After several days of fast and furious writing, I feel like I am hitting a little bit of a slump hence no post yesterday. As usual there were plenty of ideas swirling around in my head but for some reason despite sitting at the computer they never made it out of my head. In the past I may have felt one way or the other about that but part of my journey now is about being present, being intentional and listening to what my body and mind says. Ultimately if it says don’t write I am cool with that, often it is in the quiet still moments when so much happens though to an outsider it appears nothing is happening or worse yet laziness has struck. Sometimes a good lazy moment is what we all need.
However this morning while going through my usual morning check in with the world I read a story that just made me go what the fuck. It actually starts the night before last; I was on Facebook and noticed that an old pal from high school had mentioned that her iPhone was stolen and if anyone got any calls to let het know as it was serious. I admit I didn’t think much of it but it turns out when she said it was serious she meant it.
If any of you are in Chicago, you almost certainly have heard this story; I am linking to it but for those who don’t want to read it, long story short. My old pal’s iPhone was stolen while she was on the train platform and the robber in getting away and running down the stairs from the station knocked over folks and one woman the robber knocked over died, looks like a hemorrhage from injuries sustained in the fall. Now from all accounts the dead woman had a heart of gold, always trying to help folks. My old pal from high school is a decent human last I heard, runs a business and is a Mom, just living life. The robber….I don’t know what the fuck to say.
In fact as I was trying to learn more about this story, I discovered that in Chicago like many large cities there has been a spate of smartphone robberies. One guy interviewed on the Chicago news talked about how he was held up at gunpoint for his iPhone. I have to be honest I just had to sit and marinate on that. So as a society we have devolved to the point that we rob, hurt and kill people for phones? If it wasn’t so tragic in many ways that would almost be comical to me since I recall a time when there were no smartphones. I have been known to rail about how much technology takes from us when we allow ourselves to get so wrapped up in it that we forget to disconnect and connect with the actual people in our lives. But crimes for technology really just blow me away and I think maybe we are losing a lot more than just precious minutes spent with loved ones. Oh there have always been bad people but the level of bad that we see now at times is just too much to bear and I truly understand why some folks I know periodically disconnect from it all. Sigh…. Prayers and blessings to all impacted by this senseless tragedy. For everyone else be mindful when out and about; as one commenter said on the news in Chicago you really do have to be mindful of where you are and when you pull out your gadgets.
In other less sad news, you may have noticed on the sidebar there is a chip in, well the spring fundraiser here at BGIM is underway, and right now it looks like a new more powerful and professional blog could run anywhere from a $1000 and up. Not sure what direction I will take but if you read this blog and you feel it adds something valuable to your life even for 5 minutes consider contributing. If you can’t contribute then just add your good thoughts for some more writing gigs that pay to come my way, good thoughts are very much appreciated.
I remember when kids were getting killed for Jordans and Starter jackets in Detroit. Same phenomenon, unfortunatley.
Danielle, you crack me up but yes for the most part and I have plenty of friends in Maine w/iPhones, iPads, etc…no one has started robbing folks for em. I mean in Portland everyone is walking around on em but no one has crossed that line and I hope it never happens.
Frankly if you can’t use it on the train, etc what is the point in having it? But yeah let this heating oil keep going up and oil men might start getting shanked. Granted some of the most delicious looking men in Maine I have seen have been oil delivery men so I might just try to jump their bones if I ever part ways with the old man. 🙂
People are a trifling and I think evil. Some years ago this 14 yr old got killed for him ipod in NY and then they started telling everyone to be careful of what kinda headphones you wore because identified what type of device you had. WTF!
Yet another reason why I live in Maine. We may have drunk drivers but we not yet crossed the line of killing people for electrical equipment. There may come a time where we might shank a person for some heating oil…but that might be a little understandable. Just a smidgen.
Wow. That’s a terrible story. I must say that I’m not surprised people are stealing smart phones. They’re super expensive.