The best of times, the worst of times

What a day.


Today one of my clients relapsed. He molested another kid. I spent over a year preparing this kid NOT to do this. He's done this before, and he did it again. I feel lousy.


Last month one of my coworkers relapsed. He went off his meds and started doing meth. Crazy, right?

I feel worse for the kid. You can avoid meth, bars, dealers, and addictive substances. You can't avoid sexuality. You can't miss it, really. Sexuality is EVERYWHERE. It's a biological instinct (unlike meth abuse). It doesn't go away. At some point, the idea is to have a "normal" sex drive. It can't simply be shelved like a crack pipe. Sexuality can't be thrown away or disposed of. It's on tv. It's at the movies. It's on the billboard. It's on the street.


It's affecting future generations like never before. Get this:


Today I was questioning a 15 year old who stole $20.00 from his mom. Where did the money go? He claimed he spent it on "1 mountain dew, 3 candybars, and a box of condoms." I said, "that doesn't sound like $20.00...where did the money ACTUALLY go?"


The boy looked nervously from side to side. "well...uhm....uh...they were magnums." The mom let out a squeal/scream that was two parts horror, one part shock, and one part sheer amazement. I was speechless myself.


We went about creating a plan for him to complete restitution. "How many of the condoms did you use?"


"None."


"Oh good. We can simply return them."


The nervous look again. "Well...ahhm...err, I tried one one. I wanted to make sure it fit."


The mother looked as white as a ghost! I thought I heard a barely audible "geeep."


There was a loooooong silence. The tension was thick. Nobody knew what to say. Finally, I had an idea:


Me: "What were the serial numbers on the condom?"


Him: "Huh? What numbers?"


Me (deadpanning): "I guess you didn't have to unroll it that far."


Suddenly the mom was laughing. Hard, hysterical laughing. The boy just looked confused- he didn't get the joke. But the mom's wild laughter broke the tension and the meeting progressed. Thank God for the wonders of humor.


It's a jungle out there.