"The Client"....March 9, 2000

"The Client"....March 9, 2000

Mid Evening...

.....which is rather early for me to be finding myself at the computer pumping out an entry, but I am here nonetheless. For how long is anyone's guess, as my overnight client is here for night number two of a forty-eight hour stretch, and if he does not decide to go to bed soon, I may make the decision for him. He has been rather hyper during the course of this visit, and I am finding it more draining than usual. Perhaps it is because it is the march break, and I do not drive him to school just after waking in the morning. And it is odd, too, that I have him for such an extended period of time. Nevertheless, I felt guilty the last time I had to cancel his foster parents' relief due to my car breaking down for the third time. I also missed the extra cash that having him overnight affords us. While money certainly is not a motivation in my working with these kids, for there is certainly inadequate compensation for the situations I am placed in, I do have a monthly budget that is very arduous to adhere to when I cannot work for such disheartening reasons as an ill fated car.

It was balmy again today. Had the weather not been so unusually mild and wet for an extended period of time lately, I would have thought today's warm, humid clime a bit out of the ordinary. Even more extraordinary was the thunder and lightening we were graced with this evening, which is still present, as a matter of fact. as I look out the office window to see intermittent brilliant flashes of light. There is no accompanying thunder, however, which leads me to believe that this spiritous freak of nature is heading to distant places, beyond the influence of my senses.

The Goddess and I have been disagreeing these last couple of days with respect to how my overnight client ought to be treated. Things came to a boiling point this evening, and I am sure even he felt the tension between us. She is extremely maternal, which is fine when it comes to hugs, pats on the head, or encouragement for being respectful. It does not seem fine to me, however, to go out of our way to spoil him with treats, excessive meals out, or expensive outings. Not only can we not afford it, not only is it setting a dangerous precedence, but it is also allowing him to live a life that is not realistic. He is a permanent ward of the province, which means that in all likelyhood, he will be on his own sometime between the ages of sixteen to nineteen. If the agency in charge of his case does not cut the ties, then he will end up doing something that will. I have seen this scenario played out too many times to be optimistic that he will remain in care before the absolute deadline of age twenty-one.

Which is why I get miffed when The Goddess spends fifteen dollars on mere popcorn for him, which she did tonight. Had it just been this, I would have overlooked it. However, since she moved home, we have discussed on more than one occasion her not spoiling him, or being manipulated into buying him treats, but it keeps happening. When he is out on his own, he will not be able to afford even the necessities most likely, and I feel that being a bit frugal with him is teaching him a valuable lesson. I also feel that while he needs maternal affection, something he grossly lacked as a child, it is imperative to keep some professional objectivity. Despite her being a paragon of professionalism in the women's facility she recently resigned from to move home...

...she is a sucker for a youthful puppy-dog face.

And having to constantly set boundaries not just for him, but for her as well, and subsequently looking like the bad guy, is getting very frustrating.

Not only did I feel like the bad guy this evening, but also like a chauffeur. It was The Goddess' idea to buy the gourmet popcorn, which required a special trip to one of the malls to purchase. I gladly drove The Goddess and client to said mall to buy their popcorn. I then drove to the other mall as the client wanted to spend his money on a candle for...

...you guessed it, The Goddess. Feeling a little left out, I had hoped to check out the playstation games at Walmart in hopes that they had the X-Files. However, after the client shared his gift with The Goddess, he walked out of the mall and to the car. Not once did he consider that someone else may have wanted to buy something. I did not have the energy to combat his selfishness towards me this evening, so I resigned myself to looking for the game another day and drove the two home.

The Goddess and client got their popcorn. The client got a gift for The Goddess.

I got to drive.

Yay.....

....Blessed Be...