When I was a Residence Hall Director (back in the last century) at UNH, we used to play a lot of games that helped my staff members get to know one another, and share perceptions we had of each other. I remember one board game (though not its name) that had players secretly answer questions then match the responses to the right person. One question gave me away: what is your greatest fear? Common responses were fire, death, drowning, etc. But the one everyone guess correctly was mine: mental illness.
In that job, I had the horrible experience of witnessing several students have psychotic breaks, and played a pivotal role in having a student or two involuntarily hospitalized. It's the worst feeling in the world to take someone's freedom away--basically their constitutional rights--because you think they are sick yet the do not agree.
It is intentionally very difficulty to have someone forced into receiving care they do not want or think they need. This is done to protect us all from crazy family or neighbors who might not act in our best interest. To have someone involuntarily committed, you need to prove to a judge or someone that they are indeed a real threat to themselves or others. So, you have to watch & wait for something bad to happen, and hope it's bad enough to meet the definition of "threat" but not so bad that anyone gets hurt.
This brings me to Friday's hostage drama in Rochester, NH.
I have to say (IMHO) that Rochester, NH does not enjoy a reputation as a nice, sleepy, small city with a great downtown, as Rep. Carol Shea-Porter might suggest. It's depressing, is what it is. Empty store fronts, high drop out rate, high teen pregnancy rate. Probably loads of folks without adequate health insurance, and under-employment. When I served on Strafford County Grand Jury for a year, my observations were that people just couldn't seem to get out of their own way. Crimes of sheer stupidity. If I came to NH as a volunteer or staffer, I'd be bummed if I were assigned to Rochester.
So, where am I going with this? I don't know, really. I'm pissed that incorrect names were tossed around by the media and some bloggers. I'm disappointed that the Clinton camp didn't have the foresight to see that their Hillary Saved The Day TV ad might be taken in the wrong way. But mostly I feel badly for the hostages, trapped in a room with someone so unstable and unpredictable. Watching and waiting for something to happen, but hoping it's not too bad but bad enough to get this guy some help.
On the other hand, I am impressed with Foster's Daily Democrat for holding out for a positive ID, when Fox, MSNBC, HuffPo & others were barking up the wrong tree. And I'm impressed but not surprised at how well local & federal agents worked together for a peaceful resolution.
But I reserve the utmost praise for the mutual respect and professionalism displayed by the competing campaigns.
And I am optimistic that this one crazy day will not change retail politics in NH.
