Friday, March 19, 2010
duty of a moment
Sunday, March 14, 2010
we have the Church Triumphant helping us: St. Anthony, thank you!!
Thursday, March 11, 2010
comments
Getting comments is great (& freaking hilarious when they are absurdly mean-spirited)! But, from now on, I will be moderating comments. If you are posting without a blog account or Google account (so, as an “anonymous” commenter), that is entirely fine, but please make sure to sign your name at the bottom of your post.
Sunday, March 7, 2010
the pickpocket: part ii
Okay. I still can't get over the pickpocket story even though it has been quite a while since the adventure. What's the big idea?
I think my roommate Kat said it best as we discussed the adventure while exiting the metro station when she said, pickpocketing is like cheating, which is just so dishonest. Stealing, cheating, lying—obviously we teach kids that these are wrong, (which they are), but why?
Well, besides dishonesty, the act of stealing disregards the work of a fellow human being. It is a disrespect of both the person and their rights. Of course, I am not talking about necessity, such as stealing to feed yourself and your family; this is something different. I'm talking about this woman on the metro, the teenager who steals the CD from Borders (probably a crappy CD not even worth stealing anyway), or the politician using funds for dishonest things. Stealing isn't just unloving or not loving, but anti-loving because it refuses to recognize another person's worth in a very basic way. Stealing, cheating and lying go against truth and right order, which I, for one, am a fan of.
Maybe we can't give everybody we meet friendship, kind words, the simple smile. But, if we cannot give our fellow human beings anything else, let's at least give them respect through honesty.
Thursday, March 4, 2010
the pickpocket: part i
However, I thought when you were pickpocketed it would be while you fell asleep on the bus or accidentally left your bags alone for a minute. I didn't think the criminal ever really had an identity. Of course, these are ideal situations for pickpockets, but fortunately for us and unfortunately for them, it doesn't always happen this way...
A few weeks ago, while heading to the opera, my roommates and I witnessed some serious pickpocket activity. We were taking the metro just a few stops, and it was pretty crowded. As we neared our stop, the man standing next to me started yelling at a woman. He was claiming (in English actually, and very loudly) that she had just tried to pickpocket him. The woman, short, middle-aged with mid-length brown hair (so, basically average in almost every way), argued back, "Do you have a photo? Do you have evidence?" Meanwhile, somebody on the metro said over and over "control your pockets." Pretty good advice to all in a crowded place, but obviously the man was controlling his pockets as he didn't let this woman go through with her crime. The man's wife pulled out her phone and indeed tried to take a photo of the pickpocket. The woman was too cunning for this, however and put her hand up to the phone's camera lens as the wife snapped the unsuccessful photo. People on the metro were kind of shuffling around nervously and excitedly; most everyone was staring.
When the metro stopped, Gabi, Kat and I were just trying to get off in time. The man was holding onto the pickpocket's arm; he and his wife followed her off the metro. As we got on the escalators, we watched the scene continue to unravel below. The pickpocketer kept trying to walk away from the couple, while they continued to yell about the attempted crime, saying "We're taking you to the police!" And, wouldn't you know? Luck seemed to be on their side this evening because as they yelled, an undercover cop came by and flashed his ID and badge and asked what was going on.
Who knows what happened next—we were already halfway up the escalators—but from that moment on, I have paid special attention and certainly tried to 'control my pockets.'