🧱 SWANK Dispatch: The Fence, the Eavesdrop, and the Never-Ending Inquiry
🗓️ 13 July 2020
Filed Under: fabricated reports, eavesdropping neighbours, institutional stagnation, asthma risk, privacy violations, homeschool disruption, faux concern, gendered miscommunication
“How long must a woman endure investigation for surviving a neighbour’s tantrum?”
— The Mother Who Was Threatened for Disliking a Fence
Dear Swank Reader,
The 2020 lockdowns gave many a taste of constrained freedom. For some of us, the cage came with inspectors, neighbours who throw tantrums, and a year-long child welfare investigation based on a comment about a wall.
On the 13th of July, 2020, I—Polly Chromatic, still of Palm Grove, still under siege—responded in writing to Ashley Adams-Forbes, whose child had only just been born, while mine had been targeted repeatedly under the pretence of “concern.”
Let us examine what social services in Providenciales found so shocking:
• That I dislike being surveilled by neighbours
• That I object to assault and verbal threats in front of my children
• That I homeschool and compost
• That I requested Covid precautions due to eosinophilic asthma
Apparently, all of this warranted ongoing scrutiny. Meanwhile, the neighbour who ripped down my sign, threatened violence, and made up false vaccination reports was free to continue with Airbnb hosting and public slander.
🚩 I. The Complaint Was the Consequence of Her Own Eavesdropping
She overheard me speaking with my mother about vaccine schedules and invented an entire safeguarding narrative.
What’s more interesting is that the only complaints ever come from her — only when she’s in residence. Her transitory guests were more polite, respectful, and communicative than she ever was.
💡 II. Social Work, But Make It Sexist
Despite being the children’s primary caregiver, educator, and intellectual guardian, social workers deliberately bypassed me and tried speaking to my husband instead — a man I openly stated is not a good communicator. How is that protective?
This was not miscommunication. It was intentional gendered misdirection.
🦠 III. Disregard for My Medical Safety
In early 2020, amidst the growing global panic, social workers walked onto my property uninvited, despite my clear boundaries and my life-threatening condition. No masks. No caution. Only institutional entitlement.
One year of surveillance. Zero updates. No care for risk. No respect for the routine of a homeschooling mother of four. But they say it’s for protection.
📘 Final Words:
“I’m trying to educate my children and write books,” I said.
What I wanted was peace. What I received was intrusion.
If this is what “support” looks like, I’ll take solitude.