kick ASS

Last night was just so much fun. I arranged for a client's birthday party to be at the same place as my friends' show so that I wouldn't miss it. I bought a cake and wrote JEOPARDY on it, just for the birthday girl, because that is her favorite word. She's so adorable. I walked her over to see the cake and helped her spell it out, and she was just grinning from ear to ear when she realized it was her birthday cake and that it said Jeopardy. I know she tends to spray when she blows out candles so I bought her another separate cake for the candles. I know I wasn't planning on enjoying her spittle, so no one else probably wanted to either. We had plenty of people from the company show up, including some people I hadn't met before, which was really nice. The people at the High Noon ordered pizza so that everyone would be able to buy it by the slice. It worked out well. The only snag was that one of my staff who was working with a client ordered wine and was drinking (in plain sight!) on the job. It was like she didn't even care that there were three supervisors there. Two of us RSC's and one staff noticed her drinking and although it's within CAI's rules that an employee gets fired immediately - I just couldn't do it. I fucking wussed out and wasn't up to it. I don't really know why, except that I really didn't want to. I talked with another RSC and we decided to let management handle it today. Grrrr. If we do nothing, then of course we hurt morale with the other staff, who see that we see staff drinking on the job and do nothing. And of course it's my JOB to be a mandated reporter so not saying anything is just right out. Dammit. I really resent being put in this position. I was drinking too, but goddamn it I wasn't working! That staff is such a cunt anyway, I have never been able to stand her. I won't miss her when she's fired but that's beside the point.
Otherwise everyone had a great time and all the people who wanted to dance got their big chance. One of my clients was just ...enthralled with the music. She was singing along and dancing and she didn't even know the words! That just made my heart swell. In a good way. =P I am going to try harder than ever to get her out to shows. She and I go to Weight Watchers together each week and she needs the exercise, but she is also very shy and it's great to get her out in the community and around people. I guess before I knew her she spent years in her room and never came out or spoke to anyone. Wow, things have changed. I would love to keep everything on an upward spiral for her.
If I get the position for which I applied I really hope the next RSC does his or her best to keep things as good as they are now for my clients. I know that it has taken almost two years to build a good rapport with these women, and I can't expect things to happen immediately, but I know what I'd like, and that's the best possible things for the ladies I work with. They all have had hard lives, ones most people can't imagine. Having a disability and being in the system is at best, frustrating. At the very least, you lose your privacy and independence. I think that's one thing I very much try to encourage with the people I support. I've been there when a man will ASK me if it's okay for him to take a piss. And of course- it's not up to me, but then I think about his past, and how many people have imposed rules on him. How many people have told him what to do, when to do it, and for how long. It's really sad the way I've seen people with disabilities treated. It's actually worse than dogs in a lot of cases. One of the first things I saw when I started this job was a man who was kept in a cupboard by the staff. He sat in his own feces in the dark, in a closet. That staff deserves to be beaten in public and left in the stocks with a sign around his neck saying just why he's there. I think that's a perfect punishment. Oh yeah, no bathroom breaks. Asshole.