YO BETH, YOU WILL LET ME KNOW IF THIS IS A LIE RIGHT?
From what I have gathered, our "Mistress of Misery" was PULLED from the program after less than 3 months. Does this qualify someone for Vetern Status?
Let me put this another way, Straight Inc. was used by a lot of dumbass parents as a cheap ass alternative to traditional treatment for Mental Illness. It carried FAR less social stigmatism to have a "druggie" child than to have a child that was completely batshit. Plus Straight gave the parent all those way cool Parent Raps, and coffee and doughnuts, and ya got to stand up with a microphone and humiliate your child in front of hundreds of people who accepted you and called you their 'freind.'
It did'nt matter that the kid was already self-medicating (pot) and had found something that made home life and teenage years bearable. What mattered most is that the parent once again felt like they were 'in control' and that folks is the biggest lie ever told because NO ONE's behavior, no matter how severe or disturbing ever deserved the drastic measures of "treatment" that we were all put through.
We cannot turn our backs on the fact that several clients of Straight should have been under the care of licensed Mental Health Professionals. Susan Silva spent 13 days in Milton Roy, tried to leave group and purposely swan-dived onto her face, breaking her nose and laughing defiantly as she was taken away to the infamous "Think Room." From there, she tore electrical wiring from the walls in an effort to kill herself, and after one more day she simply "disappeared." Them fuckers never even let her change her bloody clothes last I saw of her. Tony Paracelli was another person who sure as hell did'nt need Straight. He even stayed at my home as a foster brother after making 3rd phase. His parents were paying DAMN good money for him to be there. Even someone as cement headed as Doug Hemminger could see that this guy's elevator would never reach the top, but there he was nevertheless.
Tony got so fucking bad, they would only call on him near the end of a rap, so that lunch, dinner, or excersise could change the subject fast enough to cover up the fact that he had lost his mind completely. It was especially hard on me, because he was now a part of my "family unit." It finally reached the point to where Staff decided that the best course of action was to drive him to downtown St. Pete and put him on a Greyhound Bus to Seattle Washington.
This poor guy was from Baltimore Maryland, but his parents would not take him back and he had turned 18. He was ''shipped out" in February of 1979 and we never thought we would see him again.
'Lo and behold, one breezy Tuesday morning in April during spring break, Tony just walks INTO Straight through the Anvil Street side garage door like he just got done taking out the trash or something.
Much like you Beth, Straight was all he had. He could'nt give it up
after all that abuse, all that humiliation, it was still the only thing he had going in his life. He made his way from the other side of our continent and it only took him 2 months. What drive, what neverending fury.
I think I understand now. You said once that you knew I had the answer, but forgot where I put it. You were right. I wanted to tell you this sooner, but was afraid to lose you as a friend. Simple playground rejection, but seeing how you lost yourself along the way, there is no friend in you to lose so it does not matter anymore.
What matters is that a 36 year old WOMAN decides to step up to the plate and take a fucking swing at a game called LIFE instead of sitting on the bench making excuses and letting countless others go to bat for you. By the way, YOUR UP NEXT!