It’s been a full week, fellow sharers. I apprehended a criminal. Quit laughing, I’m serious. Okay, so all I really did was alert my manager to some suspicious activity, but that led directly to the arrest of an actual felon. Handcuffs and all. Sounds cool and kinda is, I suppose. I got commendations and pats on the back and the like. Probably get an extra star on my next evaluation too. The boss was especially pleased and even high-fived me in front of other people. I was quite full of myself and my impeccable instincts until I heard the whole story. I can’t go into specifics, but I was told that when confronted, the man broke down in tears, confessing that he was on probation for previous minor criminal activity and this arrest would mean a more permanent incarceration. The big house. The hoosegow. The chain gang. He kept saying that he would never see his kids again and his life was over. They said it was pretty awful to hear. Hmmm...I feel a big ole case of guilt and compassion coming on here. Ick.
Now I know what you’re thinking, my practical-minded fellow sharers. The dude did commit the crime all on his own and he made the choices that put him in this situation. Nobody is responsible for those actions but the man himself. I completely agree and I believe he should reap that which he has sown. Here’s my problem with that though. Without giving away the actual incident, his crime was hardly worth actual prison time, trust me. He’s hardly a real danger to society. At least I don’t think he has been in the past. My other problem with this is that my actions in themselves did result in these consequences. If he were a child-molester, a drug dealer, an car-bombing terrorist, I would be thrilled with my heroics and insist on being given a cape and my own logo. But man, I’m just not sure it warrants his punishment or my praise.
Okay, so enough of that. I did the right thing according to the information I had and certainly from a legal standpoint. The point is that all our actions can have consequences far beyond the immediate. All I did was report upwards and in turn I might have drastically and eternally altered the lives of several people. (That's a little heavy-handed and I’m giving myself too much credit here, so let me rephrase and take some of the God-complex out of that last statement.) Ahem.
The thing is, fellow sharers, we must always be aware and conscious of how we move in the world. We affect everything around us in innumerable and often unseen ways with every breath. Just like the butterfly’s wings that spawn hurricanes hemispheres away, it’s all in the ripples. Watch your ripples, fellow sharers.
On a completely unrelated note, I've updated the poll in honor of Revenge of the Sith week. Use the force and cast your vote.
Joke of the day:
Q: How do you get a sweet little 80 year old woman to say the F-word?
A: Yell BINGO
