Thursday, September 9, 2010

People are crazy

I pulled up to the first inspection of the day and had to swerve a little in order to avoid running over an unkempt little boy who looked like he had just finished playing in a coal mine and was filthy from head to foot. His hair looked like it was a poorly managed mohawk and I'm sure he should have been in school. When I got out of the truck he followed me around screaming some gibberish that I couldn't understand and didn't seem to make sense to anyone else around either. His aunt met me at the front gate and let me on to the property and I went about my business measuring the home while avoiding the piles of dog logs peppering the yard and kicking the 4 or 5 dogs off my legs as I went.


When I got inside the house the aunt continued to try and rouse the boy's mother (her sister) from bed. After some persuasion she eventually managed roll out of bed and put on enough clothes to make the situation more of a PG-13 than the full blown R we were welcomed in to. (Although that rating is failing to take in to consideration the adult images proudly displayed on the walls of the home) The boy previously mentioned was in and out of the house, still screaming nonsense and being continually screamed at by the various authorities of the home but spent most of his time in the street. 

As I was taking the last picture that I needed of the dedicated parrot room of the home and weighing carefully the added value that piles of bird fecal stalagmites might contribute to the property as a whole, I turned in to the hallway and spotted that the boy's mother was wearing a very bulky anklet and realized she was on house arrest. As I was walking through the front door to go back to the truck I overheard a conversation between the aunt and her sister explaining in whispered tone that "I can't go outside because of this thing" - as she raised her ankle to show off her sporty anklet. The aunt then startled me by screaming for the boy to come  and put some shoes on before playing in the street. I got in to my truck wondering what would happen if the boy were hit by a car while playing in the street (the mom not being able to go more than 5 feet beyond the perimeter of the home) if she would be arrested for violating her house arrest or the negligent care of her child or both. 

3 comments:

Shelley said...

Wow. Sometimes I worry that my kids don't have a fair lot in life with my divorce and all, but then I read something like that and realize my boys are a million times better off than some kids out there. :(

caroline said...

I didn't know whether to laugh or cry after reading this. crazy!

diana said...

That is so sad and shameful.