It's getting so I brace myself whenever watching the news. The killings, pedophilia, burglaries, and thefts wear me down. In most of these crimes the root cause is methamphetimine, oxycontin, alcohol...take your pick of drugs which are grinding up innocent affected families and communities across the country.
Working at the prison a large part of my day is spent reading the crime narratives of the inmate's offenses. Some of the stories are horrible and sickening. Truth is always stranger than fiction. When I talk to the inmates, most are like anyone you'd see outside the prison fence. They don't have horns growing out of their heads or three eyes blinking at you.
When you're out in the world doing your business there are more people than you think who are looking for a chance to get something for nothing and could possibly use violence to get it. Never think it couldn't happen to you. Sad but true.
A while back I served on a jury ... the trial was about a small time drug dealer and repeat offender, a gun, a threat, lots of cops and a boggling array of expert testimony.
ReplyDeleteThe thing which stood out was, where the crime occurred was in an average looking apartment in a busy part of Seattle ... there are lots of near-by restaurants, art galleries and shops.
And this apartment house is filled with dopers, drunks and addicts, ex-cons, and a bunch of down an out street characters.
Nightly, the police cruise inside the apartment (with the owner's blessing) as if they were patrolling a seedy alley.
A regular citizen who's shopping or going to a restaurant in the area is totally unaware of the dark and sordid world w/in that building.