Roach - scapegoat or one bad babysitter? -

[WTF2000]

I was thinking over the weekend about Chris's tendency to take as gospel things he was told by his parents vis-à-vis 'Cole being hit by a bus' being the reason he was estranged from Borb and was turned to wondering about Roach, 'the abusive babysitter'.

For one thing, as the Cwkipedia says, autism is hereditary and not brought on by 'traumatic' experiences like being sent to time out in one's room. Could it be that Roach was just a convenient excuse for Borb to fob off incessant questions from a young Chris about how he came to be the autistic hero he is?

 

[MysticMisty]

While it is possible that Chris was left alone frequently with a babysitter while Bob 'n Barb went out to get drunk, the whole "locked in my room with toys caused da autism" bit is just one of many examples of Chris' bullshit.

 

[Kosher Dill]

Maybe Borb really did believe it, if Chris's muteness coincidentally started around the same time he was baby-sat.

 

[WTF2000]

While it is possible that Chris was left alone frequently with a babysitter while Bob 'n Barb went out to get drunk, the whole "locked in my room with toys caused da autism" bit is just one of many examples of Chris' bullshit.

Yeah, I thought it was possible she didn't exist but according to the Cwckipedia Cole has corroborated her existence AND ineptitude as a babysitter so there is that...

Maybe Borb really did believe it, if Chris's muteness coincidentally started around the same time he was baby-sat.

And that's a good point too... Barb at least is an ignorant hillbilly and while I'd like to think Bob is smarter than that (surely he at least researched autism when he found out his son had it?), maybe he just couldn't be bothered arguing with his wife?

 

[Anchuent Christory]

I think it's one of many events that are lost in the far reaches of Christory with not nearly enough accurate, non-biased information available; all we can do is speculate.

Whenever I think about one of these events, I find it useful to look a the Megan saga and the huge discrepancies between what Chris now claims happened, and what we actually know happened. Now apply this process displayed by Chris to events we don't have evidence of and the only real conclusion we can reliably come up with is that it played out absolutely nothing like how Chris says it did.

The Chandlers ability to warp information to suit their own agendas is enormous, they'll do anything to paint themselves as the victims in any situation.

 

[CalmMyTits]

This would make a lot of sense. If Roach actually harmed and abused Chris, I'm sure Borb would have called the police on her. Since no actual abuse happened, the best they could do was just use her as a scapegoat. How much would Cole really know about Roach, he was living in California at this time.

 

[Bgheff]

We don't know if he was put in time out or just ignored. I am betting he was just ignored since he just played with his toys. However, being put in time out and being disciplined by someone would be considered "abuse" by Chris and possibly Borb. I assume being tormented by a bad babysitter is akin to being "raped by the trolls" or doing all the "hard hot labor out in the summer heat" Just the usual dramatized Chris lies.

 

[CatParty]

What we also don't know is what borb told the babysitter beforehand. Did they tell her he was autistic? Did she understand how to handle Chris when he threw a fit?

 

[Henry Bemis]

What we also don't know is what borb told the babysitter beforehand. Did they tell her he was autistic? Did she understand how to handle Chris when he threw a fit?

"Here'soursonheain'tcompletelyrightintheheadbutwhateverjustdowhatyouwantifhegetsouttahandkthxbye."

(slam door, pedal to the metal, and off to the bar)

 

[Some JERK]

No way to know. Although what kid views being locked in a room full of toys as a traumatic event?

I had a babysitter, but, uh, she was kinda've mean babysitter. Anyway, ah, one day she was on her phone and, uh, I came up t—I came up to her, I came up with her, and said something and, uh, she was kinda angry at me, 'cause I interrupted her phone call, AND she locked me in a room fulla noth—n—fulla nothing but toys, and, uh, she just locked me in there, and, uh, I was very lonely, so I just sat there and cried, and... uh that's how my autism began. Thanks to an evil babysitter.

So Chris was being disruptive and rude (not uncommon for little kids) and got sent on a time out (also not uncommon). I very much doubt that the room was "locked". Not many rooms inside a dwelling lock from the outside.

If anything, it's probably the first time in his life that someone actually punished him for rude or disruptive behavior, and that was such a shock to him that he fixated on it. To be completely fair, i think we all probably remember the first time an adult other than our parents punished us. It's just that most of us learned something about behaving around other people from it, rather than using it as an outright excuse for our further inability to behave ourselves.

 

[Bragorboats]

Blaming the babysitter for chris' autism falls under the same umbrella as blaming Cole's head injury for Cole and Barb not speaking.

Both cases, even with Barb and Chris' denial are impossible to explain away. It is true that Chris has autism and it is true that Cole is estranged. So, to explain these away, we have the pin of blame on a head injury and an abusive babysitter. They're excuses for shortcomings.

 

[milkshark]

Roach is the convenient scapegoat, we all know Chris has the 'tism because Barb had him too late in the game. Barb doesn't want the responsibility of being the cause of her son's disability. This is also an easy way to fuel her "us against the world" perspective that keeps Chris attached to her hip. It's safe and comfortable under Barb's denial umbrella, nothing she and Chris do is ever wrong. The world is against them, because they're misfits that nobody truly understands.

