No Excuse for Physical Abuse

An article appeared on my local station's web site about Chris Brown apologizing for beating up his ex-girlfriend, Rihanna. In the article, Brown apologizes for his conduct, assures everyone he is getting counseling, and seems to want to change and be a better role model. Hmmm. How many of us women really buy this? How many have heard this before from other men?

I have been fortunate that my husband has never struck me nor ever intends to. First of all, if he even thought about it, he would find out that I hit back. Second, I can out-run him.

I remember when this story first came out in February. My daughter loved Chris Brown's music and was genuinely shocked that he would do such a thing. She immediately took the stance that Rihanna wasn't very nice anyway and deserved the beating because, supposedly, she gave him STDs (sexually transmitted diseases). In all fairness, there has been no proof of this allegation in any of the reports I have read. However, what truly shocked me was my 14-year old daughter's attitude that a woman deserved to be beaten by her boyfriend. I'm not sure where I went wrong here, but I made it clear to her that NO WOMAN DESERVES TO BE BEATEN BY ANYONE.

My position should be clear - physical abuse is wrong. Now, I still support spanking a child to correct misbehavior, but physical abuse because you are mad is quite another thing. A relationship should be based on mutual trust and respect. Those two things do not come with slapping, choking, threats, or bashing a head into the wall.

What happened between Brown and Rihanna was shocking. Brown was wrong and should have controlled himself. Whatever Rihanna's personality is or was at that time is not a reason to beat her. I hope and pray that Brown is truly remorseful and sincere in his efforts to get help, but as a woman, I would never trust him ever again.

The Internship Experience

I just finished the fifth week of an amazing internship. Since I'm not sure of the consequences of revealing where I am, I will keep it quiet until otherwise told.

But I can tell you other stuff. Like having amazing challenges to my skills - I'm writing things that I only did in the classroom - only this is the real deal. And the really great thing is that the people I am working for actually like what I'm doing! I can think creatively and not feel like my ideas are going to be seen as inferior or looked at like I'm stupid. My ideas, good or bad, have a purpose now. I'm no longer sitting on the sidelines feeling twinges of jealousy because someone else had a fabulous idea that I wish I could have come up with. Now I'm an idea person and it's wonderful!

I've worked long enough to know that things won't always be this way. Someone will feel threatened by my ideas or mere existence and make my life miserable. Someone may steal my ideas and claim them for their own. I know.

But now, as I'm looking out over the bluffs along the Mississippi and watching a river roll by as it has done for thousands of years, I feel like I finally belong somewhere.

Now that I've shared my philosophical meanderings, I'll meander a little more.

The office I'm in is located along the Mississippi River and the view is magnificent! I've seen an eagle swoop by through the trees (at least I think it was an eagle - she didn't stop to introduce herself), a young beaver watched me eat my lunch from about a 100 yards away and he decided to take a nap on a concrete step. A mockingbird flew so close to me that I could see the gray and white detail of his feathers and hear his beautiful songs as clear as anything I have ever heard.

The river is a beautiful thing. I've lived close to it and crossed over it many times all my life and never really took the time to appreciate it. The flow of the currents are a balm to the spirit - easy to say from the shoreline.

The internship will draw to a close in two more weeks and I wish it would go on a little longer. Projects I have worked on still have not been completed and won't be for quite awhile. I would love to see my ideas come to fruition. My supervisor has promised to send me the finished products once they are completed. But I think the thing I have gained the most is the feeling that I can go out into the work world a little better educated and certainly more confident in my skills as a communicator.

I also want to hang around to see that little beaver grow up!