Blatant Classism

The other day (ok really it was more like 2 weeks ago, but obviously it impacted me because it's still on my mind) Matt and I decided to start our weekend out right with Happy Hour drinks and food on a Friday.


(Side note: Happy Hour seems to be a big deal in Columbus. Of course there are Happy Hour deals everywhere, but in other places we've lived, it was more of something you happened to be in the right place at the right time. But here, Happy Hour is an event. People specifically plan to go to Happy Hour. And I'm not gonna lie... I like it.)

Not when you are thrown at our car, you don't!

So there we are on a sunny Friday late afternoon/early evening, driving along with the radio on, enjoying life, when BAM! A rock hits our windshield.


OK, I may have screamed. It was a loud noise and I was caught off guard. You probably would have too.


We pull over at a gas station to check for damage and figure out what happened. That's when we notice the offenders: a group of young boys, no older than 10 years old. They're standing at a railing that overlooks the road and throwing rocks as cars go by.


Our windshield has no real damage. There is a tiny speck of a mark where the rock hit, but luckily no cracks. The kids are still throwing rocks though, and someone could get hurt or worse. We decide the right thing to do is call the police. Another car stops at the gas station and say their car was hit as well and that they've already called the police. So we all wait.


An officer arrives and asks what happened. We tell her the story.


She immediately says to us, "Well, you aren't going to get anything from them. That's low-income housing. Their parents don't care what they do and even if  you sued them, what are they going to give you, the crappy $4000 house they're living in?"


We quickly explain that we aren't looking for any kind of compensation, that all we have is a tiny speck on the windshield. We just wanted someone to stop the situation before someone got hurt. We simply wanted an officer to stop by and give them a warning, maybe scare the kids a little.


 The officer continues to badmouth the neighborhood. She says that there is no hope for any of the kids, that they're all troublemakers, that they're all going to grow up to be worthless just like their parents, and on and on.


At this point, we are ready to go. We can see that nothing is really being accomplished and are starting to feel sick about the way she was looking down on this group of people.  Plus, we've been there at least a half hour now. It's 6 pm and Happy Hour ends at 7!


When we ask if we are done and OK to go, the officer says yes, unless we want to press charges. We explain that we don't want to press charges, we just wanted to help discourage this group of kids from doing something like this again with worse consequences. We didn't want anyone to get hurt.


Are you sure? She seems dissapointed.


Yes. We're sure.


We went on to enjoy our Happy Hour, but couldn't stop talking about the situation. And I still can't get it out of my head.


Yes, these kids were wrong to throw rocks into traffic. It was stupid and dangerous.


But should we as a society give up on them?


I say NO.


I understand that the officer we talked to was jaded. I understand that she may have dealt with numerous issues and crimes within this housing complex and completely lost hope.


But it still feels wrong to me.


Those kids could grow up to be anything in the world with the right push. Anything. They are in elementary school. I refuse to believe that their fate is predetermined.

One of the Most Beautiful Love Songs I've Ever Heard

"Her Diamonds," is a song Rob Thomas wrote about his wife Marisol, who suffers from autoimmune disease. This is not the first song he has written about her ("Smooth" ; "Ever the Same"), but this song is so powerful. Every time I listen to this song I can hear the pain in his voice of wanting to help the person he loves, the pain of watching her suffer and not being able to do anything about it. Wow. It is so real and so beautiful.

P.S. I hear she is doing much better these days!

30 by 30... Part 2

Background: I recently decided to set some realistic goals. Inspired by a friend's blog, I am setting 30 goals to accomplish by the age of 30. I am setting out to achieve everything on my list by my 30th birthday, January 2, 2014. Some are measurable goals, some are more of lifestyle changes or habits I would like to create. Some are simply things I've always wanted to do.

It's interesting to see that many of my goals are connected: If I accomplish one goal, I'm setting myself up to accomplish another.

To keep it interesting, I am going to break this into 2 posts... 30 is a lot of things! Click here to see part 1.

Here part 2 of my list (in no particular order):

16. Visit Europe. I would absolutely LOVE to visit Europe. I don't care if I only see one country at a time, I just want to go! This is something that Matt and I will have to save up for... hopefully we can make it by 30!

