Day 95- A Force to be Reckoned With

I've never had so many violent and illegal fantasies swirling around in my head since I moved in next door to a karaoke bar/brothel/restaurant in Cambodia. It's true. Laying in bed at night as the bass vibrates our bedroom wall and the wanna be singers screech out the most awful Khmer music you've ever heard; I dream about bombing the place, cutting electrical cords, and taking a sledgehammer to both the sound equipment and the vocalists.

Then the verse comes to mind....Whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is good....Think about such things.

I argue that some of my ideas ARE good.

Regardless, last night I had had enough. After laying in bed exhausted for 45 minutes, with my also weary 2 year old, the music blared louder than it had ever before. I knew I had to do something.

There are hundreds of other people living in this neighborhood, every single one of them probably suffering the same torture we were. It needed to stop, and I was sleep deprived enough to be the psycho woman crazy enough to put my foot down.

For the good of my daughter, for the good of our neighbors,

for the justice of all mankind.

So at 9pm, in my frumpy pajamas, makeup-less, bra-less, with my baby in my arms, I marched down the street, round the corner and into the infamous building. Girls strode around in skirts with their bums hanging out, intoxicated middle aged business men stared me up and down.The stench of alcohol and cheap cologne was overpowering. If anyone reached out to touch me, I was ready to shed blood.

The first waitress I spoke to could communicate in english, that was a miracle right there. "Take me to your manager, Now!" I said with authority in my voice and my presence. She looked frightened, which meant I was accomplishing my goal.

She took me right to the man in charge. She claimed he didn't speak english, a likely story. I yelled, I scowled, I threatened, I reminded him of every other person living in this neighborhood who was trying to sleep

....This was an issue of Justice. And I felt more than validated.

He responded in english, and he turned the music down. Way down. Quieter than ever. We walked back home in the dark of night, frumpy pajamas and all, still trying to catch my breath, happy to have made a difference in the world, if only for one night.