Thanks a lot Brain! You fucking failed me!
“Now, we must all fear evil men. But there is another kind of evil which we must fear most, and that is the indifference of good men.”
Boondock Saints
I hate my brain sometimes. It definitely gets into my way, in certain situations. My ability to process information quickly leaves very little time for quick reactions, again, in certain situations.
(certain situation)
Earlier, my wife and I were at a Verizon store getting the cell number for the work phone, that my employer just gave me, changed to my already existing number. We were sitting at the desk, answering the questions of the attendant, as anyone would do in this situation. After being asked a question needed to be answered by my boss, I get on my cell and called the office. Just as the line began to ring, I heard a huge commotion behind me. As I turned, I noticed two young men hurry towards the exit. One of the youngsters tripped and fell over a side table then quickly popped back up and both of them ran out of the store. During the 30 seconds, from the time I heard the commotion till the time they were out the door, A series of activity had taken place in my brain.
Section one
The Occurrence (What’s happening?)
Upon hearing the commotion and before I turned around, I had already figured out that the 2 Iphone X’s that had been on display and tethered to the display table behind us had been pulled off and that they were being stolen by people I had not noticed walk in the store. As I turned around to see the youngsters (who were upper teens) begin their descent towards the door, my brain began the next section.
Section Two
Intervention (Can I do something?)
1. Are they armed?
I saw their reaction after the phones were pulled off and noticed their possible age. Their hurry to get out the store made me believe that they were not armed.
2. Can I handle both of them if the situation called for me to intervene ?
Judging by their size, their age and after concluding that they were, more than likely, not armed, as well as,my strength, age and ability(The extreme cold is causing my joints to lock up and ache and I had already worked a full day outdoors) I found I had better than average odds at victory, would there be a need for physical intervention
3. Was my wife in danger
No ( see #2)
4. Is there an opportunity do something?
Maybe. The odds of catching them before they reach the door are good, especially after one of them tripped and fell to the ground. If they hit the door before I catch them, those odds are history..
Section 3
Necessity( Should I do something?)
Why? Apple is a multi-million dollar corporation. What do I care if they lose two phones? Between both of the phones, retail value is probably around 2k, which is almost nothing to a corporation like Apple. The store is insured for damaged or stolen phones, so it’s not like the store or the employees are going to take personal losses for these phones.
So I try to stop these two kids. There’s two of them and they WILL put up a fight.Even though the odds that I will win are good , I won’t leave the confrontation without some damage and damn it, I just got out of work, I haven’t eaten dinner yet and I’m tired.
I don’t manage to catch them but I stopped the phones from being taken. Apple gets to make some more money, The Store makes some more money and I get a pat in the back and go home to nurse my wounds.
I manage to stop the shoplifters. Again, I get a pat in the back and go home to nurse my wounds. They get arrested and get detained. Because they’re minors, they’ll go to a juvenile detention facility, where they will be bailed out by a parent or guardian who cares very little about the actions of their children (let’s face it, if the parents truly cared about these youngsters, they wouldn’t be going around stores and ripping off phones) or they don’t get bailed and wait in jail until their court date where there will more than likely be a plea and they’ll get probation and be let go, only to do it again a bit later.
Section 4
Why (Do I really care?)
After working in all the bad burrows of Chicago and seeing low life after low life doing low life shit ( theft, assault, drug dealing, gang banging, back talking, disrespecting elders, disrespecting authority) What does it matter if I do something? Society no longer gives a shit about things like this. It’s encouraged in the entertainment industry. The elders are enablers. The authority either have their hands tied by Social Justice Watch-dogs or they decided that they just don’t get paid enough to put their lives on the line for shit like this. These types of people have been given a pass for the shit they do from the people that SHOULD care. Why the hell should I do something?!
In the 30 seconds or so that this all took place, these are the things that crossed my mind. Ultimately, by the time I had made a decision, my window to do anything had already closed. The two youngster reached the door and exited the building. I was left with a feeling of guilt. Even though section Section 3 and 4 made the most sense to me, I was left feeling shallow and ashamed, especially with the acknowledgment of Section 2. The answer to the questions of Should I Do something and Do I really care, were the same. Yes. I should have done something and Yes, I do really care. This answer only came to me in the 2 seconds before these youngsters exited the building and it continues to haunt me now. It also leads to the the Last Section
Section 5
Reflection
(Why should I have done something? Why Do I care?)
I should have done something because I had the ability to. I should have done something because it was the right thing to do. I should have done something because my wife was there. I should have done something because no one else did. I should have done something because it could have saved someone else life in the future. I should have done something because it could have saved one of those youngsters future. I should have done something because society should not dictate my actions, my morals or my ethics.
Yes, I care. I care because, even though things have fallen on a dark path in society, I hold myself to better standards. I care because I choose to mentor young men to lead good, respectful and meaningful lives. I care because I preach about the good in all people but their unwillingness to change what they see wrong in the world. I care because I teach my two sons to be better than the bad they see and to act upon injustices they have the ability to.
I usually speak upon my use of logic in the decisions I make, however, I have no excuse for siding with it in this case, which is why I am left feeling the way I do. I often hear the expression that my brain sometimes gets in the way of my heart. I always reply like a smart-ass saying that the brain should make the decisions, and the heart should just keep the brain working, and even though I know that this is not a blanket perception, I seem to side against doing what I feel is the right thing to do, despite the Logic in doing it, more than I would like. I hope that in future, I can better determine which situations requires me to react upon my feelings first and wait till later for my brain to process, and which ones to put logic over feeling. Until then, Thanks a lot Brain! You fucking failed me!
You must capture and keep the heart of the original and supremely able man before his brain can do its best.
Andrew Carnegie
Don't be afraid.... That ringing you hear in your ears is just a bit of ...
BRAYN NOISE