Day 24- September 2, 2010

I had 11 intakes today, with 2 walk in and I ended my day with a clean desk!

Usually I still have to return call in the morning or I'm waiting for clients to return my calls. But today I left and was 100% caught up! It is great to think that in the morning all I'll have to do is check my messages and wait for the phone to ring, which it will.

Tonight we had our second Support People meeting. David told us from the start of the meeting that this is going to frustrate us. We were being taught how to deal with conflict. Thirty minutes into it, I just kept repeating to myself "this is stupid." I think it was good for us to talk about an issue that can become a problem, but it isn't even close to being a problem yet.

I don't know, I become frustrated when I am told what to do, and I feel that the "rules" are pointless. But I am living in an intentional community and in doing so I have given up my right to ignore the consensus. I just hope there continues to be respect and understanding regarding people's relationships outside of the house. I also hope there is not negative or judgment "advice" given within these rules and regulations.

Darci is upset that Sarah had an entire blog entry dedicated to her, so the rest of this will be in response to Darci's questions. She asked me to explain Alabama and wondered if southerners are a foreign breed. Well Darci, Alabama is a state in the south. I am in Mobile, which is in lower Alabama and has access to the Gulf of Mexico. It is really pretty but super humid. The people here are different than the people in the Northeast or DC, they are much slower. No one is in a hurry and if they are they must not be from here, and people are nice. They are nice for the sake of being nice, they do not expect anything in return.

The south is different. Mobile has a white Mardi Gras and black Mardi Gras, which is something that has been hard for me to swallow. The more affluent people ignore the poor, for the most part, and act as if poverty is not a problem. The consensus seems to be that if people didn't want to be poor they would find a job and stop being poor, but it's not that easy. The south is different, with it's positives and negatives, just like any place.

Next Darci wished to know if I actually like my housemates as much as you seem to here in my blog. It is interesting living with six new people I had never met. It is surprising how well we all mesh. We all take on different roles in the house, so it has seemed to be working itself out. We encounter problems when people hold back their true feelings for the "good of the house." It is interesting to see how one persons negativity or frustration can disrupt the flow of the house. As my mom has always taught me, I need to learn to let things roll off my back and as Matt says, there is no good to letting other people rent space in your head.

We all have our own personal situations going on at home, five people in the house are in relationships so it can make the nights rather quiet when it comes time for everyone to check in with their significant others. We turn our cell phones off after work until we are done with dinner to ensure we are sharing enough with each other. As much as a trusted family member or friend at home can listen, the understanding that the people in the house share cannot be replaced. We are all dealing with the same populations and in some cases the same clients. The bonds we are forming in the house are crucial and irreplaceable.

Darci also wished to know my overall emotional state? happy? sad? fulfilled? lonely? excited? I would say that at this moment I'm a bit overwhelmed. The job is amazing and fulfilling, but it is also sad to ask detailed questions about an abusive spouse or do an intake for an eviction where the client is locked out or without power and has no place else to go. It is amazing to come home knowing I'll have up to six people who will listen and care. But lately it has been a bit lonely as people return to DC and the usual group gets together without me because I'm in AL.