Lines of Communication...

So, last night, I could not sleep. At all. I was up until 4:30 this morning. I don't know why, this NEVER happens to me. I pride myself on being a champion sleeper. However, last night with one thing and another, I guess I've been worried about some things and I just lay there, tossing and turning till I got back up.

So, one of the things I've been worried about is a friend with some mental health issues who is becoming increasingly withdrawn. I'll call him Dave. So I discussed my concerns about Dave with the General, who did his best to reassure me over the weekend that no matter what, everything would be fine, and I shouldn't worry about finding a body or anything.

Last night, the General got home and he was upset about Dave and shared that he actually has the same concerns as I do.

So this morning at 4:30AM, he gets dressed, turns his ears on, and asks me what's wrong. I said I didn't know, and he asked me if I was worried about what we talked about. I assumed he meant about Dave.

The conversation went like this:

ME: Yeah, maybe I am worried about it.

GENERAL: You know, I understand, but I want you to know we're doing everything we can. That's why I love going to work in the morning.

ME (puzzled, but ignoring it for now): I know, but what if something happens?

GENERAL: Something's probably going to happen. In fact, I'm going to tell you right now, I wouldn't be surprised if something happened. But that's why we do what we do.

Me: I don't know if that's enough.

GENERAL: Honey, it might not be, but we have many tools at our disposal to take care of the situation and try to avert a crisis.

Me: But what if we're too late?

GENERAL: We won't be. And I know we argued about this, but this is exactly why we need things like the Patriot Act in some situations.

Me: How is that going to help?

GENERAL: We can root out the problem before it becomes a problem.

Me: How is that going to help Dave and his problems?!

GENERAL: Dave?

Me: I think we're talking about two different things here, honey. I suspect you're talking about our argument over dinner, and I'm talking about Dave.

So, Dave, beware, the full force of the US Government is out there to prevent you from offing yourself. Think about it.