Harassment by police and other \"good old boys\" impairing my life
Thread poster: Deb Phillips (X)
Deb Phillips (X)
Deb Phillips (X)
German to English
+ ...
Mar 11, 2002

Harassment by police and other \"good old boys\" impairing my life...

This may be a little bit confusing and pretty outrageous but if you read through it, you should get the sense of what I am going on about... I am missing deadlines and getting mixed up about details of my assignments. I would really appreciate it if any of you have constructive suggestions, maybe other than moving away from where I live or giving up translating.





Hi! First off all I wan
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Harassment by police and other \"good old boys\" impairing my life...

This may be a little bit confusing and pretty outrageous but if you read through it, you should get the sense of what I am going on about... I am missing deadlines and getting mixed up about details of my assignments. I would really appreciate it if any of you have constructive suggestions, maybe other than moving away from where I live or giving up translating.





Hi! First off all I want to thank those of you and you know who you are who have been holding up my flagging spirits. I recently tried to return to the US. That is to say I am still trying. I established myself in Europe 10 years ago. And then tried a few times to come back here to my home country, and each time I experienced so much insult and disrespect that I left and traveled back to my secure little abode in Vienna. Please keep reading, I know that statement is quite a turn-off. I am beginning to feel a little like a \"yo-yo\". This time I am bound and determined to remain in the US for at least a few years. I am an American after all. My belongings have been vandalized (including by Customs) so that now almost all are quite badly damaged or simply gone. All of my expensive, beautiful things, which I have collected or been given as presents, expressions of endearment by loved ones over the years and which are irreplaceable. Then there was the flooding of my hotel room. Literally, my bed was my ark as I woke up with the already several inches deep dirty water rising around me and all of my belongings submerged. I have never seen such weird mold as what grew on my my wet stuff, what was then left of it. Prior I was assaulted twice and sadly partially crippled 1)back and legs -through what I guess could be defined as torture 2)physically lifted and thrown out of an employment agency by a 300 pound lunatic while my interviewer was in the back on the phone. I am, by the way, quite tiny and less than 100 lbs/45 kilo. And I have had any number of other weird experiences including ongoing commitment on the part of the police force, to intimidate me daily - shining their headlights through my windows in my eyes shaking me out of my sleep and keeping them trained on my bed for hours in the wee hours after midnight, breaking the lock off and vandalizing my door, prosecuting me on fallacious charges, conniving to keep chronic offenders (my assailant for one) out on the street, and currently worst of all, constantly, constantly blowing their sirens right through my window, hitting my eardrums, 16 hours a day. When I received my first assignment from Pro-Z, upon the first fax transmission across the hotel fax, I got notice that the hotel desk who had accepted the fax and then refused to give it to me, insisted I leave within 72 hours because they didn\'t like me, which made it really difficult to finish the work. (I was in a hotel on the advice of an attorney to escape daily harassment from the police and a local gang of psychopaths. I was rather afraid that I might be shot. This hotel was in the next town only because on my way to a hotel which was somehwat further, the rapist followed me in his truck so I sought out a different hiding place). Under great duress I packed my damaged things and found alternative lodgings and a mover, for the umpteenth time since I have arrived in the US, then was refused the services of the neighborhood Kinkos copy center by two, sorry to say, extremely misogynistic male employees who seemed to have realized something about what had gone on down the street, and subjected to several in-person interviews in which I was wrongfully accused of any number of amazing acts. What a disaster that assignment was with September 11th occuring the day scheduled for delivery. (By the way, given all that I have experienced, I think it is crazy that I am asked to imagine that it is the far-off Taliban who is responsible and our own homegrown meanies are not at least in cahoots if not the instigators or culprits. The WTC companies, employees (my classmates some of them) and the premises were one of the main repositories of civilization in this country, and based on what I have been forced to listen to, civilization is an evil to some people here). I moved across the street to another hotel owned by the Marriott Corporation. A similar situation ensued and I found myself talking with the office of Mr. Marriott himself (I was pretty surprised to find out that there is an actual Mr. Marriott. He was however away on travel.) who first rushed to my defense and then at not being able to budge the local employees, told me that I would have to leave after all and do so on Yom Kippur which began that evening. Truth be told, this was the first Yom Kippur I had ever been fervently looking forward to in order to pour my heart out to G-d over what I had suffered that year. I am about at the end of my rope. I really would like to make a go of it as a translator, and as an American citizen, and my eardrums and enthusiasm are not going to make it. I retreat to my bed at times, in sleep escaping the horrendous shrill shriek of these sirens and sharp ear pain as they accost my eardrums, penetrating through ear muffs and cottonballs, which in and of itself is a strange way to work, and what is really hurting me is that it is so apparent that this is intentional. (ok, it is usually after 10 PM if I hit my couch but I have work to finish, and keep breaking promises). I find myself sending emails and telephoning loved ones to recount all of this, or they telephone me to see hos the situation is. Crazy, Of course, I can\'t get out of the way of these vehicles. I am up in my apartment not down on the street in a car blocking their path. It makes no sense for them to blow their sirens into my window. And worse is the physical appearance of these men. Ugly, some of them really fat, and filled with hatred. And these are the types that get to determine the lives of children around here too. They control the \"Division of Youth and Family Servces\". Then there is the other end of the spectrum, militant neo-nazi. These police officers with crew cuts and no personality are constantly following me about town or ringing my doorbell on one pretext after the next, agressively accusing me on nonsense and hurting my feelings, my pride and my physical well-being. (My mother says it is a price a beautiful woman occasionally faces...!). I finally had to contact the local mayor who absolutely forbid them to put their hands on me and that is when they broke my door. I didn\'t follow up with the mayor immediately and trouble her about what they did to the door and now she isn\'t returning my calls. The high court is completely corrupt with the main goal impunity and helping the offenders feel ok or go free. And then it even begins to get silly. In one of my pre-trial court hearings, I actually listened to an innocent young kid accompanied by his mother get sentenced and fined in court for riding his bike at twilight without a headlight. The cop stood up and explained that the child needed to be punished for this severe offense. It kills me that this child will have to carry this the memory of this humiliating experience for his whole life. The township earns its revenue this way. (I also do not even have a clue why my trial was allowed to be perpetually delayed with pre-trial hearings which is why I saw this and many other strange goings-on. I spoke to any number of local attorneys and none