About three weeks ago I awoke early on a Saturday morning and made a pot of my most EXCELLENT coffee to take with me to a yard sale I was having at a friend’s house. Since I was moving I needed to get rid of as much stuff as possible. As I opened my driver’s side van door I noticed the passenger side door window was smashed in. My vehicle had been broken into very early in the morning and my very nice Pioneer XM radio unit was gone. I was upset for obvious reasons: 1. The radio unit was a Christmas gift from a very sweet male friend of mine last year and 2. I had a big mess to deal with on a morning I needed to deal with more impt. things and now I had to deal w/ trying to get the window replaced on a Saturday (which turned out to be impossible).
In the nine months that I had the portable XM unit in my van (sometimes leaving it on by accident at night) while living over on the beachside, I never had any worries. I have only been a victim of theft once before (out in Oakland, CA where the doors on the van I was driving did not lock as I thought it had done) when my cd collection and personal diary was taken (I was more bummed about my diary being stolen than the music cd’s). Now I had lived in a temporary apartment less than one month and had my van broken into...this was kind of upsetting.
Unfortunately, I was now living on the mainland down by the city marina and in an old apt. building that was not being properly managed (no proper security & evident structural neglect) and adjacent to a park area where the homeless and troubled people congregate. I am very compassionate when it comes to understanding that there are people who need help (whether or not they want it is another matter) and who, for whatever reason, are living desperate and/or unimaginable lives. I try very hard not to judge people in dire conditions…I just want to send love their way and if I can and if nothing else I try to acknowledge their presence rather than ignore them.
The ironic part of the theft was that not only was the XM radio stolen but a couple books were taken too….on the ground among the broken million pieces of glass was one book that the thief (or thieves) chose not to take….ironically titled “Pedagogy of the Oppressed” by Paulo Friere. I definitely saw the sad humor of the situation.
I called the police to have them come and file a report w/ them. The switchboard operator said some officers would soon come on duty and would call me when she sent them over. A few minutes later she called back and said “I just wanted to call and offer you an alternative option to having the police come down to write up a report. If you would rather, I could connect you through to the officer and you can give your report by telephone.” As I raised my eyebrows in surprise and replied “How will the police try to solve the crime without actually seeing the scene of the crime and possibly taking fingerprints?” The woman responded “Well then we will send out an officer and they should arrive shortly.”
So, that is the state we live in. The criminals have nothing to worry about when the police lack so much confidence in solving crimes that they would prefer victims just report their crime by phone rather than having to leave the comfort of their desk and waste fuel and time in the process to file a report in person and examine a crime scene. I feel so much better now (sarcasm).
The following week I flew up to Burlington, VT to visit a friend in prison. I have been making at least one yearly trip to visit him since 2005. I learned about this person from seeing a film a year earlier which captured a part of his life activities which I found intriguing. The more I read about this person the more I began to see that he was really intelligent though, in my opinion, misguided in some of his actions. Sometimes one can see beyond the surface and see something more, something deeper...which deserved exploring.
I decided to send a letter to express my opinion about his past actions but also to express my concerns about the state of our country and how inspiring it was to learn about older generations and their work in trying to make positive change in our country. I was not expecting a response but a month later one came. A pen-pal situation developed out of that. A year later I was traveling up north and decided to visit him. I tell you I wish everyone in our country would make one visit to a maximum security prison. It scared me to death just looking at the massive, revolting walls bordering the main street of town. I vomited in the parking lot and my hands shook when trying to pull open the heavy, large steel door to the prison entrance. There was an un-naturalness to visiting a human being in a cage (in essence). Unlike animals in a zoo, the human beings in prison are mistreated because they are not rehabilitated and given the tools & information needed (that they did not get before being disciplined by the state) to become productive & cared members of society.
Some of you may be thinking I have a liberal attitude when it comes to crime and punishment, but actually I think it is a society’s (people in a community) responsibility to see each member as valuable enough to help provide the basic needs: good education, housing, food and health care and if it meant I might never be a millionaire because my taxes would provide basic needs for a better society I for one and willing to pony up.
Responsibility is a character trait everyone should honor without a doubt. But I don’t see much responsibility coming out of the White House, Congress, Wall St. or the banks these days. If we are going to demand personal responsibility of everyone then let’s start with people who come from privileged up-bringing (wealthy, well-educated, physically & mentally well provided for) sectors and move on down from there.
Just to set the record straight….my friend does not think that his crime should have gone unpunished….but the punishment would have been better served having him work to heal the community/people he harmed rather than for him to sit behind bars where tax payers pay $30,000 or so a year for decades to sit and rot. This country houses the most people behind bars than any other country. This is not a good use of taxpayer dollars and is not a solution that reduces crime. There must be better ways to deal with people who have made poor decisions and/or made mistakes.
