July 12, 2008

"We Have All Become Victims..."

My Instructor Charles Conner and his part time assistant goldsmith Gary Lee. They are attempting to repair a silver plated antique teapot...it was not a success

"I think we are done here", Maureen sighed, as we sat in the Subway at the Holiday Inn where Woody and I had planned this adventure nearly one year ago. "I am so done with the whole thing... I am going home. He can email me when the JA test comes in."

I look at her, worn out and somewhat dejected. I can see my reflection in the glass window. My bitterness over the lack of enthusiasm of our instructor, and my seeming mistake in trusting him at his word that he would do everything possible to help me in my quest to become a jeweler had taken its toll... I had nightmares all the night before and look like a hag.I asked her "What then after the test? What do you want to do?"

Not looking directly at me sort of out the window as she ate she replied, "I dont think I know enough to open my own shop...Work for someone else?"

I smiled to myself. This young lady is very talented and has a lot of savvy. She doesnt realizes how much she knows sometimes. I said " You know there are only a few things you need to know about running a jewelery business beyond the obvious like get a good accounting/POS softwear package like Gellers follow his advice and you will be fine. You are a great jeweler and will only get better with time...But there are three things that you have to know that they DONT do at Conner's and the sad results have left us all victims...

One; be brutally painfully honest to the point of personal hurt with yourself and your vendors and customers. Your reputation is the most important thing you posses and it can be lost in a second. Two; Discretion. You must not casually disclose your profession to anyone. As a single woman living alone this is ten times more important. Protect your address, put the store address on your drivers license and get a PO box. No jewelery stuff should ever be sent to your home. Watch your back, use a alarm system etc. Three; choose your friends wisely.We have seen the bitter fruit of the son of our instructor having a posse of bad boy friends and look at what one of them has done...Ruined everything for all of us..."

Maureen looked up at me..." yeah, we have all become victims of the bad choices of a few...."

We both cleaned out our benches not long after we got back from our lunch... Charlie didnt notice, he was back in his office on the phones, the Internet, whatever. I still have a few days owed to me but frankly I cant see staying there once Mo leaves and goes back to her folks and starts looking for a job up in the Chicago area. I feel so depressed when I am there. I have lost the desire to fight against the forces of darkness and despair that seem to have the upper hand in that place.

Last Monday the ball was put into motion for this sad end when the local paper finally ran an article on the break in at Charlie's house This caused a flurry of interest with the local media with all three of the networks sending news crews out to the school to interview us and to make a point of beating up law enforcement and show the ineptitude of the county prosecutors office who all know who the creep was that did this...sadly its looking like a inside job and the guy is the friend of a friend of Charlies son, Bryan. He knew that the family was going out of town and was going to make a quick hit on the house but found Katie there and heaven only knows what happened as the girl is not saying much to police...

Maureen and I bailed out before the first reporters got there. I (and Mo too) had NO desire to be on TV to even be known to be connected to this and frankly felt that it was the height of stupidity that this was being publicized to this level. They filmed the house, the street number, the school, gave out information regarding how the security had been lacking... and every bodies names are out there in plain sight for the local tweekers and gang bangers to come on over for a handout on the swag. I certainly have no desire to be followed home from the school some evening and be a crime victim. Mo has keys to the school which she surrendered this week thank God because she is living in not the best part of town and has never been in a situation like this.

My new contacts locally swearer that the word on the street is that this friend of Bryans is the thug that beat Katie up and this was brought on by the total lack of security and professional demeanor required of a jeweler. As I told Mo, people on our street in Hawaii had no idea who we were or what we did and we found out later that they thought that we were law enforcement (Woody wore a uniform with a badge for his security job, and I guess I fit the profile of a lady Cop...go figure and thank you Jesus for the perfect disguise.) We were left alone, and really that was God's protecting us as we were alone so much...


The news has even reached the blogosphere and you can read their coverage here at
911 Wackos: 911 robbery call ignored for half hour


Gary and Charlie trying to weld a handle back on a silverplated teapot

Sadly the true victim, Katie hasnt been given the space or time needed to deal with the situation. We know that a lot of times people think you should just "get over it" and this seems to be the way the family is looking at things. Katie was in a public venue when she saw the story broadcast on Tv and freaked out. She went home confronted her step father who felt that he had the right to tell about how he had been wronged and to get his stuff back. Its all about him... She and he had this huge fight and he kicked her out of the house...blame the victim...great. He and the girls mother had a fight then and he went to their house in the country and spent a day brooding leaving his responsibility and the school to whatever....

The whole situation is so emotionally charged and negative emotions are so high that a very sensitively wired person like myself picks up this like Doppler radar can see hidden moisture in the air. I have spent a large part of my life reading the unspoken communication of individuals in order to survive and I find that this situation is about to explode. This family and those of us involved in the school and business are all caught up in this drama that will have no good end. I realized that I am afraid. Afraid because I am sitting in harms way everyday at the school, I am not getting the care or consideration that as a student I should have gotten and now cant get because the personal drama is not left at home but comes into work everyday.

...I saw the guy that robbed Charlie when he came in to sell he gold that day in May. I could pick him out of a line up and that makes me afraid. He saw me sitting there...

My apartment is secure I have an alarm system which I use faithfully when I go in and come out. I tell few people what I do and keep to myself. I watch my back and am inside long before dark...But...

I wake up when I hear noises in the night. I realized that my own snoring and upset account for a lot of this... The nightmares that tormented me most of my young life have returned after YEARS of absence. There was a time when my dream life was so negative that sleep was a torment. If this persists I will seek professional help, no matter what.

I pray a lot and know that time is a healer like nothing else. I will continue to read about my chosen profession and learn more that way. I have my time with Jerry yet to look forward to... I am not cutting my time short here and will be aggressively looking for work as well. If I get something that will subsidize my expenses here I will stay as long as I can. The economy being in the shape that it is in may mean a postponement of my opening my business would be wise. Woody has not said that he desires my return, and I have tried to not think too much about that. If he wanted me home I would consider it absolutely, but I think God is doing something right now in his life that is good and I dont want to get in the way of that.

I chose many years ago to stop being a victim. I know that there are those that still think that I am with regards to my relationship with Woody and all of that. But I lived in fear of the return of my rapist and later the stalker boyfriend that was beyond scary in his persistent pursuit of me... I have lived under the radar for years because my life with the Engineer was filled with people that were best left behind. I dont want to go this way again. The things one fears rarely happen. Once you realize that you see that life gets good again... the door opens and you arent a victim anymore...

Mo and shop cat Eeyore, named ofter the Winnie the Pooh character for his formerly shy depressed personality... he is in love with Mo and will be going home with her to Chicago once she is finished with school

Labels: Breaking News, Conner School, Current Events, Louisville, Woody