wanted any part of it so I defended myself except for the case in which I was accused and although the charges were completely dropped, I think the machinations of the reputed to be **TOPS** local lawyer rather perverse and I never said anything at the hearing about the charges being untrue). When I was attacked last year, the criminal told the police that he was going on vacation to Daytona and so they delayed charging him for the 3rd time that I know of for the same crime until he drove to Florida, had fun and came back with a sunburn, and watched his house for him while he was away. They also dropped over to my apartment on a Sunday morning to inform me that they had forgotten to give me their standard forms when I pressed charges and so had decided to deliver them personally, that I would be denied any sort of protection by them because of a number of loopholes but needed to fill out request forms anyway and then about the guy going on vacation with their full permission. When I initially reported him to the police, they told me he had a long history of injuring women and they didn\'t feel the women deserved any pity, and warned me that if I pressed charges I could expect retaliation from them. But also said that it would be wrong of me not to press the charges... well, the incompetence is a really long story so I will leave it out. Then they turned around and made up those wrongful accusations about me and started with this blowing of sirens through my window, (and terrifed me searching my apartment on a number of occasions and threatening me with handcuffs) pulling in a beautiful woman neighbor who kept dumping the contents of the trash can on my front stairs, stealing my Wall Street Journals and dumping them in the trash so that I finally had them mailed with the post and then gave in and canceled my subscription, stealing my mail as well, and scheduling a hearing regarding my guilt(the charges were dropped) prior to the trial of the rapist which was held in the same coutroom making it easier for the judge to feign confusion about who was behaving criminally and who as a good citizen. (Just in case you were worried about what I might actually be guilty of, in the apartment beneath me, the woman occupant claimed that I had maliciously caused water damage by turning on the water in my sink and flooding her premises. Also I had hung my clothes on the line to dry outside without any clothespins. Although the police searched my apartment and determined that there was absolutely no evidence for her allegations although my kitchen sink had overflowed, very little water though, because the drain was clogged, they insisted on charging me a few weeks prior to the impending trial with malicious mischief and scheduling the hearing one week prior to the trial of the rapist who also lived in the complex). Finally, the information regarding the rapist\'s prior convictions was suppressed. I was required to give more than one hour of testimony and subjected to some truly illogical cross-examination and 18 years jail time or $18,000 was reduced to a relatively minor misdemeanor and a request to contribute $300 to the \"Good Neighbor Fund\" which then again became subject to appeal when the foppish lawyer began to fuss about it. You would cringe at seeing how badly this man is molesting his child. (I managed to work with DYFS over the protests of the police who rescinded partial custody for at least 6 months so the child stayed only with his mother as both of them wished but it took all of my commitment to succeed and it really was fighting the establishment, even though apparently, there were already many preexisting reports of abuse). And the heartbreaking stories of his other women victims are unbelievable. I can unfortunately continue to go on and on, including witnessing intimidation and even imprisonment of other people, at least some of them innocent. I know of at least two other cases where normal sweet young children are having their lives destroyed. One is dead now due to this craziness. I believe she was murdered. But the death is being written off as a suicide. The other young boy I am referring to is being labeled with severe retardation. Unfortunately, he has a lot of potential if anyone would just sit down with him and give him a little bit of respect, attention and listen to him. He hasn\'t learned how to talk. I guess some kids have problems with this. Just like the first kid who was being molested by his father. But the community dumps these really cute kids into some program for the learning disabled where obviously their problems are compounded. It is very strange that I am being exposed to all of this, although ok, I wouldn\'t want to be an ostrich. I love nature, I am really into mountain climbing and hiking. I have a neighbor who is an enthusiast from Germany and we go walking together every day. She and her boyfriend are also macrobiotic farmers. (ie, there is a macrobiotic farm next door). And I would also like to look into this learning disability program, maybe even do some substitute teaching to see where the problem lies and help these kids by pulling out the root of it. That being said I hope you won\'t advise quitting being a translator and taking up a career in teaching. Not my intention. My mother is nearby and I haven\'t had an opportunity to see much of her in quite some time. On the other hand, I am considering moving far away from here again. But then I wonder if whatever is going on might follow me. Karma and all of that. Does anyone have any advice for me to keep me from going under? I contacted the Anti-Defamation League some time ago but when their application got waterlogged in the flood, I got frightened and didn\'t continue. I tried therapy. The therapist had trouble dealing with all of this in the neighborhood, thought is sounded horrible but hated to face it. And the son of the therapist\'s best friend tried to get me to marry him, and camped out on my doorstep for four months, again preventing me from delivering my work, even firing nasty emails at 5 minutes intervals through AOL as I sat and tried to work, finally refusing to leave for 3 days unless I agreed to marry him, although thankfully he changed his mind some weeks later. Second time I have had a similar experience with therapy. Plus I don\'t think I am the one who is crazy here, although certainly beginning to feel frazzled. And wondering about this long, long crazy journey. Has anyone had any similar experiences? I unfortunately have been treated to some anecdotes which rival mine. Can anyone help me to figure out how to deal with this, or have some concrete links for people I can contact. Perhaps even an attorney ( who would be willing to work Pro-Bono.) I tried contacting local services for witness protection and victims of abuse, and was horrified to find out what they consist of. In speaking with numerous local officials, harassment has diminished somewhat thank goodness because otherwise I suppose I would have lost my hearing. I asked my neighbors and my mother too since she lives nearby what they think about all this noise and was told, they had gotten used to it but are going deaf and suffering ear pain. So obviously I am not the only one being impacted. This all being said, this is an affluent suburban community. I contacted a local newspaper who promised me a story and I took some very outlandish photographs of local goings-on but anyway the newspaper has dragged its feet for a couple of months already. I tried to contact a local congressman who I know as a quasi-friend from a long, long time ago, and his secretaries told me I am not allowed to speak with him because I am not a constituent. he state governor who is as far as I understand a morally upright individual, abd someone that I have held tremendous respect for, resigned. Hard to make sense out of all this. Thanks in advance for your advice, condolences and compassion! Deborah
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Werner George Patels, M.A., C.Tran.(ATIO) (X)
Werner George Patels, M.A., C.Tran.(ATIO) (X)
Local time: 05:18
German to English
+ ...
This is either a very bad joke ... Mar 11, 2002

