How little we think

I was thinking this morning about how the littlest thing can become a huge roadblock if we just ignore it.

A friend, LG, had the engine in his truck blow up and leave him stranded in the bush. He is a pensioner, living on a restricted income, so he does whatever he can to increase his paltry earnings. One of those things is to buy a truckload of potatoes and vegetables and then bag and resell them for some extra money. Unfortunately, that does not cover the cost of a new truck or even a new motor for an old one.

It was really hot that day. He was worried that his vegetables would become spoiled quickly, so he started to walk out. after a couple of hours walking, he suffered a heat stroke and fell into the ditch. That cooled him off enough to save his life.
Long story short, he made it to Hope that evening.

He stayed with a friend overnight, then purchased an alternator and battery for his old truck believing that would get it back on the road again. Then he hitched and walked back to his truck.

It turned out to be just a temporary fix, however, but at least this time he was on the main road, not away out in the bush. He hitched to a mechanic's place that he knew in Hope and had the fellow tow his truck in and have a look at the problem. Turns out the engine was beyond repair. The estimated cost of fixing the truck would be over $2500. He did not have that much!

He then went across to the local car dealership. There was an older truck similar to his own, the price was $2000. Better than repairing the old one. However, that was still too much money for him to pay. He then arranged for a test drive, using a dealer plate to cover him for insurance and proceeded to his bank to arrange a loan to pay for it.

He did not get the loan. Then the race was on! going from one debtor to another, he was trying to collect from everyone who owed him for potatoes or whatever else to collect enough for the truck. He didn't make it. So, he kept the truck overnight.
Meantime, the police were notified and he was now a fugitive without realizing it. It was 3 more days before he went back to the dealership to try again to purchase the truck. Imagine his surprise when he was arrested for theft and possession of stolen property.

Ignoring the fact that what you are doing could be conceived as wrong, does not make it right. He truly believed all he had to do was explain and he would be fine. Not quite that easy.

Brought me back to a time about 17 years ago when I told my son, Derik, that he would not go to prison for a crime he did not do as there would be no physical evidence to put him there. Boy was I wrong!

He was arrested, tried and sentenced to life in prison despite the fact it was admitted in court that there was no physical evidence to tie him to the scene. There were no eye witnesses, no hair was found, no fingerprints, nothing that could put him there. There were footprints, fibers, etc at the scene, but since they did not match Derik's they were mentioned briefly and ignored.

At the end of it all, one small thing like making a purchase in a store in a different city would have exonerated him, but he bought nothing, just shopped around.

So now, because he did not make a purchase, he spent 17 years in prison so far for a crime he did not commit because he had no proof that he was elsewhere. LG will get away with stealing a truck because he can claim senility, despite the fact he brought the truck back after using it on the dealer plate for nearly a week.

Where is the fairness?

http://canadianinjustice.com
http://coacheouise.com

Coach Elouise
604-794-3218
Skype coach_elouise
Email: lordelouise@gmail.com
rascal60@shaw.ca