The social fabric of our country is fraying. No newsflash there. This can be seen dramatically in various headline stories...but also in less dramatic ways involving the ordinary experiences of everyday life.
In the space of 24 hours, Joe witnessed three such incidents: an episode of shoving, yelling, and cursing on the subway, which fortunately never progressed to criminal violence; an altercation in a store where a customer loudly cursed out a clerk for supposedly allowing a person to cut in the check-out line; and a scene of apparent domestic violence in a Burger King parking lot.
The latter took place when he stopped for a bite to eat in Lancaster during his drive home. He parked near a car with a man sitting in the front and a woman in the back, heard them screaming at one another. The man proceeded to get into the backseat where he began to hit the woman. Joe walked over and interrupted the fight to ask if anyone needed help. The woman gave no answer. The guy said "she doesn't need help; she needs rehab." He then got in the front seat and drove away. Joe was able to get the license plate and called the police to report what he'd seen. Police took the information, the license plate, and said they'd be back in touch with Joe. They never called him back.
Meanwhile, unrelated to the above, yesterday in the Emergency Room of the hospital where one of my daughters works as a nurse, a man walked in with a gun threatening to shoot himself. The hospital declared a general emergency, police were summoned, but disaster was averted when the man was talked into surrendering his weapon before killing himself or anyone else. My God. There is madness in the air of Brave New Amerika.
In the space of 24 hours, Joe witnessed three such incidents: an episode of shoving, yelling, and cursing on the subway, which fortunately never progressed to criminal violence; an altercation in a store where a customer loudly cursed out a clerk for supposedly allowing a person to cut in the check-out line; and a scene of apparent domestic violence in a Burger King parking lot.
The latter took place when he stopped for a bite to eat in Lancaster during his drive home. He parked near a car with a man sitting in the front and a woman in the back, heard them screaming at one another. The man proceeded to get into the backseat where he began to hit the woman. Joe walked over and interrupted the fight to ask if anyone needed help. The woman gave no answer. The guy said "she doesn't need help; she needs rehab." He then got in the front seat and drove away. Joe was able to get the license plate and called the police to report what he'd seen. Police took the information, the license plate, and said they'd be back in touch with Joe. They never called him back.
Meanwhile, unrelated to the above, yesterday in the Emergency Room of the hospital where one of my daughters works as a nurse, a man walked in with a gun threatening to shoot himself. The hospital declared a general emergency, police were summoned, but disaster was averted when the man was talked into surrendering his weapon before killing himself or anyone else. My God. There is madness in the air of Brave New Amerika.
