Of the Black Belt in Resistance

It's been a while, and I can't quite remember. A social worker who works with children on the street steps onto the stage in a play and answers the reporter's question about how he pressures his charges to get back on track in roughly this way.

We won't get far with pressure here. When it comes to resisting pressure, they've all earned a black belt.

What sounds a bit fatalistic hints that the street worker knows his craft. He can't or won't give a simple answer. What he offers is empathy, respect, and the metaphorical acknowledgment of the children's long paths of suffering. He doesn't want to end this with a simple magic trick.

I've thought about it for a long time, and what I've written down today has stuck with me.