By Kelcey
Everyday domestic violence happens all over the world. It happens here in the United States more than people choose to believe. Every single day! You don’t realize it, but someone you know is abusing their spouse or kids, and someone you know is being abused. Your neighbor who always smiles and waves at you, he is punching the walls and breaking the doors at night in a rage; you just can’t hear it.
Your coworker, the one that seems so calm at work, their spouse is in bed crying today after a long night of being kept awake. For hours last night they screamed at their spouse while physically laying on top of them screaming in their ear. Everytime their spouse tried to leave or go to sleep they grabbed them, pulled their hair, blasted the radio, turned the lights on, threw things against the wall and yelled even louder.
The friend from high school posting all those happy photos with their spouse and kids, the ones at Disney Land, playing in the backyard and kissing their spouse, last night they chocked their spouse, spit in their face and chased their kids to the usual hiding spots when they came to see what was going on.
The girl who hands you your morning coffee, last night she found out her husband was cheating on her. When she confronted him, he blamed her, slapped her and slammed her into the wall. When she tried to leave, he pulled her by the hair and locked her in the bathroom all night. He told her if she ever leaves him, he will take her kids and she won’t be there to protect them anymore and if she takes the kids, he will kill them all. But today, today you waved at that neighbor and said hi to their spouse who responded with a hello, and you thought to yourself, “what a sweet couple” as you watched him open her car door for her.
Today you will have lunch with that coworker who will tell you how terrible their marriage is and everything their spouse is doing wrong in order to get you to be their “flying monkey”. You will feel sorry for them. You will tell them how they are being treated so terribly. This in turn will make them feel their abuse is justified and their abuse will actually escalate. One day if you find out the truth, you won’t believe it anyways because of all the lies you were fed for so long. Today you will “like” or “love” all the family photos your old high school friend posted and comment what a great dad he is.
You might even be envious of how wonderful of a family he has. Today you will get your coffee and hear the manager tell the girl at the register to stop spacing out and pay more attention. You will tell her she should smile more, then take your coffee and head to work. You know someone. You’re just not paying attention.