Because
while I believe in the concept of mass transit (and particularly like riding
the “el” trains, even when they become subways), I’ll be the first to admit the
mix of individuals of all sorts can create a volatile situation that is easily
triggered.
THE
IDEA THAT someone who is of a paranoid-enough nature to think they need that
pistol tucked into their waistband (or in a shoulder-holster, if they’re really
hard-core and have watched too many cop movies on the late show) in order to
feel safe might just as easily be the type who gets provoked into pulling it
out at the least little incident.
Just
this past weekend, a CTA bus driver wound up having to receive medical
treatment for burns to his face. What happened?!?
It
seems that a passenger got on the bus at the Jefferson Park transit center,
recognized the driver as one who passed him by earlier in the day, then
persisted with this feeling of being “wronged” by attacking the driver.
No,
the passenger was not armed with a pistol. But he did have a cup of coffee,
which he used to toss into the driver’s face!
FORTUNATELY,
THE DRIVER wasn’t actually driving at the time. So it wasn’t a moving vehicle
that could have harmed many other people.
But
it makes me wonder if this person who felt wronged could have been a serious
threat if they had somehow been permitted to have a firearm on their person.
Watching
old “All In The Family” reruns makes me realize that for all the nonsense
spewed by actor Carroll O’Connor’s “Archie Bunker” character, he wasn’t that
far off when talking about the odd mix of people he encountered while riding
the New York subway.
He’d
call them “creeps,” “weirdos,” “preverts” and other sorts of slurs. But it is
accurate in that it is a mix that people shouldn’t toy with if they don’t know
who they’re dealing with.
BECAUSE,
AS THE Chicago Tribune reported, this weekend there was a guy who was all upset
about having a bus drive right past him to the point where he felt the need to
seek revenge with a scalding cup of coffee.
It
didn’t even matter that the person wasn’t at a properly-marked bus stop – which
justified the driver’s actions in driving right on by. That was a person who
felt wronged, and used what he had on him in order to get back at the CTA.
Throwing
ammunition and a weapon capable of discharging it in a lethal manner into the mix
is only asking for trouble.
Fortunately,
the person in this incident was arrested at the scene. There will be some sort
of criminal charges against the individual. Although I’m sure some pundit will
try to twist this into one of those incidents in which government runs amok
over the rights of the individual.
THEY’LL
PROBABLY TRY to claim that the CTA and the police are wrong to seek punishment
against a coffee-cup wielding person – as though he were merely someone trying
to enjoy a beverage, but couldn’t because of the inept mass transit service.
Actually,
we ought to be thankful that all this incident had was a cup of coffee. Because
at least the facial burns suffered by the driver were easily treatable.
Throw
a pistol in to the mix, along with a self-righteous belief that someone is
somehow standing up for their rights, and the incident instantly becomes a
national mess.
Something
like the early Sunday stabbing of a man at the Red Line’s Belmont Avenue “el”
station
-30-
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