The Boys Next Door

I absolutely love the story we are reading now! I feel like it is such a change from the other stuff we’ve been reading lately, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Typically, I get very defensive whenever anybody makes fun of someone with a disability or anything of that nature, but I felt like this story put it in a new perspective for me. I felt like it was portrayed in a way that made me feel less sorry for them. Like they still live, and develop relationships and do things, it’s just different then what I do. Obviously they still need help, and you can see that in the fact that several people took advantage of them.

The writer makes the situation humorous. What’s interesting is that I watched part of it in my Social Work class this morning, and the movie was pretty darn different then the story. I like the story better, since it’s more graphic. However, I really wish I could see it in play form.

Anyway, I’m curious as to what kind of research the author did before writing this. Maybe he has had experience with people who have disabilities? I feel like he would have had to do a lot of insurance to know all of their little niches, and unique qualities. Also, the social worker in the story seems to be getting pretty frustrated. I think he is having trouble separating his work from his home life, which is never good. And I feel like maybe he is putting too much on himself, in the way that these four guys are living. Like he wants to see some major improvements, and whenever things don’t work like that, he seems to be greatly discouraged. I don’t think this is good for him as an individual. I feel like he needs to learn to separate himself from his work more and relax a bit more. I could be totally wrong though. J