One Of The Most Humiliating Moments To Date

10:45am

July 17th, 2008

Wonderland Rd. and Springbank Rd.
London, Ontario

I'm going to Oakridge to pick up a couple of friends for a day in Grand Bend soaking up as little rays as possible while coated in Australian sunscreen.

As I'm driving I stop at a red light at Wonderland and Springbank.

A guy in a big black SUV taps on his window.

I roll down my window:

Guy: You've got something hanging out of your door.

Me: Oh? Thanks.

Guy drives off.

I open my door and am completely horrified.

I have been driving for the past 5 kilometers with my bra hanging out of my door.

And it's not just a little end of my bra. It's the whole damn thing.

Apparently in my haste to get to Grand Bend I inadvertently hooked my bra on the inside stitching of my bathing suit that I was wearing. And somehow didn't realize it until a random guy pointed it out.

Great. Just great.

As if being unemployed isn't destroying my self-esteem enough.

Perfect.

Dream Job

Balloon Holder.

This guy was being dragged so far by this ballon you could see sparks from the dead grass on his heals.

Welcome to the The Real O.S.

Well, today I'm in Owen Sound touring around Huron, Bruce and Grey counties for RISE for Youth...as of today I've been to:

- Women's Shelter, Goderich

- Women Today of Huron, Goderich

- Bluewater Youth Centre, Goderich

- OPP, Goderich

- Big Brothers/Big Sisters, Kincardine

- Women's House, Kincardine

- Saugeen Native Drug and Alcohol Addiction Centre, Saugeen

Sigh.

Tomorrow I hit the women's shelter, CHOICES (addictions agency), Keystone (child and youth agency), Grey Bruce Sexual Assault Centre in Owen Sound and Ontario Works and Public Health Unit in Walkerton.

Then I will sleep long time.

So far, so good.

The most memorable stop? Bluewater Youth Centre...the jail for kids...seriously. I had to get clearence to get into the 'compound'. The security guard at the front had one arm and a claw arm. I kept wondering if one of the kids in the detention centre ripped it off trying to escape (jk). But, all in all very nice people.

Tomorrow is another day.

First Week Of Being A Grown Up

Alright, so last week was my first week at Western Area Youth Services as the Project Coordinator of RISE (Reducing Incidents of Sexual Exploitation) for Youth.

I have my own office, business cards and a whole lot to do.

My main job will be public education about sexual exploitation of youth...what that you ask?

Well, I'll tell you.

Sexual exploitation is when anyone trades anything with anyone under the age of 18 for any type of sexual favour.

Some people unwittingly call this youth or child prostitution. By law this is child abuse, so it should be treated as such, so don't call it prostitution. It's abuse and against the law.

You may think that this only happens in developing nations like Thailand, but the reality is it's happening more and more in Canada.

From experience I can say that this is a silent epidemic in Canada, London is running rampant with exploited young people. Sometimes their street kids, but there are just as many kids trading stuff for sex in the suburbs as downtown.

With this phase of the project I will be responsible for ten different counties...yes count 'em up:

Essex
Chatham-Kent
Lambton
Middlesex
Elgin
Oxford
Perth
Huron
Grey
Bruce

Yes, from Windsor to Owen Sound, I'm on the case to help exploited kids everywhere.

We've even got ourselves a MySpace page, check it out:

www.myspace.com/riseforyouth