MARIANNE STORIES #46

This story my friend Marianne tells reminds me that there are many hurting people in this world.

August 14
A troubled teen came in to the Children's Dept. to talk to me, to catch up on what we both have been doing this summer, to pick up the books she ordered. She kept pushing the books around on our desk so that I could glimpse the titles. I asked her what she was reading and she prominently displayed a novel about suicide and another novel about cutting. I told her they looked interesting. I put them back on the desk and asked her if she was okay. She responded she was. I asked again and also asked if she wanted to talk to me privately in our workroom without anyone listening, but that the door would be open. She said she was okay. She told me her friends told her she should read these books because they thought she would really love them. I replied that I thought it was great that she and her friends were sharing book experiences. I also told her to broaden her tastes a little, that a steady diet of dark depressive literature had a negative effect on most people, and that perhaps she could balance her reading with some of the uplifting books we had to achieve a balance. This girl loves food, so I told her that a steady diet of chocolate cake, while initially scrumptious, would harm our bodies in so many ways. Too much of anything is unhealthy, even too much spinach, too much dairy, too much protein. Our minds are like our bodies. Too much of anything harms them. I told her to let me know what she thought of the two books the next time she comes in. 

Her response, "Friday okay with you, Ms. B? Will you be here next Friday?" 

I put it on my calendar. A woman was listening nearby. When the teen left, she came to me and said, "You'd make a wonderful social worker. Think about it!" I smiled and said I was happy in my present job. She repeated, "You'd make a wonderful social worker. The field needs people like you. I can say this because I AM a social worker!"