1980
Event for live radio talkshow hosted by therapist Dr. Toni Grant
KABC
Los Angeles
Dr. Toni Grant, a practicing psychologist, produces a Los Angeles radio talkshow that offers counseling live on the air to anyone who calls the station with a personal psychological conflict. The program is syndicated nationally in the Unites States via the ABC Radio Network.
One afternoon I call during her program, to ask for advice about coping with an emotional numbness I’ve developed after witnessing several incidents of child abuse while working, driving a city bus. The broadcast of this session is recorded (released on the e.p. CREED)
The following is an excerpt of that session:
Dr. Toni Grant: You’re on with Dr. Toni Grant, hello.
John Duncan: Dr. Grant, my name is John, and I’m a city bus driver for Los Angeles…
TG: Yes?
JD: …I’m calling about a problem I’m having with a numbness I feel after several incidents I saw while driving.
TG: Yes?
JD: Let me describe them, to help explain…
TG: Sure, go ahead.
JD: One night I picked up a couple, a man and woman, who I guessed to be in their forties. Both were drunk or stoned or both and staggered on the bus, dragging what I thought at first was a pillowcase full of dirty laundry on the ground behind them that sort of bumped against the steps…
TG: Yes?
JD: …then later on I parked the bus to check the passengers…
TG: For any particular reason?
JD: Well, it’s a routine thing… part of my job.
TG: OK.
JD: Anyway, when I reached this couple the pillowcase had fallen open and there was a 6 month old baby in it.
TG: Ohhh… did you do anything?
JD: I shut the bus down, called the police and waited for them to show up.
TG: Yes?
JD: When they got there they talked to me, they talked to the couple, then came back to me and told me they couldn’t do anything because they hadn’t seen a crime committed…
TG: Was there any sign to… I mean, besides dragging the child on the floor how did you know…?
JD: Well, I didn’t tell you that when I saw the baby in the pillowcase I could see that both of its eyes were bruised shut, so…
TG: Ohhh…
JD: …so there was clearly evidence of…
TG: Yes… What did you do then?
JD: I refused to start the bus again until the couple had gotten off. But this incident has stayed with me…
TG: I can imagine it would…
JD: There is something else: last week I saw another thing that was similar. This time a mother and child, a girl who I guessed to be about 9 years old, got on and sat down right behind me where I could see them clearly in the mirror. The child was wearing shorts and a t-shirt, and I could see that there were open sores covering her arms and legs…
TG: (Heavy sigh) Yes…?
JD: …and the mother sitting next to her, telling her she was evil…
TG: (Heavy sigh) Yes…?
JD: And this time I just… drove. I didn’t respond at all. I just felt numb.
TG: Yes… well in the first case you mentioned I’m surprised the police weren’t able to do anything…I mean there are laws dealing with this…
JD: Yes, and apparently they’ve started getting better about dealing with this, started a crackdown…
TG: Yes, I would think so.
JD: Yeah, well… I haven’t. And that has me very worried.
TG: Yes… John, can you hold the line for just a minute? I’ll be right back.
[Cut to commercial]