大寶是頭腦簡單的理工女。也不知她咋選的，就選了＂多倫多太陽報＂的專欄評論員Brian Lilly。交英語作業的日子臨近了，大寶卻被如火如荼的物理競賽占據了身心。我看娃挑夜燈於心不忍，問她媽媽能做些什麽。大寶讓我先讀讀Brian Lilly，再替她大腦風暴一下這些日子有哪些熱點新聞值得爭議，而且能和Lilly的文風對應得上。＂媽媽，我太忙了，忙到沒有時間關注新聞。你隻要幫我確定一個題目就行了，文章我自己來寫。＂大寶把我轟出她的房間。
接旨後的我就開始穀歌Lilly了。大寶說，liberal的英語老師非常憎恨Brian Lilly。我擔心地問，那你選與老師三觀相背的人，老師會不會壓低你的分數。大寶說，應該不會。隻要模仿得真切，哪怕文章內容讓老師氣得跳腳，她也會公平地給出好分。我對此將信將疑。對人性的深穀，我們終其一生，都未必探得到底，況且娃還隻是娃呢！
我雖然是加國公民，但是平日裏關注的，多是美國的政治。我熟悉的媒體評論人，比如Candace Owens, Megyn Kelly等，也都是美國人。我最喜歡的講說者，是Vivek Ramaswamy，他真是陽春白雪一般。因為Vivek， 我對印度文化產生了好奇。
對自己的國家，我反倒是漫不經心的：誰是Brian Lilly，完全孤陋寡聞哈。趕緊補課。讀了幾篇，好像沒被震住粉住。也難怪，咱國家那點事兒，太缺乏drama了。娃時間緊，既然Lilly是保守派評論員，咱就瞎抓兩則新聞，根據咱正常人的常識性思維，給娃湊一篇吧。Common Sense, 現如今就是反動的意思吧？艾瑪，一不小心，給整了一篇反動文章。
寫好了大綱，給娃過目。結果娃氣憤：＂你沒好好去讀，這根本不是Lilly的口氣和寫法！＂我辯解：＂怎麽不是啊，他不就是多用這樣淡淡的譏諷嘛？＂娃沒空再理睬我。後來她是怎麽完成作業的，我完全不知情了。但是學期結束時大寶告訴我，她的文章被留校當作範文了。我猜，是不是大寶的文章比我的更能激起自由派英語老師的憤怒。而且，大寶賭對了，至少，這個老師是公平的。
昨天整理舊文檔，偶然發現了自己一年多前匆草的反動文章。讀著竟然失笑。這篇被大寶羞辱後就再也無緣見天日的草稿，畢竟也是可憐天下父母心的見證啊！
南邊的大選正值膠著。貼篇千瘡百孔的反動文，權當作應景吧。
How to Treat a Thief like a Human Being
A week ago, a shoplifter was caught at a downtown Winners Store. The scene where three law enforcement officers were trying to refrain the thief got videotaped by a passerby. Seeing three men holding the arm of the seized, pushing him against the wall, the videotape producer claimed: “I was really shook [shaken] up having witnessed this violence in broad daylight.” “Even if someone is stealing, they are still a human being and they deserve to be treated like a human being. Objects can be replaced,” she said.
Three days after the Winners “Violence” has been “condemned” on social media, another incident happened in an upper town jewelry store, also videotaped. Same as previous story, this is a show played in a brazen daylight. But the opposite part is, this time, the group of three are robbers. One of them smashed the store window with a snow shovel while his partner filled a backpack with an unknown quantity of valuables. Three of them then jumped into a Tesla sedan and drove away. Among all stunned onlookers, there was only ONE lady who had tried to stop the robbery with a mop. Of course, a mop didn't work.
There is an increasing trend in recent years that the conduct of police and other law enforcement personnel are always scrutinized and criticized by media and public, while the law breakers tend to receive sympathies and forgiveness. Like above two stories, I didn't hear much denouncement on the jewelry store robbery, even this was way more violent. But quite a controversy easily arose regard to Winners Loss Prevention Officers’behavior, questioning if they have used excess forces. People seem to gain certain moral superiority by standing on the side of so called “Disadvantaged Group”. It is fashionable to classify criminals into that group.
Maybe our whole society got brainwashed by Victor Hugo's Les Misérables. We believe today's thieves and robbers are still as sorrowful as Jean Valjean, took a piece of bread and ran, hoping to feed the sick and dying ones at home. Well, look at what captured by our modern generation of Robin Hood these days: That Winners shoplifter maybe a bit homely and plain-tasted, in fact more claws and paws are reaching towards Louis Vuitton bags, Apple phones, Bvlgari jewelry and many more. I am not good at listing those luxury brand names, but believe me, those hunters are. Even gold bullion in shipping went missing right at our Pearson Airport. None of these are necessities to save lives in hunger and poverty. So why are we so guilty at catching and punishing thieves?
“Objects can be replaced……” That is true. But who is going to pay the price for the replacement? According to Target, inventory loss due to shoplifting and organized robbery totaled about $763 million last fiscal year. The situation is still worsening, and this year their anticipated loss would surpass $1 billion. Other big-name retailers like Walmart, Home Depot, Best Buys have spoken the similar problem. The retailers must stay profitable for the sake of rich share holders; therefore, the loss will be spread and carried by all other lawful customers. Among them, the ordinary working class are suffering the most by having to pay higher prices for the goods needed for their living.
Should we treat thieves more humanly? What is the appropriate manner to deal with them? In Saudi Arabia, thieves may have their hands cut if caught. Of course, we don't want to trade that cruelty for a safe heaven (Saudi Arabia's crime rate is ridiculously low indeed). On the other hand, the lucky Californian retail thieves and robbers are released intact from the police station within the same day they arrive. My friend in San Francisco call California “sucks”. Do we have only two extreme choices: Saudi style or Californian style? By questioning this, I come to believe the behaviour of the law enforcement staffs of downtown Toronto Winners store are totally acceptable: Their style is perfectly in between two extremes, in which reasonable physical force was used to make sure the situation caused no danger to all. Thank God we have evolved from Medieval Saudi Arabia, but not degenerated to sinful California.
In the end, I want to applaud to the lady holding the mop to confront the robbers at the jewelry store. Totally unprepared at that time, instinct and courage were all she had to defend herself. She was fortunate enough to face the gangsters who only had a snow shovel. What if they had guns! She must had wished to death if her private small store can afford to hire a Loss Prevention Team as those big retails like Winners.
So please, think a bit before you rush to condemn the law enforcement officers. Majority of them are no different from us, they are sons/daughters, husbands/wives, fathers/mothers, except that they put their lives on the line for us every single day. They had their loved ones waiting for their safe return from work and heartbroken if they fail. I am sure they also would rather greet people with handshakes, with sweet hellos, with hugs, and with pats on backs and shoulders. A lot of times unfortunately, they must shout, strangle, toss handcuffs, or even pull the trigger.
We all wish to live in an ideal Beautiful New World where all are treated as human beings. We are just not there yet.
