The $%*! frustration thread

[Sajainta]

I want to respect her privacy as much as possible, but suffice to say she's in a very precarious living situation at the moment and does not have the means to escape.  Why does it sound familiar?

[tushantin]

I want to respect her privacy as much as possible, but suffice to say she's in a very precarious living situation at the moment and does not have the means to escape.  Why does it sound familiar?

Well, because that somehow sounds like a state of poverty to me, where it's not just the lack of finance that becomes problematic but also the environment which negatively influences both the physiology and the psychology of the person living there. Hence the need to escape.

I'm sure there may be other reasons, perhaps more or less grave than this, but that's all that struck my mind for now. The reason it sounded familiar was because some of my close relatives -- and friends -- went through these situations. The only ways they actually survived was, not exactly "getting a job" (as most people complain), but thanks to their will to move to newer locations and with help from those who they knew and/or befriended. Employments are all well and good, but you'd always need a helping hand to make it easier to climb back up without bruising yourself.

And hence I can only sympathize that she's so far away, and that you can't help her currently.

[Sajainta]

I would wager that she'd be considered poor by American standards.  The reason she needs to escape is that the person she's living with is abusive.

[tushantin]

The reason she needs to escape is that the person she's living with is abusive.

There's only one logical solution to that, and it's almost always the right one:

RUN! NOW!! CALL THE POLICE!! Get help from family! Get an army of friends!

Living with abusive blokes is so not cool!

[Sajainta]

"Almost always."

Yes, you're right.  Not always.  I don't want to go into detail about why her contacting the authorities before having a safe place to stay is a bad idea, because that would be disrespecting her privacy.

Edit:  Ahhh, that's not to say one shouldn't contact the police in cases of domestic abuse, that is obviously the most logical solution in most cases and is the easiest way to get help.  I'm just saying that in this specific situation it's not a good idea, but I can't go into more detail than that.  If I knew the police would help I would have called them already.

[tushantin]

Yep, I totally understand the almost. This is India, after all. People trust the police even less than criminals here.

And hence why I mentioned getting support from family and building an army of friends (after all, there's strength in numbers). I also found this video to be quite enlightening, and I think you'd benefit from it in some way, if not entirely. (These guys and girls do their research quite thoroughly in order to ensure we get the best advise possible, especially in desperate situations.)

But assuming that one of the reasons she can't leave her environs or do something about her situation quickly is that she hasn't any support from family and friends (or worst case scenario, she hasn't any family or friend):

Does America have NGOs that help abuse victims? They basically provide urgent refuge for these victims while ensuring that the authorities take this case seriously; heck, they'd shake heaven and earth to ensure that justice is served. India has these NGOs (though admittedly not available at every place) and they've managed to save countless women from the obviously rising cases of misogyny in the backward sectors in the country. So I think in a First World country such as America you might have something equivalent to that too.

But in case you don't, then WellCast's suggestions for 911 or National Domestic Violence Hotline could help too.

[Sajainta]

There are shelters for domestic abuse victims here in America, which sounds similar to NGOs.  They provide shelter and safety from the abuser and offer legal services.  D (who is also a friend of hers) and I have looked for ones in her area and I really hope she takes advantage of those resources.  But I can't make any decisions for her (especially since I'm hundreds of miles away), I can only be there to listen and try to help her through this as best I can, when I can.

[tushantin]

Just recently, the Pakistani student Malala Yousafzai has become by hero for defying Taliban's laws of forbidding education for females. She was shot in the head, survived, and still continued to defy the Taliban as a public figure, all for the sake of global education.

However, the person responsible for the assassination attempt on her said something that quite disturbed me...

"If you were shot [by] Americans in a drone attack, would [the] world have ever heard updates on your medical status? … Would you were called to UN? Would a Malala day be announced?"

And strangely? I think (with the emphasis on "think")... that he might be right. At least in light of Edward Snowden's explanation on the U.S. Government's information control, and the collateral damage at Afghanistan and other areas.

[Sajainta]

WHY are nice shoes for girls so goddamn painful?!  Is it too much to ask for some dress shoes that don't slice into your feet like knives?  I have never been able to find a set of heeled shoes or even fancy flats that didn't cut up my feet and make me hobble around and look like I was crippled after taking them off.

[tushantin]

WHY are nice shoes for girls so goddamn painful?!  Is it too much to ask for some dress shoes that don't slice into your feet like knives?

I think that's why they call them Stilettos.

[Sajainta]

I'm not even talking about stilettos.  I have never owned a pair of stilettos.  I'm talking about plain old shoes that you wear with a skirt or a nice pair of pants.  Even the most flat and mundane skirt-worthy shoes will kill your feet.  It's one of the incredibly shitty things that come with being a girl.

[alfadorredux]

Blame the Kings of France. Everything screwy about fashion that can't be blamed on Queen Victoria was their fault. Well, except the 1970s, but I've always been of the opinion they were a mass hallucination anyway. ;P

My frustration? Picked up a cold at work, despite it being the middle of summer. Two weeks now, and I'm still coughing.

[tushantin]

I do apologize, I meant it a... weird joke. XD

Strangely enough, I'm not sure if other women in India (or Europe) have had that problem... *Gets out and asks people about it, probably knocking at their doors in the middle of the night, grabbing their collars and demanding answers*

Blame the Kings of France.

Or the traditional Chinese. That's where I last heard of the "break your feet to look good" idea for women.

Anywho, my frustration: multiple, actually.

Warning! Emotional baggage coming ahead.

1) Being in India SUCKS! Constant power-outages nearly made me miss my demo-date (which is today, and I managed so finish it a mere hour before the presentation.... it's freaking half-past-six in the morning, and I haven't caught a wink yet). They KNOW that frequent long-drawn power cuts is a problem here, but nobody bothers to do a damn about it. (Half a city across, if such a problem occurs, they fix it permanently IMMEDIATELY.) I wonder why.

2) A politician in India (again) says that "a person can have a full meal for Rs. 12". And he intends to support the dropping of poverty line to such a level that even slum-dwellers would seem "rich" and wouldn't be able to benefit from the welfare.

....yeah. I really wonder where these people, considering they can afford private jets to fly them everywhere, get their statistics.

3) My PC, which I hand-picked almost seven years ago, has served me well so far but is already beginning to show its age. Especially when rendering. It's no longer suitable for production work, apparently, but works "just fine" for everything else (even gaming). And I have no money to buy a new PC.

4) My phone... Touchscreen barely works, and I've just got Rs. 2 left in my wallet. So repair costs, let alone "buying a new phone", is out of the question.

5) I freaking miss my girlfriend. I can't even hug her due to the vast spacetime gap between us.

But hey, on the bright-side, I'm not dead! At least I'm not in the Uttarkhand area, where countless people have suffered floods and landslides, completely forsaken by the leaders of our nations. So I guess that's something, huh? Guess I should be thankful for my chance.

[Sajainta]

Blame the Kings of France. Everything screwy about fashion that can't be blamed on Queen Victoria was their fault.

This makes me happy I decided to wear my "Committee of Public Safety: Established 1793" shirt today.

Edit:  Ahh I am at my Day of Lavos post!

[Yellow]

11:34 :30:10: error 17
Hell of ejturity
A-1 Human image
c-14 character feind :   eye, mouth, nose, ear, nail, hair
E-3 error - 47 tease fly free , deaf and speak 64
C-14 Dream - 17 fly knocker
C-14 light- 0 spiritual item
C-14 shadow- 0 box so item