The tires are flat on the Wheels of Justice

It's funny, the other day, June over at ByeByePie asked us, her faithful and devoted followers, for input on relieving the stress in our lives and what we did to relax. I am not a highly strung person, I'm not a stress case, I have no need of anti-anxiety medication because I'm just about the most easy going person you'll meet.


Although when Thing 1 born, shortly after his birth I noticed I was having terrible headaches and my jaw ached so I went to The Doctor and it was discovered that I was clenching my teeth in my sleep (what little sleep I got during the first 2 years of Thing 1's life) due to the stress and shock of being a new parent to a VERY colicky baby.  So he prescribed Xanax to be taken at bedtime to help me have a relaxed and restful sleep.  I took it and boy, did I sleep the sleep of the dead.  Not only did I sleep through the night all relaxed and uninterrupted, I slept through my crying infant, my alarm, the back up alarm and the numerous phone calls from my job when I did not show up for work.  I finally emerged from my drug-induced sleep around 11:00am.  Good times.  I rarely take anything stronger than ibuprofen these days.


But in the last week, my stress level AND blood pressure have been at dangerously high levels.  Why?  Let's blame the Long Beach Police Department, shall we?


As I mentioned in my last post, Thing 1 had been the victim of a hit and run driver and after a week of calling the LBPD every day and getting nowhere, I finally make contact with the detective in charge of the case and what he told me nearly made me pop my cork.


What he told me was, basically, nothing.  Nada.  Zip.  Zilch.  The extent of their effort to apprehend the driver of the car has been, get this, sending a letter to the registered owner and await a reply.  Uh huh.  Like THAT'S going to happen.  Someone who leaves the scene of an accident where they mowed down a kid in a crosswalk isn't going to call the police and say, "Um yeah, I got a letter from you and what?  You want me to come down to headquarters?  Oh, sure, I'll be right there!"  And, it gets better, they will not release any information.  If we want any information, like the name and address of the car owner and the accident/police report, we have to pay for it.  And it will take about 3 weeks to receive the report.  If we don't fork over the "fee" we will have absolutely nothing.  Except a destroyed bicycle and a driver who is free to mow down even more unsuspecting people in crosswalks.


Oh! And when Kevin requested the report and pointed out that victims of crimes aren't required to pay the fee, he was told he wasn't a victim of a crime.  I believe my eyes bulged due to the sudden spike in blood pressure when Kevin reported that little tidbit and there was steam coming out of my ears.


It's so nice to know that Kevin is a victim of not only that maniac behind the wheel but also of the Long Beach Police Department.  And the police wonder why citizens get so angry and riot in the streets.


Hmmmm.