The Miami Herald's Jennifer Mooney has a novel idea of what turns a woman into a crack whore. Writing on serial-killer victim Kim Raffo, a local woman who abandoned husband and children for life as a drug-addicted prostitute in New Jersey:
Kim Raffo was the picture-perfect mother and housewife.She helped her two kids with science fair projects, decorated cupcakes for bake sales and volunteered for the PTA.
During the holidays, she opened her four-bedroom home in eastern Pembroke Pines to family and friends. She ''went all out'' for the gatherings, serving elaborate homemade meals that would have made Martha Stewart proud, her family said.
For her daughter's fifth birthday, she transformed her back yard into a petting zoo.
''She was Super Mom,'' said her mother, Joan Daniels, of Miramar. ``People looked at her in awe.''
But soon after she turned 30, the world of the well-liked, stay-at-home mom began to dissolve. Perhaps it was the continuous round of school trips, the endless birthday parties, the numerous visits to the park.
Then again it could have been the drug-addicted ex-con she started having an affair with and ultimately ran off with. In fact, I think that's just a bit more likely. Not that school trips, birthday parties, and park visits with the kids aren't gateway activities to turning tricks to support a rock habit --I'm sure they're in the top ten--, I'm just saying in this case it was probably the boyfriend's bad influence.
(Herald login/pswd=crockett@tubbs.com/miamivice.)
yep..those endless birthday parties. bummer.
Too many caseroles.
Donnah, we laughed so hard...I forgot to hit post
earlier, so I lost a much wittier comment.
Donnah, this is a great post: well written, insightful, and bust-a-gut funny.
Posted by: Paco Malo at December 11, 2006 10:18 AMFor what it's worth, I've been known to snort sprinkles off of cupcakes when no one is looking.
Posted by: Gordon at December 11, 2006 10:23 AMHoly crap.
This woman sounds just like my wife. But I AM the one with the crack problem.
Jennifer Mooney, bless your little talentless soul. You ain't dumb. You watch movies. You KNOW that Suppressed Angst of the Suburban Housewife (SASH) is as common today as it was when Hollywood first uncovered this deadly cliche.
Don't ever change, Jennifer. And don't ever have kids.
Posted by: CJ at December 11, 2006 11:30 AMMaybe she just found a way to keep off those "pre-menopause 5 lbs. a decade" that all women encounter after they hit 30.
Posted by: Cindy at December 11, 2006 02:44 PM"She was able to spend so much time with Bilecki because her husband was often out of town doing contract work in New Jersey."
Clearly it's her husband's fault for working to support his family. If he had been a deadbeat addict, everything would have been just fine.
Posted by: marybeth at December 12, 2006 01:58 AMI realize no one deserves to die the way she did, and no one likes to speak ill of the dead. But could the article have been any more cautious about placing the blame squarely where it belongs; i.e., on a bored woman who decided to cheat on a hard-working husband and preferred coke in nightclubs to staying home with her kids?
Posted by: Kimberly at December 12, 2006 11:29 AM