And what about the criminal who broke into my van and stole my radio? Well, after the first day I got over any hard feelings I had towards this person and I hope he/she got what they wanted for it…it is just a radio to me. The worst after-affect was worrying from time to time that my body and not my van could be the next target of crime and that was far greater than any property I will ever own.
Well…next is my adventures to get out west to Oregon.
Peace, Joy & Safety,
Emma
In the nine months that I had the portable XM unit in my van (sometimes leaving it on by accident at night) while living over on the beachside, I never had any worries. I have only been a victim of theft once before (out in Oakland, CA where the doors on the van I was driving did not lock as I thought it had done) when my cd collection and personal diary was taken (I was more bummed about my diary being stolen than the music cd’s). Now I had lived in a temporary apartment less than one month and had my van broken into...this was kind of upsetting.
Unfortunately, I was now living on the mainland down by the city marina and in an old apt. building that was not being properly managed (no proper security & evident structural neglect) and adjacent to a park area where the homeless and troubled people congregate. I am very compassionate when it comes to understanding that there are people who need help (whether or not they want it is another matter) and who, for whatever reason, are living desperate and/or unimaginable lives. I try very hard not to judge people in dire conditions…I just want to send love their way and if I can and if nothing else I try to acknowledge their presence rather than ignore them.
The ironic part of the theft was that not only was the XM radio stolen but a couple books were taken too….on the ground among the broken million pieces of glass was one book that the thief (or thieves) chose not to take….ironically titled “Pedagogy of the Oppressed” by Paulo Friere. I definitely saw the sad humor of the situation.
I called the police to have them come and file a report w/ them. The switchboard operator said some officers would soon come on duty and would call me when she sent them over. A few minutes later she called back and said “I just wanted to call and offer you an alternative option to having the police come down to write up a report. If you would rather, I could connect you through to the officer and you can give your report by telephone.” As I raised my eyebrows in surprise and replied “How will the police try to solve the crime without actually seeing the scene of the crime and possibly taking fingerprints?” The woman responded “Well then we will send out an officer and they should arrive shortly.”
So, that is the state we live in. The criminals have nothing to worry about when the police lack so much confidence in solving crimes that they would prefer victims just report their crime by phone rather than having to leave the comfort of their desk and waste fuel and time in the process to file a report in person and examine a crime scene. I feel so much better now (sarcasm).
The following week I flew up to Burlington, VT to visit a friend in prison. I have been making at least one yearly trip to visit him since 2005. I learned about this person from seeing a film a year earlier which captured a part of his life activities which I found intriguing. The more I read about this person the more I began to see that he was really intelligent though, in my opinion, misguided in some of his actions. Sometimes one can see beyond the surface and see something more, something deeper...which deserved exploring.
I decided to send a letter to express my opinion about his past actions but also to express my concerns about the state of our country and how inspiring it was to learn about older generations and their work in trying to make positive change in our country. I was not expecting a response but a month later one came. A pen-pal situation developed out of that. A year later I was traveling up north and decided to visit him. I tell you I wish everyone in our country would make one visit to a maximum security prison. It scared me to death just looking at the massive, revolting walls bordering the main street of town. I vomited in the parking lot and my hands shook when trying to pull open the heavy, large steel door to the prison entrance. There was an un-naturalness to visiting a human being in a cage (in essence). Unlike animals in a zoo, the human beings in prison are mistreated because they are not rehabilitated and given the tools & information needed (that they did not get before being disciplined by the state) to become productive & cared members of society.
Some of you may be thinking I have a liberal attitude when it comes to crime and punishment, but actually I think it is a society’s (people in a community) responsibility to see each member as valuable enough to help provide the basic needs: good education, housing, food and health care and if it meant I might never be a millionaire because my taxes would provide basic needs for a better society I for one and willing to pony up.
Responsibility is a character trait everyone should honor without a doubt. But I don’t see much responsibility coming out of the White House, Congress, Wall St. or the banks these days. If we are going to demand personal responsibility of everyone then let’s start with people who come from privileged up-bringing (wealthy, well-educated, physically & mentally well provided for) sectors and move on down from there.
Just to set the record straight….my friend does not think that his crime should have gone unpunished….but the punishment would have been better served having him work to heal the community/people he harmed rather than for him to sit behind bars where tax payers pay $30,000 or so a year for decades to sit and rot. This country houses the most people behind bars than any other country. This is not a good use of taxpayer dollars and is not a solution that reduces crime. There must be better ways to deal with people who have made poor decisions and/or made mistakes.
And what about the criminal who broke into my van and stole my radio? Well, after the first day I got over any hard feelings I had towards this person and I hope he/she got what they wanted for it…it is just a radio to me. The worst after-affect was worrying from time to time that my body and not my van could be the next target of crime and that was far greater than any property I will ever own.
Well…next is my adventures to get out west to Oregon.
Peace, Joy & Safety,
Emma
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