I have always said things happen for a reason. So I was trying to figure out what in the world was the reason for feeling violated yesterday by a parent stealing my phone. I mean, it IS just a phone, right?
Thursday I began the day by having the grandma of my student, the mother of the dad that stole from me, sobbing in my arms in front of my classroom. She was mortified, kept saying sorry, that her son was sorry, that he has alot of problems, etc. etc. etc. I explained that I had to report it stolen to the school, and the principal called the police, and it escalated from there. I told her I was happy to have my phone back but I wasn't pressing charges. She then shared with me that she had nowhere to turn, didn't know what to do because she had given her granddaughter her last dose of seizure medicine that morning. The medicine is $100 a month for one (she is on two) and they didn't know what to do. The dad had let Medi-cal lapse and they were having trouble getting back on. I referred her to the family center at our school for help with that plus help with money for the medication.
I immediately called John, who was subbing for our VP, and he came over and I shared with him what their situation was. It was clear to me that the dad stole the phone to sell for cash to buy meds for his daughter. While I don't condone in ANY way what he did, as a parent, I understand. It was an act of desperation, and while there were also other measures, other steps he might have taken before resulting to stealing, as a street gang member (current, former, doesn't matter to me) what he did, he did for his child.
John went immediately to the family center, got ahold of the prescriptions for our local Walgreens and contacted them, pleaded with them to help the family in dire need of some assistance. He was shut down by the pharmacist, who said they could not give out free medicine. John asked to speak to her boss, and was shut down. He asked for corporate headquarter's phone number and was told she couldn't give it out. Well, if you know Mr. Brand, you know him to take no s***t and as a good ole' boy and the type of administrator that gets things done no matter what the politics, etc., told this naive little lady that if she didn't give him the phone number, within a couple of hours, Channel 7 would be camped outside their store with a story to tell. She said, "please hold." and then came back with the number. After calling the East Coast, John was able to secure a case number and the promise of free meds within a day or two. Not good enough. This little girl needed to be on the meds by that afternoon or else. He even said he would pay for it himself. Now this one medication, retails for $165, is $100 on Medi-cal. How do people who live in poverty do it?
Within an hour he had an answer back. They would give one week of free meds, John offered to pay for the second week. Family Center was working to reinstate Medi-cal within 2 weeks. When John asked Walgreens how much the medicine was, he was given the $165/$100 for the month, so for one week it would be.....and he said I will NOT pay your retail. Tell me what your COST is and that's what I'll pay. The answer? $10. Yep. TEN FREAKING DOLLARS. I was floored. And disgusted. He handed grandma the $10 and sent her on her way. Problem solved, right?
Nope. Friday morning I asked her if she got the meds. Yes, but guess what? They only gave her 4 days worth. This little girl would run out by Monday morning. Sigh. I pulled out my cell, called John and told him to get to my room ASAP. He did, and when I told him what happened, he told grandma to come with him and off they went, his cell phone already out of his pocket calling Walgreens. Seems they miscounted pills or something....I don't know. The end of the story, at this point, seems to be that they are making it right, John paid another $20 on his credit card over the phone and told grandma she was covered for 2 weeks. I was in tears most of Friday when I thought about what would have happened if John hadn't been there, yet again, for me, and for this family. He spends the first couple of weeks of school with us, and last year was my savior with my little bolter/crier/biter student. He reminds me of my dad for some reason, but dad was never this go-getter type. It's just a sense about him.
Hopefully on Tuesday I will find out that everything is okay. If not, I have John on speed dial and he said to call with any problems. The police came by my room AGAIN to see if I wanted to press charges. He kept telling me about his street persona, all the bad stuff he's done. I reiterated to him, respectfully, that while that is THEIR experience with this guy, mine is that he is a father, comes to every conference, field trip, shows nothing but love, care and concern for both his kids. Always been respectful to me (until now) and I can gather that he is probably really really embarrassed that he did this to me. I am all about the kids. That won't change and pressing charges will just hurt them. I can't do it.
All I know for sure is this: this happened for a reason. He took my phone and I was able to pin point him as the thief for a reason. To bring his daughter's situation to light. At the right place and time, to be able to get them some support. To me, it's all worth it.
Anyhow, one of these days I will finally be able to blog about my Texas weekend. For now, I am recovering from 4 BP classes this weekend - taught 3, took one as a participant while videotaping a new instructor. Now I just have to figure out how to get the video on a DVD and give it back to her. Really makes me respect all Alex did for me through this whole assessment process :)
Dinner and another early bedtime for me......
No comments:
Post a Comment