July 23rd, 2008
When I step into the obese old woman's apartment3 comments
July 16th, 2008
The obese old woman at Fred Meyer has a bad hip and a wheelchair...8 comments
July 9th, 2008
“...I need to take a shower first and wash all of this blood off.”6 comments
July 2nd, 2008
“So I’ve got these two women in the back of my cab who just refuse to get out...”8 comments
June 25th, 2008
“My friend’s getting divorced, and he’s really drunk,” says the bartender...8 comments
June 18th, 2008
There’s nothing like a good Friday night, and I’m referring to the money.3 comments
June 11th, 2008
The old man in the karaoke bar’s parking lot insists that he doesn’t need any help...0 comments
June 4th, 2008
“What’re you up to?” asks my dispatcher.6 comments
May 28th, 2008
The middle-aged guy is working on an oil ship...3 comments
May 21st, 2008
“How you doing tonight, man?”3 comments
[June 7th, 2006] "So what happened?" I had been at Emanuel's ambulance entrance for a while, waiting to pick up some firemen to take to Vancouver. When I first arrived, I went in to look for them, only to be told that they were en route. I went back out to the cab and picked up my book, only to put it down when the ambulance came in.
The person on the stretcher was lost under a mass of tubes and wires and gear, surrounded on all sides by EMTs, all scrambling into the ER. I went back in after them. "Those firemen that just came in, I believe you guys called a cab for them?" The person at the desk was snippy: "I don't know anything about that." I took a deep breath. "Well then, can you perhaps find someone who does?" She looked like I'd just thrown up on her dinner or something.
Fortunately, a co-worker who didn't have a stick up her ass said she'd tell them I was waiting outside. "Whenever they're ready, thank you," I said.
And now we're heading for Vancouver, and the guys are telling me they can't tell me what happened, due to confidentiality issues. "It was bad, though," said one. "Bad, bad bad," said the other. "Just look in the papers tomorrow, and you'll know." And so I did. And there she was, Anna Svidersky, stabbed—excuse me, allegedly stabbed—by David Barton Sullivan, a 28-year-old paranoid schizophrenic sex offender. She was 17 years old.
Story continues below
advertisement
So what happened?
Would all the hype over Anna's death have been the same if she were black?
Why not?
—John Q.
So what happened?
We have to decide how tough we want to be on crime. Do we want to throw away the key on these pieces of human debris, or do we want to make them walk through the Justice System revolving door? A Republican is a Democrat who's been mugged. Or who has had a daughter murdered.
Do we vote for candidates who put innocent citizens ahead of predatory killers? Or do we vote for those who blame societial ills for a young life cut short?
—Robin B.
So what happened?
And...the ACLU just lets em roam the streets..nuthin we can do. They used to be institutionalized. Used to be the only street folks were HOBOs..and they would do an honest days work for food. Well now another innocent life cut short by someone who would have been in institional treatment in the past. So, whose right was violated?
—Livermore
So what happened?
Actually, they roam the streets because tax payers refuse to fund the mental institutions.
—
So what happened?
What seems to be missing from this conversation is that we, as a society, have chosen to not fund mental health services to the poor. Ever tried going to an emergency room because of a schizophrenic break? Waits range up to three days in the ER before finding a bed in a mental health ward, where you get a two to three day stay, are put on meds, and released on the street.
While I absolutely do not condone Mr. Sullivan's actions and believe he should be locked up for a long time, our society has let down both Mr. Sullivan and Ms. Svidersky. This is what happens when we don't fund social services
—Chris
So what happened?
Remember...it was President Reagan who released all the mental patients and closed the insutuitions in the 80's. No health benefits, no where to go and the homless shelters in Portland shrank. The only medications used doped people up to the point they couldn't function. Back then, it seemed that guns and knives were not so abundant and the reality of meth was remote. Our town has grown up.
—Leslie
So what happened?
The problem is that whether your mentally ill or not one should be held accountable for their actions.
If they were then those that take medications might take them or at least be in a place to protect the public from their violent behavior.
The real problem in the state of mental health care is the lack of funding, the inability of the government to have laws that hold individuals accountable, and the failure of the mental health care systems to offer treatment to any one of the mental health forensic patients any for any violent or criminal behavior.
Why do I know this? I worked at the State Hospital and it is a far more dangerous place then they would let you believe at all.
—Joe G
So what happened?
bad, bad, bad indeed.
maybe it's because they see too many beautiful kids killed in horrible disasters, but e.r. receptionists are bitches (regardless of gender). i got hit by a car and thought my foot was broken. when i limped into the ohsu e.r. and tried to check in, face tear-stained, they just stared blankly at me, even as i burst into tears again explaining what happened. i had to limp around the desk to show them i was bleeding before they got off their asses to get me a wheelchair.
—Anonymous