 

[Alec Benson Leary]

Although the Chandlers are quite practiced at exaggeration and shedding bad light on the truth, they also love to make shit up from whole cloth. I'm pretty convinced this babysitter never did a single bad thing.

 

[JimReynolds]

I figure that it was easier for Borb to blame Chris' autism and eventual muteness on this one instance instead of their mediocre parenting skills.

 

[CalmMyTits]

No way to know. Although what kid views being locked in a room full of toys as a traumatic event?

I had a babysitter, but, uh, she was kinda've mean babysitter. Anyway, ah, one day she was on her phone and, uh, I came up t—I came up to her, I came up with her, and said something and, uh, she was kinda angry at me, 'cause I interrupted her phone call, AND she locked me in a room fulla noth—n—fulla nothing but toys, and, uh, she just locked me in there, and, uh, I was very lonely, so I just sat there and cried, and... uh that's how my autism began. Thanks to an evil babysitter.

So Chris was being disruptive and rude (not uncommon for little kids) and got sent on a time out (also not uncommon). I very much doubt that the room was "locked". Not many rooms inside a dwelling lock from the outside.

If anything, it's probably the first time in his life that someone actually punished him for rude or disruptive behavior, and that was such a shock to him that he fixated on it. To be completely fair, i think we all probably remember the first time an adult other than our parents punished us. It's just that most of us learned something about behaving around other people from it, rather than using it as an outright excuse for our further inability to behave ourselves.

I remember my father being irritated with me when he was on the phone and i really wanted his attention for... well, I don't remember. He didn't send me to my room but he did tell me firmly that interrupting people on the phone was rude. I learned fast from that.

Given what a little brat Chris was, I bet he interrupted Roach's phone call in a really obnoxious way, or persisted in trying to get her attention after she told him to wait until she was done with the call or some such.

 

[BigAltheGreat921]

We'll probably never know what really happened with the Roach incident, because 1) we know very little about Chris' early childhood and 2) Chris and his parents each have differing accounts.

Any story of Chris in his early years should be considered suspect, especially since having a selective memory seems to be a Chandler family trait.

 

[Some JERK]

I remember my father being irritated with me when he was on the phone and i really wanted his attention for... well, I don't remember. He didn't send me to my room but he did tell me firmly that interrupting people on the phone was rude. I learned fast from that.

Given what a little brat Chris was, I bet he interrupted Roach's phone call in a really obnoxious way, or persisted in trying to get her attention after she told him to wait until she was done with the call or some such.

I just re-read that page on the CWCki. Apparently Chris was only 18 months old at the time, so I'm sure he absolutely was being irritating or disruptive. Most toddlers that age are. You can't even explain to them that they're being rude at that age. All you can do if you're trying to talk on the phone is distract them with something. But given Chris's age at the time of the story, i doubt any of the details he gives. I absolutely call bullshit on the "locked" in a room part. Not only do interior doors not lock from the outside, they also mostly open inwards, so it's not even like she blocked or leaned up against it so he couldn't get out. I'm now thinking that this "locked room full of toys" was a crib or a playpen.

 

[Batman VS Tony Danza]

When I was four or five I managed to leave the house and walk several blocks alone to find my parents in the park. The babysitter had no idea I was gone until my parents brought me home. That's bad babysitting.

Disturbing someone's phone call and being sent to a room filled with toys? That's pretty common. When you're a small, spoiled kid the idea of being restricted to a single room for an hour seems like the worst thing ever.

"Wait, you're telling me I HAVE to stay in a room I was probably going to be spending my time in anyway? How DARE you! Now I have to open the door every 10 minutes to ask how much longer I have to stay in here"

 

[Kosher Dill]

I just re-read that page on the CWCki. Apparently Chris was only 18 months old at the time, so I'm sure he absolutely was being irritating or disruptive. Most toddlers that age are. You can't even explain to them that they're being rude at that age. All you can do if you're trying to talk on the phone is distract them with something. But given Chris's age at the time of the story, i doubt any of the details he gives. I absolutely call bullshit on the "locked" in a room part.

At age one-and-a-half, all you need to do to "lock" someone in a room is close the door. They can't reach the doorknob, and if they're extraordinary youths like Chris they can't figure out how to stand on something to reach higher.

 

[CatParty]

I just re-read that page on the CWCki. Apparently Chris was only 18 months old at the time, so I'm sure he absolutely was being irritating or disruptive. Most toddlers that age are. You can't even explain to them that they're being rude at that age. All you can do if you're trying to talk on the phone is distract them with something. But given Chris's age at the time of the story, i doubt any of the details he gives. I absolutely call bullshit on the "locked" in a room part.

At age one-and-a-half, all you need to do to "lock" someone in a room is close the door. They can't reach the doorknob, and if they're extraordinary youths like Chris they can't figure out how to stand on something to reach higher.

Metaphor for his life.