Thursday, December 15, 2005
No more poker
“Have you got any weapons on you?” This is one of the questions I sometimes ask when I man the door at the shelter. I asked one guy the other day because I knew the answer was yes. He always carries a knife on him – this is the same guy who stabbed someone in the hand during an armed robbery (see entry of August 18).
When he left, I handed the knife back, and half-jokingly asked him to wipe my fingerprints off it. Half-jokingly, because I half-know what he does with it. Just as I half-suspected his involvement in the recent spate of armed robberies in the city.
Every time I read a report of one of these robberies, I wondered if my poker buddy was involved. This morning’s newspaper told how two guys held up a store, threatening to kill the owner and almost killing his fourteen-year-old son who chased after them. Guess who one of them was.
Seeing as this guy is being charged with ten other robberies, I suppose it was bound to happen eventually. And of course he deserves jail. He probably deserves to get the crap kicked out of him by half the shop owners in the area. But I still can’t help thinking it’s such a waste. This is an intelligent and articulate person who’s made all the wrong choices. He could have got so far if he’d just made the right ones. And now he’ll be in prison for the best part of a year.
Anyway, this is just one of the many dramas I see every day, and I’m seeing more and more of them now I’m working five mornings a week as the shelter’s receptionist. It’s a lot of things, but boring is definitely not one of them.
When he left, I handed the knife back, and half-jokingly asked him to wipe my fingerprints off it. Half-jokingly, because I half-know what he does with it. Just as I half-suspected his involvement in the recent spate of armed robberies in the city.
Every time I read a report of one of these robberies, I wondered if my poker buddy was involved. This morning’s newspaper told how two guys held up a store, threatening to kill the owner and almost killing his fourteen-year-old son who chased after them. Guess who one of them was.
Seeing as this guy is being charged with ten other robberies, I suppose it was bound to happen eventually. And of course he deserves jail. He probably deserves to get the crap kicked out of him by half the shop owners in the area. But I still can’t help thinking it’s such a waste. This is an intelligent and articulate person who’s made all the wrong choices. He could have got so far if he’d just made the right ones. And now he’ll be in prison for the best part of a year.
Anyway, this is just one of the many dramas I see every day, and I’m seeing more and more of them now I’m working five mornings a week as the shelter’s receptionist. It’s a lot of things, but boring is definitely not one of them.
