yesterday i was scheduled to help a woman de-clutter her paper work. typically i will meet the person first, assess the situation and then set up a date to start work. for some reason this did not happen. when i attempted to call kelly, her voice mail was full. all of our communication was done via text. to make a long story short, i broke some of my own rules and agreed to start work yesterday with out prior consultation. her home was located in a low income housing neighborhood in sf. her apartment building was very unusual looking with minimal windows and what looked like to be uninhabited. this definitely gave me a pause for thought. hmmm...is this a good idea. always in the back of my head is the thought of safety. it doesn't matter what the place looks like or where it is located. i am going into a stranger's home so i need to be careful. now this location really made me question my judgement. but my inner voice said that i had made the appointment and i should at least make the attempt to meet her. after much internal debate of whether or not i should bring my purse with me or leave it under my car seat, i got out of the car and headed to her front door. there was an intercom system to call the client and i rang up twice -no response - ended up leaving messages indicating i was at the front door.- huh...was this a sign i shouldn't be here? but before i could say "i'm outta here", a very tan fit lady arrived at the door with a big smile. phew...relief. no murder today. we ended up working all morning together and made great progress de-cluttering her place. in fact, she actually turned out to be a mirror image of myself had i chosen not to get my life in order many years ago (that's another story for another day).
after our session i had time for thought about my own prejudice against people who are poor. yes, there can be a level of crime that is higher than where i live. yes, i should always be cautious of my surroundings. and yes, i need to take a look how i see people and judge them. this a self work in progress.
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