[Noisebridge-discuss] dealing with a troubled young lady? Discuss it on today's member meeting?

Neil Kandalgaonkar neilk at brevity.org
Tue Aug 10 21:19:16 UTC 2010


On 8/10/10 11:40 AM, Quinn Norton wrote:
>
> On Aug 10, 2010, at 2:36 PM, Frantisek Apfelbeck wrote:
>
>> Hello to All,
>> Well I've met this girl yesterday, directly after her arrival to Noisebridge.

FYI she has shown up to Noisebridge before and was removed by police (at 
the request of other Noisebridge members who were present, and who had 
medical training).

I do not know anything about her specifically. I can tell you what I saw 
that night.

She had made a lot of confused/erratic statements to other 
Noisebridgers. In the informed judgment of said NoiseBridge regular she 
was showing signs of schizophrenia. She was wearing a hospital bracelet 
(a hospital in Berkeley if I remember correctly).

She was sitting at a computer terminal quietly when the police showed 
up. When the police asked her about how she got there or where she 
wanted to go she started speaking loudly about somebody else, who I 
later realized was herself in the third person. Like "SHE HAS TO STAY ON 
THE COMPUTER AND FIND HER SISTER". There was some task she was trying to 
accomplish involving Facebook.

The police officers removed her gently but firmly although she was 
struggling and continuing to try to explain herself all the way down the 
stairs. I don't know what happened after that.

I was rather shocked to see the police in Noisebridge, but in fairness, 
they dealt with the situation about as gently as could be imagined.

It's up to NB if they want the space to be a haven for people who don't 
conform to the usual standards of sanity. I have to admit she didn't 
seem particularly dangerous or even troublesome to others or herself, 
but I think if she were to come regularly to NB it probably wouldn't end 
very well. Even if she doesn't disrupt others, she could also be taken 
advantage of. And if she ever does become a problem, I'm not sure 
Noisebridgers have the correct training to contain her without harming 
her (and even then, this opens NB members to legal scrutiny if she 
somehow harms herself or others).

-- 
Neil Kandalgaonkar     <neilk at brevity.org>



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