A woman’s view of the Poconos
While waiting for my discharge papers, I couldn’t help but hear the story of a woman adjacent to me in the emergency room.
Severe headaches, halucinations… the cause? Her husband slamming her repeatedly in the head with the butt of his rifle. This happened on Sunday. She was there that night with the State Police for evidence, to be treated, and to issue an arrest warrant for the husband.
She came back yesterday. Whatever they gave her wasn’t strong enough. AND her husband is still on the loose. He seems to “get away” every time they decide to get off their asses to look for him.
Think the Poconos are bad on New Yorkers? Try being a woman.
They’re very slow to arrest an abusive husband… and yes, this is sadly a fact of life all over the country. When a husband seeks to kill someone they once loved, orders of protection are totally useless. That’s another sad fact in the United States.
But ladies… miss a child support payment in the Poconos, and they will throw the fucking books at you. It doesn’t matter. Monroe County Correctional Facility is filled to the brim with women who don’t pay child support… doesn’t matter how many kids are in that house as you’re hauled away.
One such case was a woman who had four children, two were with her, two were with him. He never gave her a dime of child support, she wanted very little to do with him.
But that’s irrelevant. He filed charges and she didn’t. She did three months.
Another amazing tale was Linda Fogle. Her husband, James Proctor… unemployed, in a trailer filled with garbage & cat shit, beat his 3-month old baby to death because she wouldn’t stop crying.
Well, a life sentence for Proctor wasn’t enough for the Monroe County legal system, was it? Why not go after the mother who worked two jobs to keep the family afloat?
“‘Linda was out busting her ass, and now this,’ said Donna Fogle, referring to the fact that her daughter worked while Proctor stayed in the trailer. ‘He trashed the place, not Linda,’ she said.”
Well goddamn it… Linda should have been the “happy homemaker”, as well as the breadwinner and bill payer. Proctor was the “man of the house”, he shouldn’t have to do sissy & menial stuff like clean & babysit his own kids. That was *HER* job too.
At least that’s what the judge thought.
“Glaring directly at Fogle, [President Judge] Vican asked rhetorically, ‘Why would you allow these children to live under such deplorable conditions ?’…”
“Calling Fogle ‘lazy, stupid and unconcerned’ for the welfare of her children, Vican told her, ‘You had no right to impose that (squalor) on your children.’..”
Actually, his exact words were “irresponsible bitch”, according to the reporter.
It was an Andrea Yates story, except in reverse. Had Linda Fogle killed their baby instead of Proctor, I believe with all of my heart she would have gotten the death penalty, and Proctor would have gotten a heartfelt sympathy for the loss of his child from the courts.
Fucked up shit, huh?
I played “Mr. Mom” for two years when we moved up here. I cooked, I cleaned, I did kids’ homework with them while Carole worked.
Was it easy? No.
Did I expect Carole to come home from a long day at work and clean a pig sty, cook dinner, and do all of her “domestic goddess” chores while I sat on my fat ass & watched tv?
No. I’m weird that way.
President Judge Vican would strongly dissagree with the way our “dysfunctional” family was set up. But then again, I see him as the type to nudge his wife in the middle of the night to let her know *her* baby is crying & “probably needs something”.
But I digress…
After I got my crutches & discharge papers, I apologized to the woman for eavesdropping and gave her my card. (Up close, you can see the stitches over her right eye.) I gave her the names of a few reporters who might be interested in a human interest story.
And yeah, she did thirty days for child support too.
Mr. Abusive husband reported her at some point.
The State Police will take their sweet time finding and arresting him.
Because domestic violence is ok… after all, he’s a “man”.
Pay your child support you damn wimmen, you!!!!
Welcome to the “Land of no Excuses”…
Especially for women.
No related posts.
RSS Syndication