A week or so ago, I watched a film clip on YouTube where a masked robber came into a fast-food restaurant at about 11:30 PM. He pulled a gun and robbed each of the patrons at gunpoint of their meager earnings. I jumped up and applauded. “Way to go. The SOB got what he deserved. No jury in the country would convict the “hero” who shot him.”
It was a symphony of justice. The good guy’s win, and the bad guys lose. One dissonant note was that I noticed the “hero” picked up the perp’s gun and apparently finding out that it was plastic threw it across the tables at the wall. He then distributed the money taken by the perp back to the diners. After this generous gesture, he left the diner in a beat up old pick-up truck. A few days later a lawyer for the “hero” called the police.
Our “hero” shot the perp nine times. Over the next few days, prosecutors and defense attorneys alike announced that there would not likely be any charges against the “hero.” It was a plain case of “self-defense.” I watched the video several more times. Each time I watched it, I had a sinking feeling. My initial thoughts over the glamor of a Gotterdammerung experience slowly morphed into a different perspective. I want to share with you this perspective. However, before I do, I must give you some caveats.
- I am not a pacifist. Never have been and never will be. You try to hurt me or anyone I love; I will do my best to protect them even if it means hurting you.
- I am a gun owner. I collect folding knives. I love to shoot and there is something magic about guns that I find intriguing. I love the symmetry of a beautiful knife or an 1858 Remington New Army black powder revolver.
- I am not a bleeding heart liberal. I am not a progressive or a conservative. I belong to no tribe or party. I think for myself. I don’t follow any script or drummer. If you read my blogs, you will find this to be a valid statement.
Thus, very peculiarly, I started to think about the perp in this case. He was a 30-year-old Black man (Eric Eugene Washington) with a history of jail time and violence. He had a long record for his age, and it would not appear that he was doing much good for the world. On the face of it, his death was no big loss for society. Some might argue that he got what he deserved before he hurt any more people.
I watched an interview with his mother. She was broken hearted, but she did not really support him with the usual banter of “what a good kid he was.” She seemed astounded that he did what he did but she did not deny that the shooting was justified. She expressed forgiveness for the “hero” but questioned why he had to shoot her son nine times. I wondered this myself.
During the following days new coverage of this event, I watched more attorneys explain that the nine shots were justified because our “hero” had to be sure that the threat was neutralized. Made me wonder how many bullets it takes to neutralize someone who is laying face down on the floor. Made me think of the villages in Vietnam that we had to “neutralize.”
I asked myself what I would have done in this situation. Face it. The perp’s gun looked real. It was a combat situation. Combat is always stressful, and no one knows what they will do until it happens. If someone had robbed me at gunpoint of my wallet, under stress and being really pissed, I might have unloaded all my rounds into his body. I can’t say I would not have done exactly what our “hero” did. However, this is where things change for me.
We could ask another set of questions. Not what would I have done, but what do I wish I had done if I was the “hero”? What do I think I should have done? I give you the following two answers to these questions.
- I would have liked to stand up facing the fleeing perp and with my gun pointing directly at him say, “Drop your gun or you are dead.” If the perp did not follow through on my order, I would probably blast him with at least three rounds center target to “neutralize” the threat. If he dropped his gun, I would order him down on the floor and cover him until the cops came. I know this sounds like police procedure but that is one scenario I think would have been justified and perhaps resulted in the loss of no life. Would the risk to my own life have been worth the extra effort? Maybe that is what a real “hero” does. In my mind, a “hero” risks his or her own life for others. Perhaps even when they do not deserve it.
- In my second scenario, I do nothing. Not out of cowardice or fear. I do nothing because I value a human life more than money. Was this one life worth the few dollars that he robbed from the other patrons? What kind of a world do we want to live in? Do we want a world that values money more than people? If the world is moving in that direction as the case may seem to indicate, it is a sad commentary. I am not sure I want to live in such a place. As I am 76 years old, I might not have to worry about it much longer.
So, there you have it folks. I feel sorry for the mother of the victim and those who loved him. I feel sorry that the victim did not get at least one more chance. I am glad that none of the diners were injured and that they got their money back. I am sure many of these people needed their money at least as much as our perp.
I also feel sorry for a society where money matters so much to all of us that we are ready, willing, and able to kill for it.
You can watch a video of the shooting at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxKYHntHjAg
Leave your comments. Let me know what you think. What would you have done?
A few more months went by and one day I decided to come home from work early. As I entered my house, I heard screams coming from upstairs. I went to a desk and grabbed a loaded Colt Commander 45 ACP that I kept ready for emergencies. I feared that Ashley was being attacked by some unknown intruder. I ran up the stairs and into our bedroom. There on the bed was Ashley and one of the young lawyers from my old law firm. They were both nude and she was on top of him riding him like a bucking bronco. What I thought were screams of pain were screams of ecstasy. I had never heard anything like that from Ashley during our entire marriage.
One day, when the old man was out walking, he saw a woman who had been beaten and thrown into a ditch. Around her neck, was hung a sign which said “Beware, Witch.” Without even a slight hesitation, the old man ran to the ditch to see how he could help the woman. He gave her some water and bread that he had on him for lunch and tried to bind up some of her wounds by ripping up his cloak. She looked at the old man with compassion and said “No one is ever kind to me, but you have been. I have this monkey’s paw that I would like you to have. It will grant you three wishes. However, be careful. Be very careful. Wishes can often result in things that you do not really want.” The woman handed him a gnarled dried up old paw and bidding a farewell, walked on down the road. He put the paw in his pocket and walked on to his home.
