Taking a stand for what you think is right

 I have, in the recent past, taken a stand for something I think is right and worth fighting for. I live in Flint, Michigan which, as anybody who reads a newspaper or watches a news brodcast is aware, is in sort of a one city economic depression. Another way of looking at the situation here is Genesee County and the city of Flint is that this is, if you will pardon me is I use a very worn out phrase, "Ground Zero" of the economic problems that exist in this nation.

There is a considerable number, as I am sure there is in almost every other city, of very poor people living here, myself included. Because I have to make every red cent count, it goes without saying that I spend quite a lot of time at my residence, which has given me the opportunity to keep tabs on what is going on around the vicinity of my house. As I am sure those people reading this hub who are streetwise know, it is a very good idea to at least know what is going on around you at all times. The area I live in is not as bad as other people claim, but is not exactly real great either. With that in mind, I try to keep an eye on things in my little corner of the world.

I smoke. I have been asked not to smoke in the house, so I go outside to have a smoke a few times a day. I have no problem respecting the wishes of the person who asked me to keep it outside and it gives me the chance to watch the goeings on around here. I am not one of those types who is always in someone else's business, and just has to know who did what and so on. I find people who do that are very annoying and just end up making an ass of themselves.

In the house across the street from mine, there is a young couple with 2 very young children, about 4 and 2. I am unsure if the man is the father of them, or if they are just the womans, and either way, it does not matter. I have never saw the man go to work like most normal people do. That fact is not exceptional, after all, I am unemployed as well. The part I find remarkable is that this guy has all sorts of toys, such as a water ski boat, a hot rod, and a very expensive motercycle. ( I know he is selling, I have been around the block a few times.) The part that infurates me is the way that both the man and the woman treat those poor kids. I have heard them use, quite loudly, words that should never be said in front of little children. I have also witnessed physical abuse, not crazy put-the-kid-in-the-hospital type of abuse, but moving in that direction if nothing is done.

One of the beliefs I have is that silence gives permission if nobody takes any action to stop it. The one thing that allows evil to flourish is when good people stand by and do nothing because they are afraid, don't want to get involved, or don't know what to do. I think that sort of thinking went a long ways to getting this nation in to the spot we find ourselves in, but that is off topic in this hub.

I reported what I suspected, as well as what I witnessed, to the police, DA's office, the county sherrif's office, the state police, and DHS. My thinking at the time was that it I e mailed enough people, someone would take notice and investigate, which they did. I was a little afraid to try and do something, but I guess my parents did not raise a coward. Courage is being afraid of something, but doing it anyway. My ex wife got into the drug scene a few years ago and caused me a whole world of trouble, so maybe that's why I dislike the type of people I suspect these people are. I am not meaning anything in a racist context, (they are white, the same as me), and I have very little sympathy for those who are racist.

These folks got what they had coming. I watched earlier this year a raid by the narcotics unit of the local police. A quantity of drugs were found. I don't mean this idiot was in Pablo Escobar range, but more then that average person would have for their own use. It goes without saying that they were both arrested and the kids were sent to the custody of the DHS people, they were evicted, (the house was a rental), and a crimp what put into the drugstore these morons had going on in the living room of their house.

I could not just stand idle and watch this sort of thing happen around me and not do anything. That is not the way I was made. I know that the actions I took have a level of risk, but I couldn't just stand there and watch, if for no other reason then those kids don't deserve to be around that kind of shit and be treated in that manner. I believe to do nothing would be a stain on eveything I have been taught, and believe in as a vet and as a human being. If more people would stand up for what they think is right, the world would be a much better place.