Shiner

During a vacation in Michigan's U.P. in early August I attended a church potluck dinner. The food was great with a side order of good conversation.

I was talking with a guy who is semi-retired and drives one of those public transit mini-buses. He was talking about a woman he works with who he says could ruin the start of anybody's day. He said someone like that is in the wrong job. They deal with people who don't drive or have handicaps that limit their mobility.

That got me thinking about a woman I met in Fond du Lac. I had gone into one of our local convenience stores to gas up and get some coffee. When I went up to the counter to check out I looked up at the woman waiting on me and couldn't help but notice she had a blooming shiner under one of her eyes. I did not stare or say anything to bring attention to it. She was very pleasant to me despite whatever circumstances had brought it about. I mentioned this incident to the mini-bus driver saying she had every reason to be unpleasant, but wasn't. I said in my line of work a shiner like that is usually associated with domestic abuse.

He said it could have been due to a fall and I agreed, but I also know the ugly truth of it having been in the news writing and reporting business for nearly 40 years. The number of domestic abuse cases actually reported to authorities is just the tip of the iceberg. Should I have said something to the woman? Perhaps. I guess I'm saying something now in case you know someone who is in that type of situation.