"You're a hollow shell"

So today I discovered that I'm a hollow shell, that I'm dead but yet in my body, that I'm doing Satan's work, that I'm crazy, going to hell, and that I enjoy shredding babies. I also learned much more about myself, but I can't remember it all at the moment. What the hell was I doing you ask? Well, that was just from my first class this morning!

Okay, okay, really, I made all these discoveries during my weekly Planned Parenthood volunteer stint. A new (to me) anti-choice protestor showed up today, and let me tell you, she was a nut job. She informed me of all of the above and said much, much more as well. She was in our faces, rude, and confrontational in general. Also, she kept shaking "holy" water on the ground in front of the clinic. I declined her offer for my own personal bath, and fortunately, she at least listened to that. She also carried around a disgusting picture of a "shredded" baby and spent a great deal of time talking to herself. My favorite though was when she told the African-American patients that she had people who would love to take their black babies. Wow! I've heard she often uses the N-word, but fortunately, she did not today. Seriously, she needs treatment. Scary, scary woman. In good news, her presence makes our side look a lot more sane!

Also, I heard Charlie, a regular protestor who is basically harmless, tell crazy lady that they saved a baby today in Robbinsdale. Now, I'm not sure how they did that, since it's really the woman's choice, but they were so proud and smug. Also, I think the clinics in Robbinsdale are similarly named, so they probably tricked the poor woman into going to the wrong clinic. Seriously, they make me laugh.

Finally, in an interesting twist of events, a car pulled up in front of the clinic and out climbed a woman. I figured, okay, she must be a patient, but this is a bit odd as patients are usually dropped off in the parking lot. Instead, it turns out that this woman is pro-choice and wants to get right in the face of the anti-choicers. And she does. Right in their faces, arguing with them.

Now, you might think her stepping up is good, but it actually made me very nervous because confronting the protestors tends to escalate the situation. Our job as escorts is to remain calm and keep the scene under control while accompanying patients inside; really, it's about patient care. Thus, we are not to engage in dialogue with people like nut job lady. Instead, we are to ignore them and to provide a buffer between them and the patients. Ignoring them isn't alway easy, especially on days like today, but it works. In fact, it really pisses the protestors off when you ignore them. However, our well meaning pro-choice activist caused a bit of a scene and Charlie threatened to call the police because she was interfering with his speaking. Really, the police probably would have ignored him, but because he was reaching for his cell phone, I had to step up and call security outside. Our security guard spoke to our pro-choicer and things calmed down a bit after that. Eventually, the pro-choicer was picked up (still super strange) and things returned to normal (well, as normal as they get outside of PP). I appreciate her efforts, but really, that probably wasn't the best idea and it's certainly not the most effective way to enact change. So friends, please don't show up to confront the anti-choicers, especially during my shifts. :)

Despite the craziness, I'm still loving the clinic escort gig. In fact, I sort of thrive on the craziness. I'm not saying I want a violent blow up or anything (that would be horrible), but I'm good at maintaining the peace. I can remain calm in crazy situations, and I think that carries over into the surrounding environment. Thus, I feel like I'm making a difference everyday I work there. However, I'm very glad I had a co-escort today, as a solo shift might have been difficult under the circumstances. Overall, PP rocks and I'm so glad I volunteer there. Yay PP!

PS: Two days til DC! Yay!