Right now I am blogging in an effort to shake the awful, sick feeling I have in my stomach. It's the kind of sick that you get when although you are completely safe, you harbor terrible fear for someone else.
This evening our family went to dinner at our brother's fiance's family restaurant. It was a great evening with our brothers, their families and her parents and siblings. Throughout the evening, we noticed a young girl being verbally battered on a nearly constant basis, followed by several smacks on the mouth and other harsh physical punishment. It got progressively worse until it was noticed by everyone in the store. By this time, I think we were all ready to step in, in one way or another.
Before I knew what was happening, the poor little girl was in tears, being grabbed at by her ______(I'm not sure what to call him at this point and if I attempt to call him anything, it will be a very ugly word) and he was no longer yelling at her. He was yelling at...my husband!
I very rarely see He-Man angry so when I saw the look on his face I knew he was furious! He had gone over to the ___________ and told him point-blank, "If you touch that little girl again, I will call the police". At that point, several people stepped in to stick up for the young girl and also help He-Man out while the women of his group started cursing and making disgusting excuses for this man's behavior. Even more dispicible was that they used the explanation that this little girl was 'handicapped'. Which makes me want to vomit even now.
After the yelling from the man and women stopped, they grabbed their children and dashed out the door. This was not before other patrons wrote down liscense plates and called the police.
When the immediate fear of my husband being punched left(...really I ought to have been afraid for the man because if he had struck my husband I would have been on his back scratching at his eyeballs and our brothers would have been pummeling him) we were all struck with indescribable fear for that little girl when the family got home, out of the public eye.
I can't begin to tell you how awful this feeling is. What can I do?! I wish we could step in and save her somehow! UG!
10 comments:
Trish, a police officer came and took statements from many of us after you left. He was going to go to the man's house.
I pray for her safety. :(
That is horrible! It is such a sad world we live in. I will keep her in my prayers!
Definitely so, so scary. She is definitely in my prayers and thoughts tonight. I wished so much that I could just take her home with me and love her.
We all filled out statements for the police and JDub got a paper for He-Man to fill out since he was obviously very aware of what was going on.
I hope and pray she (and the other children) will be taken care of and protected.
What a yucky feeling that was.
Oh how awful!! Good for you guys for pressing the issue with the guy and telling him how wrong he was. And I'm SO glad to hear that police officer came to take statements and even headed over to their house. WOW. NOT what you expect (or hope) to see when you go out to dinner.
What a nightmare! I'm so proud of you and hubby for standing up for that girl who couldn't stand up for herself. Too often we just watch in horror and do nothing--myself included. Good for you guys.
That part about the child being handicapped and treated like that makes me SICK! Having a child with a disability makes me even more sensitive to other kids, and those parents had NO business treating any child like that, but especially not one who has a handicap. Those children are precious beyond words. I hope Child Protective Services steps in and does something about it.
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=17010235
Scroll down and click on the song entitled "Alyssa Lies." Hopefully this little girl will be different because you all stepped in.
Here's the link to the words if you want to read them: http://www.smartlyrics.com/song567078-jason-michael-carroll-alyssa-lies-lyrics.aspx
So sad and sickening. I read your post right before bed last night and then had to read a bunch of other ones to try and get it out of my mind so I wouldn't have bad dreams. I can't imagine that being reality for those kids and not able to just take their mind off of it so they don't have bad dreams.
I would of responded, "Well of course she's handicapped. She's with YOU idiots!" Grrrrrr. That makes me mad. I would totally follow up with the police or the department of human services. Let them know you suspect abuse of a handicapped child. They'll get on it. Oh, and He-Man, you bunny foo foo the heck out him next time and tell the police "he made a furtive movement" when they question you (gets you off the hook every time).
Oh how sad! Just knowing that this happens makes my heart break but to see it or hear someone who has seen it just rattles me to the core. My hats off to He-man for stepping in and standing up for what's right. She is in my prayers as are all children that have to live with people who are unkind to them.
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