 

 

So many cute ideas!

17. Host an amazing backyard BBQ party for our close friends and family at our new house. I have so many cute ideas for this. All I need is the space (and the grill!)... Matt and I think that this would be a perfect way to celebrate our 1st anniversary if we have a house by then.



18. Get organized. Ugh... I make messes. Then they stress me out. I need organization in my life. It is my goal to get over this and get organized!!





19. Visit family atleast once every other month. I have an awesome family. My grandparents are the absolute best and my cousins are growing up more each time I see them. I don't want to miss out! Also, it would be nice to alternate between Matt's family and mine, visiting family once a month between the two of them.

 

20. Plan a surprise party for someone special... and really surprise them! Who? I'm not telling. It will ruin the surprise.

21. Take a Yoga class. I took a yoga class in college and absolutely loved it! There are so many healthy and mental benefits to yoga, and I'd love to really get into it!

I just don't know!

22. Advance my career. It's hard to elaborate upon this goal, because I'm still not 100% sure what I want to be when I grow up. So maybe it's as simple as that: realizing what I want to be when I grow up and take steps to achieve this career. I want to be doing something that makes me happy and allows time for my outside life.

23. Become more involved in my community through volunteerism. Something I really miss about my previous job is the many opportunities to help the community. Volunteer opportunities are everywhere if you look for them! Volunteering is a great way to pursue a passion, meet people and make connections, and just help your community. I get excited just thinking about it. Visit www.volunteermatch.org to find opportunities yourself!

 

24. Take a trip to Washington, DC with my husband. I've been to DC three times now and I've enjoyed it each time. There are still plenty of things I haven't seen or done. Matt has never been and really wants to go. I know he will love it; he's very into history. I can't wait to see him experiencing this city! Plus we have multiple friends in the area to visit...

25. Maintain atleast a 3.5 GPA throughout grad school. My GPA from undergrad sucked. I had my reasons for being unfocused throughout college, but now I'm ready to focus and show what I can do. It's really more about proving to myself that I am capable of this.

Fact

26. Maintain the close friendships I have and strive to be a better friend. I have some of the best friends anyone could ask for. Really. So far, we've done a great job maintaining our friendships for the most part, but I know that as time passes and life progresses, people often lost touch and stop making friendship a priority. I don't want this to happen. Ever. Also, I'd like to work at being the best friend I can be by visiting/communicating more and showing appreciation and support.

Did I mention Matt & I like to cook together?

 27. Plan meals ahead & try new recipes. I have tons of recipes that I would like to try. Recipes in cookbooks and recipes I've collected online. But I rarely plan ahead when cooking, so I rarely try them. Instead I rush to find something quick and easy, usually reverting to the same old standby's. It is my goal to plan the week's meals before heading to the grocery store and only buy the ingredients needed. Doing this will cut costs and keep dinner interesting among other things.



Kids get cancer too.

28. Raise money to fight childhood cancer. Two of my best friends were devastated about a year and a half ago when their one-year-old daughter, Caroline, was diagnosed with a rare cancer called hepatoblastoma. Caroline had amazing doctors and parents who took excellent care of her, and luckily after a scary surgery, lots of need pricks, chemo, and hospital stays, she is now healthy and cancer free. So many families are not so lucky. Just thinking of what Caroline's family went through brings me to tears. It was such a hard time for them (and everyone who loves them). It is heartbreaking to think about what children with cancer and their families go through. I'm not sure what to do yet, but I want to do something.

 



 29. To continue to grow as a couple. To laugh together, be there for one another, and remember why we chose to get married. To have fun adventures. To not take one another for granted. To love each other even more! At each stage in our relationship, Matt and I have thought we were so close, knew each other so well and were so in love. Then a couple years pass and we look back and think "wow! we've grown so much. we didn't know anything back then." It is my goal that at 30 I can look back to now, to our wedding even, and see how much we've grown.

30. To write, write, write, blog, blog, blog. For so long I stopped expressing myself through written word and now that I'm doing it again, I love it! Maybe some day I'll do something worthwhile with my writing, maybe not. I really don't know or care. It's just something for me.