Day 1184: Professional Tolerance

My professional tolerance only goes so far. The key to surviving this job is compartmentalizing. I'm usually pretty okay at it. But I'm not nearly good enough at it. I need to be better at it. It probably didn't help that, for all that I had a day off this week, I got slammed. Wall-to-wall court on Monday that ended in a removal of four kids after hours, and I was sure they'd have nowhere to go. I wasn't sure I wanted them to be removed, but the judge made his decision, so I abided by it. Wednesday was also wall-to-wall court. Two adoptions, which was generally happy, but still a full day of court is exhausting. Also, I ran into a kid I know. I've known him since he was two, and there he was, in court for a delinquency hearing. It made me feel old, and also kind of cynical. As much as I have fond memories of him being two and babbling into the phone at me while I was having endlessly long phone conversations with his aunt, I am not surprised he made the decisions he made given the instability he experienced in his childhood. And the public defender I was with was pretty sure that even though he'd gotten busted for distribution, he was probably using too. I looked at that boy and wondered where all the time had gone and how he'd grown into who he was. Thursday was also wall-to-wall court, including drug court. One of the other lawyers bought me lunch when we went out for Tamale Thursdays with the judge, so now I owe him lunch sometime. It was kind of awkward. We were in line together, and the girl behind the counter saw me and him in suits and just assumed we were...together. Weird, since he's dating one of my coworkers. I was hoping Friday would be a quiet day, but as it turned out, it wasn't. I spent a good long time on the road for home visits, and then forever answering emails, and then at an exhausting team meeting, and in the middle of it all, I had another grandparent lose it at me. Grandparents are the majority of the sources behind my most obnoxious phone calls. I was pretty peeved, because her lawyer said she wanted to talk to me, so I (foolishly) assumed it would be a professional conversation, but it wasn't. She cried. She screamed. And she blamed me for everything that went on in her granddaughter's life.

I was pretty pleased with myself in that case. I came up with a solution when everything was falling apart. It was a tough case. When a case is based on a private petition, I end up being case worker, mediator, and lawyer all in one. I think my one coworker who refuses to talk to parents has it right. Best not to deal with them other than a quick, polite, "Hi, how are you?" Because they're not my clients, and I'm not obligated to represent their interests at all. Sometimes I do need to talk to them for investigative purposes. Urgh. Whatever.

So obviously the best way to de-stress from my job is to watch Criminal Minds! I had something of a Criminal Minds marathon this weekend. Besides the twisted sides of humanity, the cruelty and caprice and selfishness, something about that show makes me smile. Daddy!Hotch always makes me smile, and for some stupid, middle school girl reason, Reid's new haircut in season 6 made me smile too. I continue to love Garcia and Morgan and their flirty, loving, loyal relationship. I also like that they never did end up dating. Not because it keeps the tension going, but because it makes their friendship the focus. It proves boys and girls can be friends even if there was once romantic tension or sexual tension. Morgan and Garcia have a fun, loving, supportive, and healthy friendship. And that makes me happy.

Saturday was Super Saturday with the ladies at church, which was fun - crafting, hanging out, talking, eating tasty food. I spent the rest of the day huddled on the couch having puppy cuddles trying to stave off a headache and vaguely attempting to do small chores around the house. Cody was out being my brother-in-law's helper on an electrician job, so it was me, the dogs, chores, and the BAU, hiding from the snow

Today church was good. Choir practice was good. For all that Cody and I are technically awful singers, we have use enough in choir. Sunday school went well. I crocheted so much this week that my right hand hurts, even to do things like type, play piano, or play drums, so I'm going to forego crocheting for a while. I've broken 10,000 words on my SPN RBB story, so I'm pretty excited. I reckon I'll focus on it this week. Here's to this week going better.