When I read the adoption threads on TB2K, I tracked down Dennis Olson through a combination of methods (I'm not going to say how, and I won't say where he lives, so stop holding your breath). I called the Department of Health and Human Services in the county in which Dennis lives and forwarded them the posts on that thread, as well as a couple of newspaper and web articles that documented the name and whereabouts of the mother and infant. Needless to say, the officer was very concerned about what was going on, and paid a visit to Mr. Olsen to check on the health and welfare of the mother and the child. There was no armed insurrection, no midwestern Waco, or anything like that. I, personally, never tried to contact Dennis directly or indirectly, nor did I threaten his family. In fact, I've never even posted a response to anything he'd said.

So there you have it. Dennis is paranoid that people on the web are looking for him because people on the web have gone looking for him and FOUND him.

-- Samaritan (samaritan@anonymous.nope), April 10, 2000

Answers

Please oh please can't we have a few more threads about Dennis Olson? Let's see if we can stretch his 15 minutes into hours and hours and hours.

-- (sick of it@dot.xxx), April 10, 2000.

Samaritan,

That was mighty neighborly of you to call the authorities. Just a couple of questions for you. Did it make you feel important when you snitched on someone that was trying to help another person? Do you also have a list of all your neighbors that might be gun owners? Was anyone in your family's history a Nazi sympathizer?

It is people like you that make me REALLY appreciate living in the middle of nowhere.

-- J (Y2J@home.comm), April 10, 2000.

J-

Yes, it did make me feel good. I reasoned that if the girl were really in trouble, she needed an advocate who was only interested in helping her. If the girl weren't in trouble, then the county would continue to monitor the situation, but wouldn't step in. Contrary to doomer belief, the goal of county Health and Human Services is to keep families together whenever possible, not tear tham apart for political reason. It was clear to me that the grandmother was not in a position to judge the safety and welfare of her daughter and grandson.

Another reason I called the county was because there was no involvement of the biological father. My younger brother got his girlfriend pregnant ten years ago, and rather than tell him, the girl moved away, had the baby, gave her up for adoption, and never told my brother. He only found out 18 months ago when he ran into a acquaintance from high school, who assumed that he knew. Our family would have jumped at the chance to take care of the baby, my brother would have offered to marry her, but we were not given any of those options. His parental rights were terminated without his knowledge or consent, and there isn't a day that goes by that we don't wish someone had known what was going on.

That baby has a father somewhere. The grandmother implied that the girl was raped, and if that is the case, then the father has no parental rights and the girl is in even more trouble than was clear from the original thread. If the girl wasn't raped however, the father of that baby has parental rights that must be considered.

The only person I "snitched" on was the grandmother. I imagine that you would consider people who phone in drunken drivers and spousal abusers as "busy bodies". How sad.

-- Samaritan (samaritan@anonymous.nope), April 11, 2000.

Well, J, it looks like we are going to disagree on everything. That's okay. I think samaritan did the right thing. Before being a whistleblower, I think one should pray and think the situation through-One could abuse the power of being a samaritan-I think our samaritan did these things, and was acting in the best interest of the child.

-- FutureShock (gray@matter.think), April 11, 2000.

it was none of your business

may have been a complete fabrication for all you know

-- richard (richard.dale@onion.com), April 11, 2000.

it was none of your business

may have been a complete fabrication for all you know

If that were the case, no harm -no foul. What's your point?

You did the right thing samaritan.

-- (doomerstomper@usa.net), April 11, 2000.

From: Y2K, ` la Carte by Dancr (pic), near Monterey, California

It's not paranoia when people really are out to get you.

Child Protective Services (or whatever they're called where you live) is not a bunch you'd want to have on your case. It's really uncool to be in their system, for whatever reason. There was no reason to believe that these children were in danger from the Olsen family.

-- Dancr (addy.available@my.webpage), April 11, 2000.

Dancr, you sound like someone that has been at odds with the system for a long time. Wonder why that is?

-- Sifting (through@the.rubble), April 11, 2000.

No, I didn't believe they were in danger from the Olson family. I do believe they might have been in danger from the MOTHER'S family. However, the Olson family was where they were staying, so that is why I called the county where Dennis lives.

-- Samaritan (samaritan@anonymous.nope), April 11, 2000.

From: Y2K, ` la Carte by Dancr (pic), near Monterey, California

Sifting says: Dancr, you sound like someone that has been at odds with the system for a long time. Wonder why that is?

No, I don't wonder about that. But I'm sure you'll tell us anyway.

-- Dancr (addy.available@my.webpage), April 11, 2000.

An article and photograph appeared about the Olsens and the mother and child in the local newspaper post rollover. I suspect social services would have become aware of the situtaion by that eventually. The child and her baby were never endangered by the Olsen household; that is a correct assessment.

What the actions of the Olsen family demonstrates is that personalities are far more complex they appear on internet threads. It would be wise for people to consider that it's difficult to draw a reasonsed impression of folks without talking or meeting them through other means.

Threads are an imperfect means of communication. Alter-egos to often come into play. Unneccesary and unfortunate things are said by all parties. But the eye must remain on the prize; that is, the wellbeing of the child and her baby.

-- Buster (BustrCollins@aol.com), April 11, 2000.