[Cadre-politics] rant: stupid children

[Dan MacNeil]

I've lived in Lowell 11 years. I've walked through "bad"
neighborhoods at all hours without suffering so much as an unkind
word.

Thursday night a masked kid stuck a gun in my face and said:

	"Give me your money"

I was inclined to argue. The gun was 90% fake looking and the kid
had to reach up over her head threaten me. I probably had 50 more
pounds of muscle on her.

A second later I saw three more kids with masks. Each was about
my height. I took out my wallet. I gave one of the kids three
dollars and put my wallet back in my pocket.

The 3 of the kids started to run off, the one who took the money
said "give me your phone". There was now only one skinny,
kid with no obvious weapon facing me. I was again a little
reluctant. I took it out, held it up but kept twitching it away.

The other kids doubled back, and surrounded me again. I gave up
the phone. The kids ran off.

I walked 70 feet to the Dubiliner, a bar across the street from
LTC and the national park. The bartender called 911.

After the basic details. the first cop on the scene was most
concerned with why I thought the robbers were kids and why I
thought the gun was fake. This was when:

	  "stupid, stupid kids"

...started to run through my head.

As the beat cop observed, a fake gun lets somebody with a real
gun to kill you without fear. There is no danger a fake gun will
shoot back. Law and society offer no sympathy to people killed
pointing a fake gun.

As the beat cop finished with me, A detective arrived. We went
over events again. The detective was hopeful that the call
records on the phone would allow the cops to ask:

	 "Who called you?"
and:
	"Where do they live?"

When I got home, Laura was asleep. I took the dogs for their
good night walk. A few minutes after I got back, Laura's phone
rang. It was the cops at the front door. I'd given them her
number for obvious reasons. I'd figured to let her know about
events the next morning. It was probably a good thing the call
didn't come when I was walking the dogs.

The cops had people they wanted me to look at:
	
	"You are going to be shown people,
	They may or many not be the people who
	committed the crime, so you should not feel
	compelled to make an identification. It is
	just as important to clear innocent people
	as it is to identify possible perpetrators.
	Whether or not you identify someone, the police
	will continue to investigate . . . Focus on the
	event: the place, view, lighting, your frame of
	mind, etc. Take as much time as you need.”

I repeated my earlier descriptions, signed a form saying I
understood the importance of clearing innocent people, got in
the squad car and rode to where the 4 kids were linked up.

I identified them from inside the car and from behind a bright
light. The cops told me that the kids had been found walking back
toward the original robbery location, with my cell phone & three
fake guns, wearing the clothing I'd described. (Walmart's bargain
line)

In the bright light and from a position of safety, they were even
smaller than I remembered. The police report says 3 males and 1 
female, 2 adult (16+ years) and 2 juveniles  were arrested within 
90 minutes of the original robbery and charged with "Armed 
Robbery while Masked"

I am not a lawyer and Google is not law library, but in 
Massachusetts the minimum penalty for a first offense of "masked 
armed robbery" is 5 years in prison. That is a long time for a 16 
year old.

For several days, I've muttered,

	 "How could they be so stupid?

...keeping my phone, returning to the crime area, wearing the
same clothing, keeping the masks on, using fake guns, risking
death and prison.  All this risk for $3 and a 4 year old phone?

Sometimes, it helps to put yourself in somebody else's place.

Some years ago, my carelessness left me stranded in the Port
Authority. Before that day, I saw people begging for bus fare as 
lazy scammers. After 4 hours of begging, I had $2. I was a 
desperate and humiliated begger. Even if the people routinely 
asking for money feel a fraction of that desperation and 
humiliation, I don't grudge them the change in my pocket.

 From the agencies we (http://thecsl.org) provide services to, I
know there are children in Lowell have grim, grim lives. Shoes 
with holes in the winter slush is a cliche. Cliched or not feet 
are still numb.

I don't know if the kids that robbed me were hungry, bored, or
just wanted a 2nd Sony play station. It is mostly from
books that I know lives ugly enough to motivate armed robbery. I
like to think I would need to be close to starvation to think of it.

I don't know what think of this whole thing.. I am baffled as to
why any remotely rational person, (amoral or not) would do
something this stupid. I wish I'd thought to ask when I had the
chance.

I'm a pretty conflicted and guilt ridden guy. The waste and 
misery of children in prison frustrates and confuses me. However, 
sending these kids to prison is probably a good idea.

If we have to have mugging victims, I'm a good one. I am not
emotionally attached to the $3 in my wallet. I don't have
porous calcium deficient bones. Until the whistle blew, I was
pretty happy to for the chance to hurt other high school football 
players.  After a 18 months of regular gym time, I chest
press (almost) my own weight now. Being beaten unconscious is no
fun, but it isn't an unknown terror for me.

I doubt that the kids were looking for durable victims.
Threatening strangers and taking their money is crossing
a big boundary.

 From the police report, it turns out the "fake" guns were BB
guns. Googling on: (with quotes) "shot in face with BB gun" is
reassuring. Googling on: "BB gun eye" is not reassuring. If I 
lose my left eye, I'm blind.

I was robbed near senior housing. Tug of war with a feisty or 
senile old person on slippery ground would break a hip.

My careful conclusion that prison is a reasonable and likely 
outcome for criminals doesn't reduce my confusion and 
frustration. I don't feel powerless because I was robbed and 
might be robbed again in the next 11 years.

I feel powerless because the odds are very, very good that "the 
system" is as much a part of these kids misery and waste as their 
own actions. 10 percent of the this country owns 76% of its 
wealth. The richest 76 thousand people own more than poorest 96 
million people.  As near as I can tell, the rich, or even the 
moderately well off, are not often tempted by crimes of desperation.

I feel powerless because I've spent a big chuck of my adult life 
trying to improve "the system". Rationally, I know that getting 
robbed doesn't make the my work useless, but I'm not yet the 
Vulcan.

For some days, I was tempted to do make even a small dramatic 
gesture. I thought of accepting the Acre Youth Center's low key 
offer to mentor a (hopefully) college bound kid. I thought to not 
not charge UTEC even the fraction of market rate we are now 
charging for custom work.

I discarded these and other possible gestures because I'm already 
behind on the CSL commitments I've made. It is my hope that 
eventually after some more years of effort that these commitments 
will be part of a better system.

Software and more generally information is wealth. Free software 
is a way to redistribute wealth without killing the rich.

While I'm not one of the 76,000, I am rich relative to the world 
and big parts of Lowell. I'm all in favor of not killing or 
robbing the rich.

Links:
	# Lowell Sun Police Notes newspaper story
	# of robbery will require payment
	# in a week or so.		
http://www.lowellsun.com//ci_7997922?IADID=Search-www.lowellsun.com-www.lowellsun.com

	# paper arguing that "tough on crime" laws
	# hurt victims by hding more likely threats
http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/nwsa_journal/v017/17.3wood.html

	# contact info for Acre Youth Center
http://mvhub.com/cgi-bin/guide/guide.pl?rm=show_program&program_id=500132

	# global rich list
	http://www.globalrichlist.com/