Sorry Ass
It’s a miracle I got through this week. I had a major report due to the State and a new training to prepare on top of the regular day to day. Then, slam — on Monday morning, I was assigned my CASA case (CASA: Court Appointed Special Advocate). Well, guess whose little can-do attitude got a little smack in the face.
Oh my. So I thought I knew how things work. But there is a real big difference between reading about child welfare issues in the paper and trying to sort things out for just one child. Things I learned at SDC when it was a down and dirty anti-poverty agency really helped me out this week:
- If you don’t know what you don’t know, you are really in trouble. However, if you know what you don’t know, you have a prayer. If you’re in the first position, you make the huge mistake of making assumptions that are wrong, wrong, wrong. If you’re in the second position, it’s just a matter of asking and listening.
- Assume the best about everybody. Practically nobody does things intentionally to harm another person. The world is full of people who make mistakes; people who work really hard but don’t get beautiful outcomes. It’s not a contradiction that few people are evil but lots of bad things still happen.
- Make it personal. Keep ‘there, but for fortune, go I’ as a mantra.
That’s it. I learned an awful lot this week – too long and complicated a list for here or anywhere else. I’m heartened and exhausted. And I’m taking my sorry ass to bed.