Tuesdays at the TT

All the crazy things happen on Tuesdays at the Tulane Tower, or as I affectionately call it: the TT. The Tulane Tower is another one of the sites that houses Delgado's GED program. It houses a very interesting mix of people. It is just up the block from the City Hall, around the corner from both the men's and the women's prisons, and across from the Sheriff's Offices and the county jail where two of our teachers teach. If you have never been to the prison district of a major city...It isn't maybe the most, uh, beautiful place to be. If you like the flashing neon of signs reading "Bail Bonds" and the raving red and blue lights, then this is the place for you. Once I went to the corner store to get a snack and man showed me how he could cut the top of a beer can off with his remaining teeth.

The inside make up of the building is a rather unique mix of people, quite of representative of the city itself. There are two GED programs, ours, and another that is geared for 16-24 year olds, many of whom are court mandated to be there. In addition, there is the New Orleans AIDS Task Force, probation officers, the DA's office, and drug counseling, among other things. There is secure parking lot, where the manager of our GED programs had her Lexus stolen, and my bike was stolen. There is security at the front door and a police officer on our floor.

Everything bad that happens there happens on a Tuesday. Which coincidentally happens to be the day that I am usually there. My bike was stolen on a Tuesday. There have been screaming matches between two flamingly gay men, one our student and the other a schizophrenic that goes to the other GED program. One of the people from the drug counseling program upstairs followed one our female students around. 3 of our students were arrested and threatened by the police. Always on Tuesdays.

The worst things happened this week. Apparently it is the season for break ups. Myself and apparently a bunch of our students decided that it was time to break up. We had two extreme cases of crazy exes come to the Tower. I have always heard the myth of a crazy ex, but I had never truly experienced it for myself. I hope I never have to experience it again. It seems pointless to explain the situations and, perhaps, a breach of privacy. Long story short, one crazy ex, a female, showed up and threatened our male student. The other crazy ex threatened one of our female students .

The thing that frustrates me the most is their lack of trust in the justice system. Both of the students spoke with our police officer about the situation. But because both of them refused to ask for ask for help, the police officer could do nothing. Both students are minorities that come from a background that traditionally has not been helped or supported by the system. They come from a background where they can't trust the people who are supposed to help them. I worry about them.

Blah, blah, blerg. Just more ramblings.