Truths: “Ripped from the Headlines”

I was just driving back from taking my four dogs to the groomer. Not only is it a stressful event for them and me – but the bill is going to break the bank! However, I cannot have four hairy dogs without giving them the basic necessities: baths!

On my way home with the radio playing – the announcers were discussing a recent newsworthy bit out of Georgia. There is a woman, who after seeing her son’s report card,told him to get out his hamster and made him kill it by smashing it with a hammer.

I cannot even fathom the reality of this! Everyone calling in agreed that the child should be removed from the mother’s care and the mother should go to jail for causing such an emotionally tragic event and for the inhumane treatment of the hamster.

Not one called and said she should be able to keep her son after what she did. Everyone expressed completed contempt for the woman and all agreed that she was fostering a horrendous future for the child. Would he end up the next serial killer? What did she do to him besides this? It would be hard to believe that this was the first time she acted out so cruelly.

It is an absolute horrid newstory…and yet, it certainly is not one of the first stories detailing parents being cruel and unjust to their children. And, even sadder, is that there is more of a chance that this woman will end keeping her son or getting him back – than losing him altogether. Because, that is the kind of society we, embarrassingly, live in.

Stories, like these, make my stomach turn and cause me to re-examine our society’s morals… What normal person would even think of this form of punishment for a bad report card? How about no TV or being grounded for a week? Wouldn’t that be more of the norm – shouldn’t it be more of the norm?

We are afraid to let kids lose in organized sports and yet, we turn a blind eye to such unimaginable situations some kids are forced to endure. What the Hell is wrong with us?

A few of my dear friends are giving serious consideration to opening up their homes and their families to children of Haiti. They are having long talks at the dinner tables about the possibilities of adopting one of the thousands of children left without parents.

My friends have wonderful, stable lives that they could share with these children. They could provide not only the bare necessities but, a lifetime of love and opportunity.

They don’t seem to care about the age or the sex of the child – they just want to “do their part” – to do what feels right to them – all out of the good of their hearts.

I applaud their generosity, their unconditional love. I admire their intent. What, would seem to me a selfless act of endearing kindness – is something they consider as a gift to themselves – a child to love and to care for.

So, when I hear about parents who are abusing their children – like this hamster mom in Georgia – I want to scream from the rooftops – because this idiot of a mother gets to pro-create whenever she wants and gets to bring children into this world who she is only going to neglect and abuse.

While, my friends, who are loving parents will be going through yards of red tape to adopt a needy child in Haiti. They will have to jump through hoops to show that they are “worthy” of one of these children and sadly, it could take months, years before a homeless child of Haiti would actually enter their home and become part of their family.

And, yet, this yahoo of a mother gets to keep her kid, continue to abuse him AND she can have more children whenever she wants.

I am not saying that I have the answers – and I don’t mean to sound like we need some socialist or dictator type government that tells us what to do – but there must be some way to create a more sensible playing field. Some type of fairness to discourage those who are unfit from having any more children and to encourage loving people to adopt by making it easier.

While the families here in the US are desperately trying to bring Haitian children here to love and care for, thousands of orphaned Haitian children are eagerly awaiting a home – a family to love them, a bed to sleep in, a roof over their head and warm food to nourish them – and they will have to wait months to get it.

There is no way that it makes sense.

All while some nasty mother in Georgia has her son smash his beloved pet with a hamster over a bad report card…

Something has to give.