Hit and Run
Today I witnessed a crime in the Kroger parking lot. Both perpetrator and victim were wealthy, and this crime will almost certainly never be punished. To me, this represents all that is wrong with our misconceptions about crime and punishment. Too often, the media leads us to believe that crime is committed solely by minorities, by the destitute, or by some other marginalized group on the fringes of society. When such people are arrested, they are publicly maligned, poorly defended in a court of law, and punished extremely harshly for often-innocuous crimes. Meanwhile, wealthy Caucasians can swindle millions from their employees and ruin the retirements of thousands of people -- all while bankrupting one of the nation's largest companies -- only to receive a mere 25 years in prison. The inequalities of the American justice system are appalling.
I had just gotten an oil change and was stopping in for a bag of shredded cheese. I parked towards the back of the lot and began walking across the scorching pavement toward the store. As I approached the front of the aisle, a loud crunching noise startled me and directed my attention to the handicapped parking space. My eyes rose and fell upon a white BMW SUV, whose rear bumper was pressed up against the rear bumper of a Lexus SUV parked in the handicapped spot. The mental image of two $40,000+ vehicles kissing ass to ass was instantly frozen in time in my memory. The BMW, it should be noted, was backing out from a space and attempting to exit the wrong way from the one-way aisle. The angled parking of the one-way aisle, the massive size of these 2 vehicles, and the exaggerated turning radius required to back out in the wrong direction combined to generate the collision.
The BMW hesitated for a moment, then pulled forward and sped away. I was pretty much right next to the vehicles by the time the BMW began to drive off. I was on the verge of calling out, imploring the driver to stop. Surely he/she had felt the jolt of the collisoin. Surely they would leave their insurance information. Surely they can afford to repair the easily-visible scratch left on the bumper of the Lexus. Or not. The bastard simply up and sped away. I froze in a moment of incredulity and indecision. I was amazed that the offending driver would have the nerve to simply drive away after hitting a HANDICAPPED person's vehicle, and I was nervous about the implications of making a fuss. Would I have to make a statement to police? File a report? Wait around in the sweltering parking lot for an hour? I wound up just staring at the BMW as it pulled out of the lot, trying in vain to memorize the license plate. I scowled as it sped down Kirby.
Looking back on this incident, I wish I had yelled out and stopped the asshole. It's reckless people like that who make our roads and parking lots unsafe. And -- big surprise -- these people are not lower class minorities with criminal records and concealed weapons. These are the same people who are almost NEVER penalized for their poor decisions. I had the opportunity to finally catch someone in the act, and I failed. I wish I could do it all over again...
JLo: To legendary Red Square by Metro, for a guided walk of Moscow’s highlights. Rest of the day free. Overnight - Moscow.
Music of the Moment: "Cool and Unusual Punishment" by NOFX
I had just gotten an oil change and was stopping in for a bag of shredded cheese. I parked towards the back of the lot and began walking across the scorching pavement toward the store. As I approached the front of the aisle, a loud crunching noise startled me and directed my attention to the handicapped parking space. My eyes rose and fell upon a white BMW SUV, whose rear bumper was pressed up against the rear bumper of a Lexus SUV parked in the handicapped spot. The mental image of two $40,000+ vehicles kissing ass to ass was instantly frozen in time in my memory. The BMW, it should be noted, was backing out from a space and attempting to exit the wrong way from the one-way aisle. The angled parking of the one-way aisle, the massive size of these 2 vehicles, and the exaggerated turning radius required to back out in the wrong direction combined to generate the collision.
The BMW hesitated for a moment, then pulled forward and sped away. I was pretty much right next to the vehicles by the time the BMW began to drive off. I was on the verge of calling out, imploring the driver to stop. Surely he/she had felt the jolt of the collisoin. Surely they would leave their insurance information. Surely they can afford to repair the easily-visible scratch left on the bumper of the Lexus. Or not. The bastard simply up and sped away. I froze in a moment of incredulity and indecision. I was amazed that the offending driver would have the nerve to simply drive away after hitting a HANDICAPPED person's vehicle, and I was nervous about the implications of making a fuss. Would I have to make a statement to police? File a report? Wait around in the sweltering parking lot for an hour? I wound up just staring at the BMW as it pulled out of the lot, trying in vain to memorize the license plate. I scowled as it sped down Kirby.
Looking back on this incident, I wish I had yelled out and stopped the asshole. It's reckless people like that who make our roads and parking lots unsafe. And -- big surprise -- these people are not lower class minorities with criminal records and concealed weapons. These are the same people who are almost NEVER penalized for their poor decisions. I had the opportunity to finally catch someone in the act, and I failed. I wish I could do it all over again...
JLo: To legendary Red Square by Metro, for a guided walk of Moscow’s highlights. Rest of the day free. Overnight - Moscow.
Music of the Moment: "Cool and Unusual Punishment" by NOFX
posted by Yours Truly at 9:02 PM
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