‘Saw Something. Said Something.’

On May 4, 2020, I Assisted A Young Man In Filing Two Police Reports. One Was Against A Previous Employer. The Other Against The County He Resides In, Which Is Still Legally Responsible For Him.

For Six Years The Young Man's Life Was Controlled By An Employer Who Intentionally Exploited His Weaknesses For Profit. Not An Uncommon Scenario.

However, The Young Man Is One Hundred Percent Disabled. He Is Like You And Me, But Has A Slight Struggle With Certain Mental Challenges. I Will Not Go Into Details, But He Got Caught Up In An Unhealthy System, That Was There To Look After His Well Being And Nurture His Interests.

I Personally Got Involved The Minute He Called Me From The Hospital. He Had Gone To Work In The Morning With Severe Pain In His Stomach. However, He Had Previously Been Told By His Employer 'Never To Miss A Day Of Work', As It Would Be Considered Being Mean To The Employer.

The Young Man Was Simply Too Afraid To Take A Sick Day, Or Call A Doctor, Regardless Of How Much Pain He Was In. For Six Years.

I'm Torn By The Fact That The Employer Had So Control Over Him. I Had To Say Something. I Had To Speak Up. I Only Wish I Had Noticed Sooner.

There Is A County Service That Provides Persons With Slight Mental Disability Personal Assistance During The Week. The Young Man Qualified For The Program And Chose Me To Be That Person. I Accepted, Of Course. A Commitment Of Eight Hours A Week. That Is Now Over Three Years Ago.

I Control One Hundred Percent Of My Own Time As I Am Fortunate To Be Self Employed, And Have Another Small Business On The Side. This Setup Affords Me The Opportunity To Assist The Young Man As Much As He Needs Me To.

Are You Curious As To Why The Young Man Called Me That Morning From The Hospital?

His Appendix Ruptured On The Stairs In Front Of The Diner. With Unimaginable Pain That Morning, He Still Went To Work. Bless His Soul.

Give This Some Thought... A Young Man With 100% Disability Compensation, Who Doesn't Need To Work At All, Works A 150% Position At A Roadside Diner Scrubbing Dishes, With A Salary Of $2 An Hour Without Overtime, For Six Years Until His Appendix Ruptures.

He Was Only Supposed To Work A Few Hours A Day, A Few Days A Week. Not 10-14 Hour Days. Not 6-7 Days A Week. And Not At $2.0 An Hour.

The Job Was Meant To Sharpen His Senses, Hone His Interaction And Human Skills. What He Experienced Was Abuse And Exploitation.

We've Now Spent The Past Two Years Going Back And Forth With The County And The Employer, Through Lawyers. The Employer And The County, Of Course, Insist They Did No Wrong. Not A Single Thing.

This Insane Process Has Taken Its Toll On The Young Man. His Mental State Deteriorated In Front Of My Eyes. He Was Slowly Losing It, The Anger Was Building.

I Felt I Had To Take Drastic Measures To Save Him. Not Sure What He'd Be Capable Of If He Got Pushed In To A Corner.

Sad Thing Is, I Don't Believe These People Are Evil. I Believe They Are Seriously Misguided To The Point Of No Return. Incompetent, Lazy, Uninterested, And Should Not Be In A Position Of Power Over Someone Life, Or Responsible For Any Person's Well Being. Ever.

This Forced Me To Involve The Police. It Will Probably Ruin Some Lives, But I Don't See How That Is Any Of My Concern At This Point In The Process. We Gave Them Many Opportunities To Come To The Table And Talk. They Refused, For Two Years.

I Never Judge Him. I Never Tell Him What To Do. I Present Him With Laws, Regulations, Truths And Options. He Makes The Decision. It Is His Decision To Make.

I Tell Him How The World Works, From My Point Of View, That We All Should Be Afforded Opportunities To Experience Life, And Develop Ourselves Into Good Humans. I Also Tell Him Everyone Who Breaks The Law Should Be Held Accountable, Regardless Of Place Or Status In Society.

Now I’m Deep In This Case. I'm The Main Witness For The State Prosecutors. This Is An Ongoing Investigation And I Have To Be Cautious Not To Reveal Anything That Could Potentially Jeopardize The Investigation Or The Case In Any Way. This Story Is Being Told With That In Mind.

They Lied, Manipulated, Hid Evidence, Refused To Respond To Letters And Emails From The Lawyers For Two Years.

The Last Excuse We Got Before We Filed Police Reports Was That Because Of Covid-19 They Would Not Be Able To Deal With Any Such Request For A While.

The Young Man Was Let Down By The People Who Were Designated, By Law, To Assist Him On The Way To A Dignified Life.

I'm Furious. Could Slap Someone.

Hm. In Assisting The Young Man, I Signed A Contract With The Same Government That Neglected Him, And Still, By Law, Are Responsible For Him. Now, I've Reported Them, My Bosses, To The Police, On The Young Man's Behalf.

Being Able To Assist The Young Man In Leaving His Job, Regaining Control Over His Life, His Finances, And Hold The People Accountable, Gave Me A Second Life To Live. This Is An Immensely Powerful Experience, And Tremendously Gratifying.

I've Been Asked To Write The Young Man's Story Into A Book. I'm Considering Writing A Screenplay. I Own The Story. He Wants Others To Be Inspired By His Story And Help Themselves Out Of Abusive Work Related Situations Under Government Supervision.

THIS Is The Young Man I've Been Telling You About. This Is My Friend. Together, He And I Will Attempt To Change A Tiny Part Of The System.

(To Be Continued.)

Spent Two Hours In A Police Interview Room Thursday With An Investigator. Told The Entire Story. Will Go Back For Second Interview. The Chief Investigator Joined Us After The Interview, And I Got To Express My Concern Surrounding My Friend's Police Interview. They Listened.

It Seems Like The Police Will Let Me Sit Inside The Interview Room With My Friend During His Interview, Which Will Take Place Over An Entire Day. I'm Not Allowed To Say Anything, I'm There As A Familiarity. Less Scary. This Is What He Wants, So This Is What He Gets.

Also Got The Impression This Case Is High Priority. We Might Even Get A Special Interrogator, That Usually Interviews Sexually Abused Children And Other Fragile Individuals, To Interview My Friend. They Are Exceptional At Their Job, Which Is Very Comforting To Me Personally.

I Will Do My Absolute Best To Make This Part Of The Process Easy And Painless For My Friend. He Knows He Has To Go Through This. I Know It Will Hurt Like Hell For Him To Open Up. But, I Believe In Him. He Is So Much Stronger And More Independent Now Than He Was Three Years Ago.

Yesterday We Were Back At The Police Station To Sign Some Papers, And They Asked My Friend If He Wanted To See The Interview Room. They Took Us To The Room And My Friend Sat Down In The Actual Chair He Will Be Interviewed In. He Also Got To See The Tech. Room Where We Will Be.

Now We Wait For A Date For My Friend's Police Interview. Both Investigations Continue To Move Forward. My Focus Is On Preparing Him For His Interview, And Contribute To Both Investigations As Much As I Am Needed. I Am The Only Person Who Knows The Entire Story, And Know It Well.