The Big Thud

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I never bring up pedophile priests in public as there's no better way to bring a social situation to a Big Thud than to mention the topic on which I write.

I learned it over a three-year period from just before I started this blog in 2007.  A party can be going fine, everyone happy enjoying themselves, until someone asks me, so what do you write about and my voice would chime in, Oh, I'm a pedophile priest victim and I started this blog...

THUD

The energy in the room comes to a slammed down stop.  It's more than conversation stopping, it's THUD on several different levels.  And I can never back up and get things the way they used to be.  Once the words are out of your mouth, the situation is ruined.  Half the people step away and surreptiously throw out the phone number they got from you earlier.  A few will feel compassion and commisserate, then you find yourself having to be an encyclopedia telling the story from back in 1985...

It just does not work, but I kept bringing it up and bringing rooms to Thuds for a few more years.  The topic of Catholic priests raping children just makes too many people angry, panicked, freaked, it's an experience without precedent in recent human history, to be truthful...

Now I've finally learned to tell people, "I'm a crime victim.  It's not a topic for casual conversation but if you are looking for material on the subject, you'll find me online."

I never asked for the karma of being both a journalist and a pedo-priest victim, it just landed in my lap, and to be honest, I'd rather be swimming...
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-ke