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Read other letters about this article
we agree on winkler, a miscarriage of justice. however seeing
her i couldn't help thinking she was NUTS! (not a psychiatric term)
and not a danger to the community, but if i were to accept that i'd
have to accept the jealous rage of a crazed husband as nuts as
well. can't do that. we have to figure out something better to do
with these people.
i too agree that she was coached by a lawyer (no matter HOW crazy,
nobody wants to go to jail - not strictly true, some folks feel so
remorseful that they do. in such cases, where rehabilitation is
actually possible, you'd think mercy would be applied - but it's
the opposite. guilty as charged! life without parole!)
as for the shoes, who knows how they think? perhaps in saudi arabia
they have equally acceptable excuses.
yes, i didn't figure on falling. you can fall and get killed. that
is what? manslaughter? (yes, you're just as dead).
mean humor. i was referring to TV. embarrass contestants. freaky
people the audience feels superior to. that sort of thing. i wasn't
talking about jokes.
the last para - "The story about the two people in the park is
horrifying. Am I supposed to be sorry that the people who watched
someone die and didn't do a thing have difficulty getting over
it?". what i wanted to do here was to place a picture in peoples'
minds so they would not necessarily act that way if that occurs.
you *can* stop these things. it doesn't matter how big or strong
you are. i am 5'8 on a good day - and scrawny. but i was able to
stop domestic disputes before anyone (but me) got hurt. yes, i got
hit - and required stitches (didn't call the cops) but i didn't
fall on the pavement and hit my head. i think if i were a woman and
not drunk i would have gotten away without even that. just by
calming people down - and women are good at that. here's a couple
of instances where you don't have to act, just talk - but you can't
count on help. i told an elderly man on the bus to watch his pocket
(he was being pickpocketed). he came over and said, "it's ok, i
don't have much". meanwhile the pickpocket sized up the situation.
he came over, leaned over me and said "come out of the bus, i'm
going to slit your throat", of course, i didn't. but the people on
my side of the bus quietly went over to the other side. first the
old man, then the rest. the bus driver kept driving. later he was
cranky. guilty conscience? who knows? this went on seemingly
forever until the pickpocket got off. i "whew-ed", the whole bus
laughed. one young man said, "you shouldn't be afraid, if they talk
they aren't going to do anything". but of course, he waited till it
was safe to do that. if One Person had said "shut up and sit down"
that would have been the end of that - but you either have to be
very courageous or just act on instinct. you can't expect help.
well, you can *expect* it but you aren't necessarily going to get
it. if you are a woman? *maybe* that would help - in the Old West,
not in the here and now. the last case. i was in grand central
station at the morning rush hour. there must have been a thousand
on the platform. three tracks over a middle-aged black man climbed
down from the platform and lay down on the tracks. right where the
train would be coming. i talked loudly (it was three tracks over)
in my best police voice (my best intimidating voice), "That's no
place to go to sleep! Get Off the Tracks!" to my amazement he
sheepishly climbed back on the platform. within a minute (it was
rush hour) the train roared past. did any of the crowd react? Not
at All!. Now this might make me sound like a Great Hero. maybe i am
maybe i'm not, but it has other "collateral damage". i am
imperfectly socialized. i have a Big Mouth. i get banned from
threads (Glenn Greenwald's for one). maybe they go together - i
think they do. but you don't have to be like me. you can practice a
"motorcycle persona" in your imagination and if you ever have to
use it, you can dig up the guts to talk when no one else is. or at
least i think so. allie_, thanks for inadvertently reminding me of
the few good things i've done.
