On 2006-02-17 09:39:00, CaughtInTheMiddle wrote:
"This world is messed up in many ways. All we can do is move on. Realize now that we are adults it is up to us to put the past aside and move forward. "
It would be easier to move on if the systematic mind-fucking would cease, but this is a business that seems to be growing, fast. What's wrong with spending some free time typing about our experiences on the 'net talking to other survivors... is that not
moved on enough in your opinion? Take this as example, what if your father would lock you up in the backyard in a small homemade dungeon, fed you limited meals, and kept you in there for 3 days at a time when you misbehaved. He didn't allow any contact with the outside world, no tv, no phone, no newspaper, nothing. Every couple months he'd keep you up for three days with only a few hours sleep each night bombarding you emotionally. First he'd tear you down until you were a crying, pathetic kid just wanting to be loved. Then he would mold you into the child he wanted you to be, and he would "love" you if you acted a certain way. It was unnatural, but at least you got attention from him, and felt like a human being. If you didn't, you'd be locked up in the dungeon, or locked in your room all day and have to write 10,000 word handwritten essays about what you did wrong. After two years of this treatment, he felt you were ready to go outside. But you had to sign a strict contract (aren't contracts for people who don't trust each other?) and if you broke any rule, you'd be put back into the "program" at home, dungeon and all.
Once you reached the age of majority, and left your father's house, I'm sure there would be some lasting negative effects. People in your life might even say "you are an adult now, it's time to move on." Okay -- that's fair enough for someone who hadn't lived through the experience themselves. But, please, imagine -- if you are that child -- and now you
know your father has adopted four children from an orphanage overseas. He is now the legal father of these kids. It suddenly becomes a
lot harder to ignore doesn't it? Knowing how he treated you, what he had done to you, knowing after all these years you still have nightmares... it would be a lot harder to ignore then... wouldn't you agree?
Now, let's say your 'father' is a group of paid staff members, and your 'home' is a privately run facility in the backwoods of Montana called Spring Creek Lodge. Would this make the story any less horrifying? It shouldn't. But for some people, it does, I'm not sure why. Maybe they trust organizations with fancy brochures, and
assume if all the abuse allegations were true, somebody would have already done something about it.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
A slipping gear could let your M203 grenade launcher fire when you least expect it. That would make you quite unpopular in what's left of your unit.
-- In the August 1993 issue, page 9, of PS magazine, the Army's magazine of preventive maintenance
