Reading into a Story

Some times I like to read the news as if it were a fairy tale. Often it makes for a better read. This morning I saw this story in my hometown paper, The Miami Herald....

Contrite Crackhead Mugger Turns Himself In

By Tim Chapman

He's a violent crackhead who punches women and steals cars. But at least he's contrite.

Armando Pena, 44, mugged Gladys Gonzalez early Tuesday morning as she was arriving for work, punched her in the face, slammed her to the ground, snatched her white Ford Taurus and roared off.

And then he came back 12 minutes later, professing regret for his actions.

To the disbelief of Miami cops and paramedics, Pena parked the car, stepped out, and said, ``I did it. I did it.''

They slapped him in handcuffs.

Asked why he punched the woman and shoved her to the pavement, Pena replied, ``drugs, drugs.''He admitted smoking crack cocaine minutes before the attack at 1912 SW 17th Ave.

The happy ending might not have happened if not for quick-acting Omar Grass, a Miami officer who had just finished his midnight shift and was driving home in his police cruiser.

Gonzalez, 60, had arrived at the address, the La Arboleda apartment complex, and had stepped out of her car to open a gate to a parking area. She cares for an elderly woman at the complex. That's when she was mugged.

Grass, 41, was headed home when he saw the white Taurus speed off and Gonzalez sprawled on the ground. He thought it was a hit-and-run.

Rather than pursue the car, Grass went to assist the woman.

''That kind of thing stays with you,'' he said. But he radioed in a description of the car and the mugger.

Dispatchers sent other officers to the area to hunt down the fugitive. Miami Fire Rescue also responded. Gonzalez was bleeding from the face and hurt her hand when she went down.

''When you see that, you think of your own mother,'' said Officer Jairo Lozano, a 27-year Miami police veteran.

A group of officers and paramedics were tending to Gonzalez, preparing her for the trip to Jackson Memorial Hospital, when the contrite mugger reappeared.

Lozano was the one who cuffed him.

''He was coherent,'' Lozano said. ``He knew what he did.''

Asked why he came back, the handcuffed Pena said: ``I felt bad.''

There are several things are amazing about the story. The enormous level of compassion and service being done by all three parties is apparent.

1. the victimized woman, Gladys Gonzalez, who arrived in the morning to help out an elderly lady

2. the police officer, Omar Grass, finishing a midnight shift who, instead of going after the fast chase of getting the 'bad guy,' stops to help out the fallen woman.

3. even the drug addict, Armando Pena who turned himself in when he could've gotten away with a vehicle worth several thousand dollars.

4. the action: Gladys was there to take care of the woman, the cops came in to take care of her, and the criminal came back and took care of the cops job. The circle of action and reaction was completed within the three main people.

5. The lead cop saying that he thought 'what if that was my mother?'

Now I re-read the story and then see how many different links I can make in it. With that in mind, there is also some very funny names used in the piece. Coincidental or not, the different words in the story are unusual.

1. The location: La Arboleda. That translates to 'the woods.'
2. the car: White Ford Taurus. Taurus is a mythological figure. White Cow or a male cow, which is a bull.
3. Gladys Gonzalez, the woman was punched and hurt her hand, is similar to flower but also means 'hurt' or 'injured' in the feminine form.
a. There is a popular cartoon called Gladys, whose titular character is a...cow.
b. Gonzalez comes from latin variation on gund, which means war.
c. So her name loosely translated means 'daughter of hurtful war'
4. Armando Pena was the criminal's name. Armando means soldier in Italian.
a. Pena means sorrow.
b. So Armando Pena name means 'sorrowful soldier.'
5. Omar Grass, the cop's name.
a. Omar means 'first born son' and also 'long living and thriving'
b. Grass means...well grass
c. So the cops name means 'long-living and thriving grass' or 'son of the grass.'
6. The lead officer who sums up the story is named Jairo Lozano.
a. Jairo means voice of God
b. Lozano means 'God helps'
c. Jairo Lozano together means 'the helping voice of God."

Reconstituting the story as a fable using these names it could read as follows...

One morning the 'Daughter of the Hurtful War' went to 'the woods' to take care of an elderly woman. She rode on her White Bull. In the woods she came across a 'sorrowful soldier' of the war who struck her down and rode off with her White Bull. As she lay on the ground, the 'long-living grass' picked her up. The grass tended to her and treated her wounds and called upon others who took care of the 'daughter of the hurtful war.' After a few minutes of riding around, the 'Sorrowful Soldier' felt guilty. He returned to woods with the White Bull and submitted himself to punishment, and the Helping Voice of God spoke to them and said 'when you see this, think of your own mother.'

It is a whole lot more interesting to read the news looking for clues and hints at mythology. It can even give a simple story about a remorseful criminal more color, life, and meaning.

