Illegal guns? Check. Illegal plants? Check. Time to call 911? Check

It seems for many people an unfortunate but unavoidable byproduct of interpersonal relationships is conflict. And, due to the tacit approval of society, these conflicts often escalate to the level of domestic violence.

I say it is a tacit approval due to the handling of it. We have phrases, terminology, and groups for it. We treat it as a behavior that is going to occur instead of what it is, a deplorable, inexcusable act that requires swift, certain intervention.

I am reminded of how it was dealt with in our neighborhood. (Names have been changed to protect the stupid).

The first couple of times George and Caroline went at it the police handled it. The third time the neighborhood dads got together. They were hardly a fearsome bunch. You had my Dad, the heavyset, balding, affable preacher. You had Jim, the bespectacled, slender computer programmer. You had Joe Gross, the aging mill worker. You had Larry, the retired, heavyset, leg-lame ex mill worker. They got together, went over and told George exactly what was going to happen the next time he laid a violent hand on Caroline. There would be no police, no trial, no excuses. That would not be tolerated.

He got the message. He and Caroline continued to have problems...but he never laid a hand on her again. Or if he did he and she kept it REAL quiet. It was simply made plain that we were a decent, family oriented neighborhood and abuse was not going to be tolerated.

Well, one wishes people involved in domestic abuse would always take note of their surroundings. Perhaps they could make a checklist of things to do before engaging in it. Little things like not having illegal firearms and stashes of mrijuana before they invited the police into their homes...