Tuesday, July 17, 2007

Small World

This morning was pretty normal. Nothing out of the ordinary. Apparently a gentleman walking by got so mad at the protesters that he dropped his coffee in frustration - he later emailed the clinic manager to let her know and to commend us for the job we do. That's always nice.

We thought Crazy Legs wouldn't be out today, but she did make it. She was in top form, wearing one of her best silly little vests and approaching people left right and centre. She promised one woman $900 a month to keep her baby. I have no idea where she thinks that money would come from. If I could get $900 a month, I'd get pregnant right now. That's more than I make working two jobs.

I had a weird experience today; the first time since I've been an escort that I've escorted in someone I knew. I was prepared, as I'd seen her name on the appointment list, so that was good. And it isn't someone that I know particularly well or that I even think would recognize me, so it wasn't awkward or anything. It's just one of those things that's bound to happen, I guess. And I really couldn't care less - obviously I am ok with abortion - but I feel bad for whoever it is, because that sucks. There is such stigma with abortion, most people would really prefer to remain as anonymous as possible. And in a city like this you're obviously likely to see someone you know, and they're likely to tell people they saw you. So it sucks.

I guess I'm pretty awkward about social situations anyway. I never know how one should react to seeing a casual acquaintance in public - I will smile and say hello, but sometimes people want to talk and then sometimes they really don't. And then you add in the fact that they are coming to have an abortion and it's just...weird. Because I really don't think it's that big a deal, but I know that for some people it can be really traumatic, especially with the protesters and everything. So it's a strange situation.

Honestly though, I think it's cool that I saw this person. Because she's always struck me as a strong, smart, funny person and it's one of those "it can happen to anyone" type of things. Which is good to know and good for other people to know, because even pro-choicers make assumptions. We never really know what kinds of bias we have until we suddenly run right into it.

Oh, another small world story - JF came up the steps while I was chatting with the clinic manager, to tell us that the protesters had a kid out there. I checked to see, and it turned out to be a kid I knew; a friend's little brother (he comes from a very Catholic family). That made me sad, although not surprised. I hope he doesn't become a regular.

1 comment:

Amy O said...

Peggy I really liked this blog and meant to comment on it for about a week or so.

I think it's really weird for us all to realize and to see people outside of the boxes that they were put into in high school. It's easier just to judge and classify them based on what they used to be. Seeing someone that you don't know very well, but you know on the surface, that is going through something crappy is weird. It makes you look at them in a different way.

It also sucks that there is only 1 abortion clinic for 2 provinces and that people aren't able to go through something like that privately or have the option to go to a clinic in another town or something.