It has been a crazy two days.

I am stealing some time from work, even at this hour, but I wanted to write about what happened this evening.

I worked until 5 AM this morning, slept until 2:00, went to work at 3:00, and just arrived home a while ago to finish up in my pajamas. I am a bit bleary-eyed and yet have to persevere because there is a prodigious amount of work that must be completed by April 30th.

My boss and I went to work at a restaurant so that we could eat and get away from the interruptions at the office. What we encountered there was worse.

This family came in after we had been working for about an hour--a man, a woman in a wheelchair, and a young girl, who was perhaps 9 or 10.

Something was said as they came in and the girl started crying. The man grabbed her by the arm and dangled her off the ground, yelling at her to stop crying. He then shoved her into a booth and continued to berate her and threaten her until she managed to stop crying.

For the next half hour, he was an utter brute to her and her mother. He called the woman ignorant and stupid and useless. He called the girl ugly and bucktooth and stupid and useless as well. Non-stop was his filth littered across their hearts during the whole meal.

My boss and I found it difficult to work and we whispered about what we could do. I confess, I was afraid to step in because of worry about retaliation. However, no one ever stepped in for me as a child. I couldn't let the moment pass.

After walking outside, I called the police, who managed to arrive just as the family was leaving. But the outcome was not near what I had hoped for.

The police asked the woman if she was okay, offered her help, and then lectured the man. That was it. While a report will be filed, I am fairly sure nothing more will be done. After all, the policeman told me that sometimes people don't understand discipline.

While I am worried that the man might have punished the woman and the girl once they went home, I am glad that they know that others found his behavior unacceptable. It was disheartening to know the mother was willing to lie to the police about how the man was treating her daughter.

He did not help the woman in or out of the door or in or out of the booth. He just stood and watched her struggle. The girl stood aside and watched as well, but it was clear she was afraid of what would happen should she assist her mother.

It turns out that a social worker in the booth next to me, who had arrived on the scene later, was increasingly uncomfortable as well. She did not see the physical violence, but the bullying and berating was making her extremely uncomfortable and she was on the verge of calling for help when I did.

She, too, was disappointed that such a cursory attempt was made to help the child.

What a life that little girl must be living. If that was the kind of attention she receives in public, what horrors must she face in private?

Will you pray for her this day?