I had a teacher when I was in the sixth grade who once said, “There is a thin line between sanity and insanity.” He was the teacher who used to give us lessons on life. He once took a dollar out of his billfold and asked us if we knew what that was. Of course, we may have been kids but we knew all about money since we did not have any. He called the dollar “filthy lucre” and threw it on the floor and a couple kids went after it. He retrieved it from the one who had it and preceded to give us a lecture about the trouble the love of money would bring us. So, maybe his lessons on life were of value. I still do remember them today so I guess they may have worked.
So, his lesson on life about how sanity can suddenly become insanity has stuck with me through the years. News stories daily illustrate what he meant in this short statement. Someone can be living what seems to others an ordinary life and suddenly they are on the front page of the paper and the evening news. It happens in small towns as well as big cities. There is no escape from the reality that madness can suddenly overtake someone.
An acquaintance of mine made the news many years ago. He lived a normal life with his wife and two sons when one day his wife made what he said was a mean spirited remark and suddenly he found himself ripping the table leg off a table and beating his wife to death with it. What began as a normal day ended with him trying to hide the evidence, make up a plausible story about a stranger who murdered his wife, and then call the police. The story did not work and eventually he confessed to the crime and now makes his home in the state prison system. His two children call someone else dad. He wishes he could take it all back and change what happened and he would make a different decision. That cannot be done though. What happened is final.
We may be living an ordinary day and in our ordinary routine and suddenly madness is interjected into our lives. I was out for my late afternoon walk yesterday, just walking along looking at the squirrels playing in the trees and the birds going from branch to branch, when suddenly a white automobile pulled up beside me and a young African-American woman began to speak to me. “Don’t I know you?”, she began. “No, I don’t think so,” I replied. “Yeah, you used to come into the Magnolia Grill. I was the only black waitress there. I waited on you many times.”
Now, I don’t know where the Magnolia Grill is and I had never seen this woman in my life, as far as I can recall, but she insisted. I did not argue, just tried to be polite and listened to her talk. “Yeah, you are a judge, aren’t you?,” she continued. “I know a lot of judges and lawyers. I need some help and I wondered if you could help me.” I figured the next sentence was going to be how broke she was and how she needed some money. I never take a wallet with me when I walk so I could truthfully tell her that I did not have any money. She did not ask for cash though, she asked for me to do a favor for her.
“I need to get my babies back. They said I was on drugs but I’m not. I don’t have any drugs in my system but Tylenol and Oxycodone and they were prescribed for me. My ex-husband is trying to keep me from having my babies but I need to get them back. Could you go to the place where he works and tell him I am clean?” She named the workplace and the kind of car he drives but she never told me his name. It didn’t matter because I was not going to go and find her ex-husband and tell him anything. I just wanted to get out of this situation and I kept smiling and listening. She did all the talking.
Then, she told me she needed to get her driver’s license back too. I was puzzled because she was driving and told her that. She looked at me as if I didn’t have a clue and said, “Well, I have to drive to get where I am going.” So, once she was convinced I would go find her ex and tell him what she said, she drove off, her gas cap hanging outside the flap that usually keeps it hidden. She told me how good it was to see me again and to enjoy my walk. I saw her turn onto the main highway ahead and I resumed my walk.
I figured she was high on drugs or she was mentally imbalanced but she did not seem threatening. She wanted someone to listen to her air out her grievances about what was wrong in her life. I did just that. I listened and to be honest, I don’t think I could have said much to her. She talked fast and furiously. She talked as if she was on a mission and needed help to right the wrong in her life. I was just an older white haired retired guy out for my daily exercise but she thought I was someone with some authority or influence who could help resolve her problem that was real to her even if it may or may not have been.
I often think about what I would do if someone stopped me while I was walking and demanded that I get in their car at gunpoint. I fantasize that I would not obey but would quickly run toward the nearest house and seek help. I am still in pretty good physical shape and could zigzag here and there to escape their bullets and I am an extrovert so I am not afraid to make a lot of noise and venture into a yard or house to get away from a threat. I am hoping that I will have the sense to do some action to get me out of danger if some unforeseen thing should happen.
We never realize that we are surrounded by people who are living on the thin line. Some may not even realize that they are on the edge. We interact with them daily. We try our best to be polite and friendly and perhaps we will not be the reason why they cross the line.
