I was sitting in the doctor's office yesterday and was privy to the conversation of two women sitting next to me. Okay, I was eavesdropping and eventually I became part of the conversation.

It began like this...

"Well, I just spent half the morning in court with the bastard."

"Why?"

"He is trying to gain full custody."

"Really? On what basis?"

"He doesn't have a basis. He just wants her SSI money."

I think at this point I snorted, which caused both women to look at me.

"I'm sorry," I said. "I couldn't help but overhear your conversation."

A large percentage of our community lives off government funds, whether it is family assistance, food stamps, WIC, Social Security or SSI. We also have a high teen pregnancy rate and the "in" thing to do seems to be have as many kids as possible because the more kids you have the more assistance you can get.

The second woman in the conversation is raising a child belonging to her son's girlfriend. Apparently the girlfriend lost custody of the child because of abuse. A second child resides with her and a newborn resides with her mother. Crazy, broken family!!

The first woman and I recognized each other but could not connect where we knew each other from. Her daughter has Downs Syndrome. She was never married to the child's father. The father, now married, is trying to for full custody of this 6-month old child after having no contact with the child thus far. The reason? He wants her money. His father lived with him and recently passed away. There was money connected to that man and now it is gone. It needs to be replaced, and so he is going after the child.

Let's hope the judge can see the truth of this custody challenge for what it is — greed — and make the correct decision in the best interest of the child.