it's previous show.

It has gone too far. We've been disagreeing more and more. He sees it as "not real" and "just entertainment." So do millions of others apparently. But last nights torture made me snap. It wasn't even something that happened in the ring. (Which is bad enough.) This was one of those scenes where we are supposedly peeking in on what is going on in back. One of the old time stars was working on a young team mate. Teaching him "to be a man." "Toughening him up." With a lot of shouting, he was pushing his mates head under water and holding him. Then barely letting him catch a breath before shoving his head down again. Bad enough. But it didn't end there. Next he used metal clamps on the younger mans nipples, body still wet from the dunking, and shocked him. (But, it's OK because it's not real?)

Is that entertainment? Is that a good lesson for our young people? It's not a movie where the good side is out to stop that kind of thing because it's wrong. No this was suppose to be OK. Do impressionable children need to hear that it's OK to do that to anyone? (Let alone your partner?) Do impressionable children need to hear they need to take this kind of treatment to "become a man?" "To toughen up?" Even beyond lessons for our young generation, I shudder in wonder that adults can choose this kind of "make believe entertainment."

It's causing a serious rift with my partner. This sport (?) is escalating faster and faster in it's hope to top the previous entertainment. This morning my hubby tried again to convince me it's just a show. It's not real. Somehow, for me anyway, that makes it worse. The mindset. I can't stop trembling. ( I've cried too.) What I saw and heard last night has gone too far.

Last night was just one more step in this thing they call sport. They were advertising their next Big Event. A slew of wrestlers in a steel cage, that once everyone was locked in, WEAPONS would drop from above for them to use on each other.

I rest my case. Where's Law Enforcement?





Am I really being unreasonable?