I’ve had a real tough time keeping my mouth shut over this one too.... I suppose she’d have haters no matter what her reaction is but it’s so painful to watch.

I have a theory of why she was so calm....

Right. The people who “don’t get” her calm have either never been in a serious situation, or they’re the panickers. Remaining calm is deeply intuitive - how the fuck else are you going to extricate yourself from the situation?

When I was in high school, my mother slipped and fell on the ice and broke her leg badly in three places. I had to call 911, and I went into a sort of automatic detached mode, based on the scripts you say in lifeguard training. Despite her being in the middle of a parking lot in 10 degree weather it took them an hour…

Exactly. There are plenty of people who are that calm in the moment.

Agree wholeheartedly. She probably also worried that if she wasn’t 100% calm the officer might shoot her next. After he shot and killed Philando Castille he flipped out and started screaming and cursing. He wasn’t even close to being stable.

To me, her “calmness” was very similar to the way a horse trainer speaks to a spooked and dangerous animal. She couldn’t risk setting Officer Triggerhappy off on herself or her daughter.

Heyyyyyy, they marched in MY town’s 4th of July parade too!

Yah but what a way to make a first impression!

call/email your state rep and city council and demand police reform. Support the politicians who make it a big part of their platform.

Didn’t he actually die from strep that turned into pneumonia? I feel like famous people are always dying of pneumonia, its terrifying.

I think there has been a huge change in our police force in the last 15-20 years. Budgetary constraints have lowered training quality and officer pay and the police have come to rely on things like civil forfeiture and DHS/Military cast-offs for their equipment (including military-looking uniforms and armor/helmets,…

My mom was an ER nurse for 30 years and your story sounds sadly familiar. Apparently RUNNING a hospital requires an absolute lack of empathy and self-awareness.

I hope you had your special day off!

Also, I like your username. It makes me think of my family, my grandma’s story about seeing Quan Yin on the wretched boat ride to America, and watching the Chinese monkey king movies.

Last year, my dad requested the day off for my niece’s first birthday, which was the weekend after my daughter’s first birthday. Just two weeks before, he had to take 2 days off because my mom was having surgery. So, 4 days over a month-long period, in a job where he works mostly 6 days a week (more than was agreed…

My college ex committed suicide 14 years ago. It just doesn’t seem as though it was that long ago to me. College was a weird time in my life. I'm so glad that you learned and got value out of what sounds like a weird time in yours.

That's terribly sad, and I'm so glad that his friend did you a solid and let you know about it so you could escape the situation. And so that your mutual friend could give rehab a solid shot.

Oh, agreed.

In my official capacity as a white person, I second this post.

This is why we need to teach critical thinking skills in schools.