Friday, 13 February 2009

• Tomato

  Whenever a person is inept at their job, we refer to them as a "tomato". This is because a tomato would be just as good at the particular job as the person being described. My son's school social worker just sent me an email that made me exclaim "tomato!".

  I sent the social worker some information about my son, what is going on at the moment, in case my son needs a little extra support during the school day. After all, its not everyday a child has to deal with his dad's mortality. It's a big issue for me, but I have maturity and experience to at least understand what it means in its entirity. Coping with mortality is possibly the hardest part of the human experience, no matter how emotionally and intellectually advanced you are. A child's ignorance does not cause immunity. If anything, it is more difficult for them to deal with than it is for adults.

  It has obviously made a profound mark on my family, especially my son. That's why I took the time to write the email to those that support my son Monday to Friday from 7:00am to 2:30pm. I cannot be there to dispell my son's fears.

  Now, I have said before and I'll say it again- I know a lot about the mental health field. My husband being a therapist, me having done a combination of case management  and counselling under the supervision of an excellent clinincian, and my I should mention now that my neighbor is a school social worker in another district. It's all around me. I very much know the difference at this point in my life between theraputic and not so much.

  Here was the response I was expecting:

  "Thank you for keeping me updated. I will address this with your son in our future meetings."

  Or how about:

  "It's natural for a child to act out during such situations. I will check in on him today or tomorrow as time allots."

  Or Maybe:

  "My thoughts are with your family. Thank you for keeping me updated."

  Or just:

  "I will support your son if he has any issues in class."

  What I receive was:

  "I hope all is going well."

  I had a WTF moment. Um, if he means going well as in my child's father and my husband is still alive? Does he mean well as in not hospitalized? I would venture to guess that at this moment, I can't describe anything as going well. Maybe progressing, maybe touch and go, maybe some other likewise descriptor, but nothing is well.

  We are quite literally a mess here because my husband heart isn't pumping blood like its supposed to. Just how would that even qaulify as 'well'? Could you explain your superficial sentiment? Because I've had to put 911 on speed dial, which one does not do when all is well.

  So, Mr. Tomato is probably going to get a pithy response, in which I may or may not refer to him as Mr. T. The man, as one says in mental health, is clearly on the wrong side of desk.

  • 10:29 AM
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