Yesterday at work, one of my co-workers came in, and she sat down in our staff meeting, looking quite distracted. We asked her if she was ok, her response was that she was distracted.
Why?
Because at church on Sunday, her eldest son walked down the street to the corner store to grab a soda, or a candy bar or something. While there, he was approached by two boys/men, appearing to be 17-20 years old. They asked him a question or two, then they proceeded to beat him up and steal his shoes.
This is horrible. No one should be treated like that, regardless of skin color, religion, gender, weight, or political beliefs.
These two men/boys were fingered by the store clerk as two people who frequently hang around the store and sell drugs. In fact, they approached my co-worker's son first and offered him some marijuana.
My co-worker continued to tell the story of how after church people were driving around looking for the two boys. They managed to learn the name of one of the boys, and where he lived, and also where the other boy lived, although not his name.
My co-worker's husband, who is, i believe 25-29 years old, i can't remember right now, has vowed to hunt the boys down and strip them naked, tie them to a pole and beat the sh*t out of them. Because, as we all know, it's street code. And street code is violence, and violence trumps the law.
Leave aside, for a moment, the fact that husband is at least 5 years, if not more, older than the culprits. Look at this alleged "street code" that allows for this vigilante "justice".
Street code trumps the justice system in areas because people allow it. It's ignorance. People don't "know any better". Ignorance in this instance is just another word for laziness. I sincerely doubt that my co-worker, an educated woman, who frequently works with people in domestic abuse situations, and has even expressed a deep interest in transferring to a team that services battered women, doesn't know the effect violence begetting violence could have on her children.
On to the age difference: In what world is it ok for a 27 year old man to carry out physical violence against a 19 year old child? I don't want to live in that world. What kind of message does that send to the children in the household? "It's ok to be violent towards someone else because they "did you wrong" or they "disrespected" you. "Violence is the way to deal with people you disagree with".
I understand that calling the police and reporting the crime isn't going to do much in this instance, except possibly lower property values by raising the crime rate, but violence can't be the answer. Especially this kind of vigilante violence.
I'd wager Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. would be disappointed.
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16 comments:
Is it his son? And was he serious about doing this? I know of a lot of cases where someone is so angry about something that happened to a family memeber that they say something like that in anger, not out of seriousness. They don't really mean that they are going to hunt someone down and tie them to a flagpole and beat them.
not his son. step-son.
serious. he has been driving around the neighborhood looking for the kid.
Well, I'd have hoped it was all talk. I can understand a rush of emotions that would cause one to say something like that, but to actually follow through with it? How does your co-worker feel? Does she approve of that? Would she stop him if she did?
It's all just awful. Both cause and potential effect are disgusting.
The point here, is that he is following through with it, and she is encouraging him in it. We were talking bauot it at our staff meeting, and i was so appalled by it that i asked everyone to change the topic, they said ok, and then they went right back to it, i walked out of the meeting and did not return.
I hear you on the point, Dawn. That is awful. It's disgusting. And I don't blame you for walking out. I might have done the same thing.
I don't agree with doing that at all. Ew. Just thinking about that gives me the creeps.
oh, and husband, is 6'4" and he has to be at least 300 pounds. seriously, the largest man i've ever met in person.
That's frightening.
this co-worker is the same one who "encouraged" me to apply for another job today.
by encouraged, i mean that I don't want to work with her anymore
I can't believe she's allowing her husband to do that. It won't prove a damn thing.
I hope you get that new job. Or any new job.
I remember few years back, when I was up for sh*t like that.....Not anymore.........27year old doing that, something wrong with him...
I know, I know, I think, my be finding their parents....and having word my do it....rather hunting young boys in streets of Minni.....
I know it's kind of irrelevent, but how old's the kid?
I think that you need to have kids to understand his point of view. Although I don't agree with what he is doing, i would feel the same way.
If someone hurt my child like that I would want to seek revenge as well, just the thought infuriates me. As a parent, one of our main goals is to protect our children.
The wierdest feeling after having a child is the feeling that I would do anything, anything to protect that child, even if it meant ultimate detriment to myself.
A 19 year old is NOT a child.
I'm proud of you for walking out then, because you made a point that you don't tolerate that action. Cases like this are why laws exist--it's probably not going to just end. If the husband beats up the original perpetrators, there's always the possibility that they'll seek revenge, and it will just escalate. It won't solve the problem.
And you've already covered what the children are learning from this.
the child is 14.
technically a 19 year old is not a child. however a 19 year is also not a full fledged adult. and there is no proof that the child is in fact 19 and not 16, or 17.
and yes, parents want to protect their children, it's a mark of a good parent. but beating the crap out of someone who hurts your child is not the answer. i understand the desire to, but i do not understand the following through on it. at. all. it's not protecting your child to teach them violent lessons like that. also, it's a step-child as well.
it's not going to solve the problem, it's going to escalate it.
my biggest complaint was that she wouldn't stop discussing it in a staff meeting that i am equired to be at. she's allowed to raise her children however she sees fit. but i wholeheartedly disagree with how she's choosing to do it in this instance, but that's not my place to say, so i asked her to stop, and she wouldn't. they're sitting behind me right now talking about it, and it's frustrating, because i can't leave my desk.
That must be driving you nuts, Dawn.
I gotta give you props for you have been so eloquent at conveying your point in the responses to this post. It is all just so wrong. And regardless of what is said, I'm with you, as far as I'm concerned it is understandable to want to do it, but it is disgusting to actually follow through.
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