This post begins with a fractal called In Another Garden 22. The “22” comes from the fact that this image was created as part of a larger series. I chose it because of the black-and-white color scheme and because of what I saw take place in another home.
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Hey look outside the window
There’s a woman being grabbed/They’ve dragged her to the bushes/And now she’s being stabbed/Maybe we should call the cops and try to stop the pain/
But Monopoly is so much fun I’d hate to spoil the game…
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These are the first lines to a song from the late 60s (I think) called Outside A Small Circle of Friends. It tells the true story of a woman in New York City who was attacked and murdered in full view of at least 20 people--none of whom did anything. These lyrics came to mind after an incident that happened last night (June 19). Here’s what went down . . .
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The sun was setting and we had opened our windows to catch a cooling evening breeze. As is our wont, Robyn and I had settled down in front of the television to match wits against the contestants on Jeopardy. Imagine our surprise when we heard a woman screaming for help outside. We live in a fairly “nice” part of Santa Ana (actually, a lot of the city is a pretty decent place to live) so this was about the last thing we expected to hear. Being concerned, Robyn and I popped out to see what was happening: several neighbors joined us on the sidewalk and we found ourselves witness to a domestic drama.
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I don’t know all the details of what went down but here is what I saw. A somewhat older woman (she looked like she was in her 40s) had gotten into an argument with her boyfriend (or so we heard her tell the police later) and he’d choked her. That’s when she started screaming: by the time the neighbors got outside he was holding her in his home and refusing to let her leave. One of the guys tried to convince him to let the woman go but he wouldn’t while the rest of stood around dithering. THEN we heard disturbing noises coming from inside the residence. We heard bangings and shaking so everyone was rather concerned. That’s when I dialed 9-1-1-. (Another neighbor lady had called Santa Ana PD directly and promptly been put on hold.)
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After dialing 9-1-1 (hence the title of this blog) I had to wait six rings before anyone picked up. The lady on the other end seemed a bit brusque to me: I told her I wanted to report a domestic violence incident (and she asked if it was in my home). I told her no but that the lady across the way was screaming for help and that we were hearing alarming noises that sounded like physical violence. I got the feeling she really didn’t want to dispatch a cruiser to the scene. After several minutes she finally agreed to send police.
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So we all stood outside waiting
And waiting
And waiting . . .
It took the police nearly half an hour to show up.
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Meanwhile things across the way had calmed down somewhat. The disturbing noises stopped and the woman began moving her belongings out. All of us neighbors stood around outside waiting and watching unsure of what we could or should do. Two Police Officers finally showed up and gave the man a stern talking-to but the woman ended up bringing her stuff back inside.
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Now I find myself left with a lot of questions. I wonder when (not if) this is going to happen again. I wonder if I did the right thing getting involved or if there’s something more I could have/should have done. Did I let myself in for more trouble down the line? Why did the woman in trouble feel the need to go back to the man who choked her? (I’m guessing she feels like her boyfriend didn’t really “mean” to hurt her or maybe she feels like she doesn’t have anywhere else to go.) I also wonder if the Santa Ana PD is overwhelmed or if they just don’t care. For all that, maybe the cops have seen too many of these situations before and they knew how it was destined to turn out. I feel bad for everyone involved and I wish there was something more I could do beside write this blog--but frankly I’m at a loss.
-
Hey look outside the window
There’s a woman being grabbed/They’ve dragged her to the bushes/And now she’s being stabbed/Maybe we should call the cops and try to stop the pain/
But Monopoly is so much fun I’d hate to spoil the game…
-
These are the first lines to a song from the late 60s (I think) called Outside A Small Circle of Friends. It tells the true story of a woman in New York City who was attacked and murdered in full view of at least 20 people--none of whom did anything. These lyrics came to mind after an incident that happened last night (June 19). Here’s what went down . . .
-
The sun was setting and we had opened our windows to catch a cooling evening breeze. As is our wont, Robyn and I had settled down in front of the television to match wits against the contestants on Jeopardy. Imagine our surprise when we heard a woman screaming for help outside. We live in a fairly “nice” part of Santa Ana (actually, a lot of the city is a pretty decent place to live) so this was about the last thing we expected to hear. Being concerned, Robyn and I popped out to see what was happening: several neighbors joined us on the sidewalk and we found ourselves witness to a domestic drama.
-
I don’t know all the details of what went down but here is what I saw. A somewhat older woman (she looked like she was in her 40s) had gotten into an argument with her boyfriend (or so we heard her tell the police later) and he’d choked her. That’s when she started screaming: by the time the neighbors got outside he was holding her in his home and refusing to let her leave. One of the guys tried to convince him to let the woman go but he wouldn’t while the rest of stood around dithering. THEN we heard disturbing noises coming from inside the residence. We heard bangings and shaking so everyone was rather concerned. That’s when I dialed 9-1-1-. (Another neighbor lady had called Santa Ana PD directly and promptly been put on hold.)
-
After dialing 9-1-1 (hence the title of this blog) I had to wait six rings before anyone picked up. The lady on the other end seemed a bit brusque to me: I told her I wanted to report a domestic violence incident (and she asked if it was in my home). I told her no but that the lady across the way was screaming for help and that we were hearing alarming noises that sounded like physical violence. I got the feeling she really didn’t want to dispatch a cruiser to the scene. After several minutes she finally agreed to send police.
-
So we all stood outside waiting
And waiting
And waiting . . .
It took the police nearly half an hour to show up.
-
Meanwhile things across the way had calmed down somewhat. The disturbing noises stopped and the woman began moving her belongings out. All of us neighbors stood around outside waiting and watching unsure of what we could or should do. Two Police Officers finally showed up and gave the man a stern talking-to but the woman ended up bringing her stuff back inside.
-
Now I find myself left with a lot of questions. I wonder when (not if) this is going to happen again. I wonder if I did the right thing getting involved or if there’s something more I could have/should have done. Did I let myself in for more trouble down the line? Why did the woman in trouble feel the need to go back to the man who choked her? (I’m guessing she feels like her boyfriend didn’t really “mean” to hurt her or maybe she feels like she doesn’t have anywhere else to go.) I also wonder if the Santa Ana PD is overwhelmed or if they just don’t care. For all that, maybe the cops have seen too many of these situations before and they knew how it was destined to turn out. I feel bad for everyone involved and I wish there was something more I could do beside write this blog--but frankly I’m at a loss.
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