A little pride

Today Manhattan was filled with pride. Gay pride. All over downtown Manhattan women in love with women and men in love with men walked the streets holding hands and waiving rainbow flags. Of course, not everybody shared in the pride. A few of my friends and I were walking down St. Marks street when one of the people in our group was called a fag. I turned around to say and do nasty things with my fingers and mouth- all actions were completely warranted. The girl, should I say woman, who called my acquaintance the epithet, seemed to be very young, white, and had green hair. "Really?" I thought to myself, "a very young lady in the middle of a very alternative street in Manhattan (FULL OF GOTHS AND PUNKS) calling somebody a fag?"

Things just haven't changed enough.

Aren't young people more enlightened by now? Was that girl angry at the world and the only way she knew how to show her discontent was to call somebody an offensive name? Fuck it. If this happens in Manhattan, what the hell can we expect from places in the Midwest? Now more than ever we need to show people that being a bigot is never acceptable. Now more than ever we need allies, people who are willing to stand up for what's right. No excuses. Show no fucking fear. Do not tolerate this kind of behavior from anyone even if it isn't you who the bigot(s) is insulting.

I know this is cheesy... to some, but it's relevant. Read it. You need it. I need it to remind myself that if I don't take action things could be worse. That if I don't speak up for somebody who's down then who will speak up for me when I'm down? Who will speak up/stand up for my loved ones when they need it most?

In Germany they first came for the Communists
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist.
Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew.
Then they came for the trade unionists
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Catholics
and I didn't speak up because I was a Protestant.
Then they came for me
and by that time no one was left to speak up.

--The Reverend Martin Niemöller, a pastor in the German Confessing Church who spent seven years in a concentration camp.

Obama's VP

Bold Move:
I think Obama should get someone who used to be an undocumented alien for his VP candidate. It would be the surest way of showing that 1) the American dream is possible 2) millions are people are becoming tax-paying hard working citizens 3) people break the law because of the necessity of trying to feed a family 4) and to completely re-shift the conversation about immigration that flares up in the Midwest and the South.

Find some hard-working formerly undocumented alien who is now a millionaire American citizen with beautiful wife and kids; or someone who is now a successful, resourceful politician from California. Even better, find someone from Arizona and take the argument straight to McCain in his home turf.

Let's face it: Obama ain't going to win the rabid anti-immigration crowd in some areas of the country because many of these people are angry not because of immigrants but because of the race of the people coming in to the country. These people are highly unlikely to vote for him any way. It would also force Central American/Mexican/South American and Caribbean immigrants who are the flooding the country to take a side. They are the future. Better to have them break hard to the left for the Dems.

Take the argument straight to the Republicans. Make them regret every bringing it up as a campaign ploy in 2006.

Undocumented 4 VP.

Immigration Insanity

The insanity of the immigration debate can be put in three simple points.

1. We got jobs
2. They want jobs.
3. All of ancestors were immigrants just like them.

First off, when conservatives say immigrants they really mean Mexicans. America has too many jobs. Jobs that go unfilled. Jobs that need to be done for the economy to function. Cooking, cleaning, agriculture, timber, mining, factory, meat and poultry all depend on immigrants, both registered and un-registered. To punish factories for trying to survive and fill vacant positions is to punish the businesses for wanting to survive. They should be focused on that, not quizzing people on who the president is.

These immigrants want to work these jobs. They don't come here to commit crimes, use medical services. Last year I spent several months in the Southwest. I saw poor people of all shapes and sizes begging, except for one group: Mexicans. There were no Mexicans begging. They were too busy laying down the asphalt for the expansion of Albuquerque into the desert. They were too busy building the thousands of new houses for the exploding population. They were too busy working in the nursing homes, the fields, the plants, and doing the blue collar jobs that America is famous for having.

One family came to America with no money. The father lived on the street and he was homeless for quite some time. He ate, he found a job, he worked, he went to school. Then he brought over his wife. She ate, found a job, went to school and continued working. Then they brought over their kids. They ate, went to school, and are working. Now they live in a big house with several cars and three kids. They aren't rich but they are very well off and they did this in about 4-5 years. Incredible! They pay taxes, they work mid-range middle class jobs, they learned English. This was the story of many, MANY American citizens in the southwest who crossed the border without permission. They are working, eating, paying taxes, buying houses. Why in the world is this a bad thing?

Finally how many times was that phrase 'we are a nation of immigrants' shoved down my throat in civics class? It is completely illogical to try to 'preserve Americanness' when the very nature of Americanness is fluid, colorful, and continuously moving. It is trying to freeze something whose very nature is that of change. The only thing that's going to keep America around in the 21st century isn't old White people in Iowa. It's the browning populations in the southwest, on the West Coast and on the East. These are the people who are going to keep America and create a new concept of 'Americanness.'

Otherwise we will become a very large version of Switzerland. A nation of boring, old white people where nothing gets done or made. Where people pass through on their way to the party. We'll become the new Canada!