... or someone is off their medication. I am sorry for being so blunt, but this is what comes to mind!



The whole thing reminds me of black helicopters coming by night and people who line their caps with tinfoil so as to avoid being \"braintapped\" by the government or aliens!


 
Kim Metzger
Kim Metzger  Identity Verified
Mexico
Local time: 03:18
German to English
Deb, you're a beautiful person Mar 11, 2002

I only wish I could sit down and have a cup of coffee with you, but I\'m way down here in Mexico. From your writing I can see that you are a good and very intelligent and creative woman. What kind of advice can I offer you? I think you should find someone here at Proz who doesn\'t live too far away from where you are and talk it over. Maybe someone will make an offer to do that. I can only tell you that I wish you the best. Kim

 
Werner George Patels, M.A., C.Tran.(ATIO) (X)
Werner George Patels, M.A., C.Tran.(ATIO) (X)
Local time: 05:18
German to English
+ ...
Kim is right Mar 11, 2002

Unless this is a bad joke or just some poor excuse for not meeting deadlines, you should definitely find someone in your area to talk to - face to face, that is.



I don\'t think that any of us listed with ProZ are really qualified to deal with this situation. But, as Kim said, maybe someone can point you in the right direction (something or someone in your local area).



I did some quick research, and here are 2 toll-free numbers that you can call. Tell the
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Unless this is a bad joke or just some poor excuse for not meeting deadlines, you should definitely find someone in your area to talk to - face to face, that is.



I don\'t think that any of us listed with ProZ are really qualified to deal with this situation. But, as Kim said, maybe someone can point you in the right direction (something or someone in your local area).



I did some quick research, and here are 2 toll-free numbers that you can call. Tell them what you have told us, and they will be able to tell you who to contact in your local area.



Good luck.



1-800-482-9534

1-800-994-9662

[ This Message was edited by: on 2002-03-11 21:22 ]
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Paul Roige (X)
Paul Roige (X)
Spain
Local time: 10:18
English to Spanish
+ ...
Whoaaaa!! Mar 11, 2002

It all sounds like the uncut script of Paul Thomas Anderson\'s \"Magnolia\". There\'s always Vienna though...



 


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Harassment by police and other \"good old boys\" impairing my life







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