and not an underwire

"We ask that the lady testers wear sportsbras. It goes up higher and then you can put this digital recorder inside and it will capture all the voices."

He wasn't even embarrassed to say it, this Department of Justice bigwig who was teaching us how to "test" apartment managers for racial and family status bias. They take two people who only differ in one of the protected status categories and send 'em in with scripts and fake identities; we ask the exact same things and present ourselves in the same way, and then the DOJ analyzes the outcome, including the recordings, to see if there are violations of Title VIII.

I signed up so quick my head's still spinning. I LOVE IT. This is the kind of thing I was BORN to do! I mean, I was born white, but it's not like I think that means I should have privileges denied other people, and I'll darn sure fight for equality. I hate injustice - so to have the opportunity to do something about it, well, I would probably pay to do this (but, they're going to pay me for each test I can do when they need it).

The only bad thing is it's TOTALLY CONFIDENTIAL - I'm not supposed to tell anybody anything about it at all, not even that I'm doing it or it's being done in the area. So, I'll erase this blog after friends have read it, and I will never get to speak of it publicly again. Keep it "in the vault" as Tami quoted Seinfeld.

I might not get to do it often - depends on their needs and my availability. But I am SO READY! And they said they may sometimes ask us to travel to other cities in the area to test there, too. I could be traveling and staying in hotels on the government dollar and I love it - because THIS is exactly the sort of thing our tax money SHOULD be going to.

Then I went to the possible housing situation, and the father was SOOOO sick - a horrible fever hit him shortly before I got there. I played with the kid for awhile while I told him to go nap, but I had to get a move-on because I have lots of other things to get done today.

I'm not sure if I'll take it. It's a nice area, close to the hip part of town and near grocery stores, and bikeable to school. But, I think I smelled cigarette smoke - and I so will NOT live with a smoker. I can tell the father is really depressed (manifested by a dirty house and "There's nobody to call" when I asked if I could call somebody to help him), and so I might be able to be really helpful with not much effort on my part, and he might be willing to change the things I won't live with. There was junkfood around, and I can't live with that either - I won't give kids sugar cereal for breakfast and Pringles for lunch. And the kid talked a LOT - I mean this incessant chatter and didn't listen. He likes to get his way and expects to and of course that doesn't work with me. I think though that's not a fatal problem - I mean, the kid looked at me and thought "babysitter" - and a babysitter IS there to play with the kids and cater to their whims. But I'm not a babysitter and won't be treated as such. If that's what's needed, then it won't work out.

It really made me appreciate Dayton's parenting even more. I mean, I think he's too stern, but he would never tolerate what I also consider inappropriate child-centeredness - and I get to be good cop for a change. A 5-year-old is NOT the center of the universe. They are a PART of a family. And of course their needs are desires are important, but they are not tantamount and they should not be catered to. Adults do not have to do something just because a child wants them to. He kept trying to get me to read something about a computer game and I wasn't going to.

The bedroom is a pretty nice size and could work, though I would need to paint it (it has some kid pattern and soccer balls and such). High ceilings, wood floors - a typical old-style New Orleans place. It's a double shotgun which he converted to take the bedroom from the other side - so there's two bedrooms on their side plus a double-loft which is a cool set-up. I got to see the other side, and it's a studio maybe slightly smaller than mine now - though wider, with no closet.

Anyway, I really don't know if I'll do it - I told him we'd talk later about details when he's feeling better.