When the old man arrived home, he told his wife what had happened. She immediately asked to see the paw. Upon, looking at it, Marie said “Shall we try it.” The old man laughed and said, “You don’t really believe in such magic, do you?” “What do we have to lose,” said his wife. So they both picked up the paw and together made the following wish: “We wish we had enough money to never have to worry about food or clothes or other necessities for the rest of our lives.” They waited and waited and suddenly both began to laugh. Such foolishness and they were silly enough to think that it might be real.
They went to bed feeling sad, miserable, and as unhappy as any two human beings could be. Later that night, they heard a scuffling coming up the path to their door. It sounded like something was being dragged. A knock sounded on their door, but they were both too afraid to move. A voice cried out “Mom, dad, it is Eli your son. I have come back. I am alive.” Almost too happy to describe, they bolted for the door. Upon opening it to let Eli in, they recoiled in horror. Eli did not look human. His skin was in tatters. His legs and arms were mere bones. His face was a skull with bits of skin and dried blood hanging off it. “Let me in, I have come back from the grave. You have summoned me. Let me in.” 
So now we come to the real issue. You wanted to know if there actually might be a method for losing weight “without even trying.” My answer is YES! But there is even better news. I will send you the secret strategy for my quick weight loss “Without Even Trying” plan that I have developed for only $9.95 plus postage and handling. I will give you a money back guarantee that in six weeks or less, you will lose twenty pounds “without even trying” or I will send you a full refund. This offer is good for only thirty days after you read this blog and it will then expire. The following stipulations also apply:
Moving on from the medical stuff, we sold our Wisconsin house. We are now year-round residents in the state where my brother-in-law said, “People go to die.” Can you guess where this is? Hint, it is not Florida, although it would be a close second. Karen and I were not offended by his claim since we have known many people who seemed to die around here. Last year, we started a Holiday Tradition of remembering departed friends and relatives on New Year’s Eve while singing “Old Auld Lang Syne” and talking about what we missed or did not miss about each of them. We hope they were listening to the good points that Karen mentioned and not their weak points that I am more prone to point out. 
How do you know if you know anything? You have two paths to answer this question. The first path involves your belief that you do know something. You can choose this path if you are fairly certain that you know something. It may surprise you, but this is not a path of science. This is a Faith-Based path. No matter what anyone tells you, science relies on faith almost as much as religion relies on faith.
The Faith Based Path could lead one to accept that hundreds of systems across America could not all have been wrong and that the tallies were accurate because someone you trust told you they were. If you do not trust the poll counters, you will reject the decisions made by election boards and cling to the idea that Trump was cheated by liars and scoundrels. Either way it is a matter of faith.
Many of you reading this may remember the time when kids went to school by themselves. Saturday was a day for playing outside with your friends and your parents seldom carried a concealed weapon unless it was a paddle to spank your butt. Today, kids spend most days with helicopter parents, sanctioned after school sports leagues or at home playing video games. The sports field in our town of Frederic has a baseball field, volleyball court and four basketball courts. After twelve years of living in Frederic, I can only remember seeing a few volleyball games and baseball games played each summer. Most days, even when school was out, the baseball field and the volleyball field were deserted. The adjunct basketball courts were idle year-round. I do not ever remember seeing any kids playing a game on the basketball courts. 
I do not blame the victim for this “paranoia” for fear. We have a fear-based society where a paranoia for fear is hammered into us every day. Each day the radio, internet, TV, newspapers, and social media outlets blasts us with mind numbing stories that would scare Superwoman or Batman. It is no wonder that we have a fear-based society. We have a society that is not addicted to fear as much as it is fed fear. We eat a daily toxic brew of fear. A fear stew that is comprised of stories that seem horrible beyond comprehension. I could list a dozen from the past week, but what would be the point. You know them as well as I do. Whether they happened in Bangladesh, Spain, Mexico, or the USA, you will find out all about them in your local newspaper or evening cable news.
Somedays when we are on vacation, we do not go anywhere. We stay in a small apartment in some recently found village or town and cook meals, talk, and take walks around the area. No great jaunts to see any “Seven Wonders of the World.” Most of our trips are not cruises so we have few schedules. We get up when we want to. We go out when we want to. We see what we want to, and we come back when we want to. Often the sights that we see along the way are unscheduled and not in any travel guides. We became friends with a Swiss couple at a soccer match we happened to stop and watch one night. We traveled in China to a mountain where we spent the day climbing with a couple whom we met in China. The next morning all of us watched the sun rise over the mountain tops.
relatives cared. There are things you are told that you must see. Ask yourself why? Then make a list of the things that YOU really want to see. I went to a Baptist Revival Meeting once when I was in Birmingham, Alabama. It was a three-hour old-fashioned tent revival meeting complete with an altar call. Being a devout Atheist, I thought I would be lynched when the service was over. Instead, many people came up to Karen and I and after some brief chit chat invited us to a large pot-luck dinner. We declined but were touched at the hospitality and friendliness of the church goers. I wondered if I was Black would I have received the same invitation?
Aging Capriciously 