That was the week that was...

This week sucked on a whole new level. I had two of my middle management people out on vacation and, of course, that is when everything decides to go to hell in a hand basket. As you may remember, I work in mental health and AODA services, mainly crisis on a day to day basis, and this week it seemed that almost all of Kenosha was in crisis.

We live in a time when mental health is very prevalent among us. One in five people in the US experience mental health issues every day - either through their own diagnosis or through someone they know or love. And that number is likely to change as time goes on. Yet, we live in a country that sadly underfunds mental health services and continues to defund the current services we can provide. Every day I am forced to decide how to give services to people while turning away others and it is a heart wrenching process.

This week, along with being short staffed which naturally happens during the summer months, tensions were abnormally high. People coming to our office were exceptionally anxious and unkind and it took a lot of skill to remain calm and empathetic to their illness as I was being told off and told to go to hell, time and time again. People don't like it when they can't get what they want. And, to be honest, it doesn't make me feel all that great either. I'd like to be able to give everyone what they want. Or at the very least...what they need.

Of course, all of this made my own stress level sky rocket and here, at the end of the week, I am grateful to have made it through. Perhaps, this is why the news of the horrific church shooting was especially difficult for me. We have had so many mass shootings in this country that, I'm afraid, they have become just another point of political debate and the real tragedy is lost on most people. It doesn't take either side - pro or anti gun control - to start soap boxing on the matter and the victims and their families are soon forgotten Far too much time and media coverage is given to the shooter. This time, for reasons I don't even fully understand, this news sort of hit me in the gut.

First, there was no initial mass media coverage. That part really shocked me. I saw a tiny blip on Yahoo news, of all places, that I clicked on which took me to a local article about the shooting. No CNN. No NBC, ABC, CBS, FOX...not one big news outlet had a word on what had happened until much later in the day. That fact was not lost on me. We had become used to it. Some more people got shot somewhere...la de dah...and now the weather...blah blah blah....and that was it! That made me ill.
The details of the shooting, taking place in a church, a white shooter and 9 dead African American people at prayer - also made me ill. This was not simply one sick man doing an evil deed. This was a hate crime perpetrated by a racist bigot. We, as a nation, had firmly stepped back into the time before the Civil Rights Act. A giant step backwards.

So, my human heart - which tries daily to do the right thing, and cares deeply for mankind, and hopes dearly for the preservation of the human race - feels just a bit heavier now. I know believe  hope that we can collectively slow down and start taking care of one another. Our mental health is so precious. Our lives are so dear. We cannot let ourselves become hardened. We cannot let ourselves be afraid to be open. We have to demand that our government is for us all and hold them accountable so that all of us, everywhere, are safe, well, whole, loved, fed, housed and educated.

Be kind to one another.