Apples

I stand in the produce section and hold two apples in my hands. The one on the left has a bruise; a small dent from the wire basket I took it from, it’s lost its luster and is a dull green. The apple in my right is green, fresh from the produce isle, with the stem still attached and a sheen of dew on it that catches the light just so. Which apple is better? Which apple would you rather eat? I purchase both apples and bring them home. I place them on the countertop and reach for a sharp knife, cutting both in half. The apple on the left has a good core, has retained texture and the faults seem to be only skin deep. The apple on the right is rotten in the core due to a weevil, to the point that the rot has extended well into the apple itself. The apple on the left was the better choice. Not fair, I hear you complain? No, probably not and I admit that. In most cases, choosing the apple on the right will be the correct choice as cutting an apple to look inside is not a pragmatic way of choosing our fruit, especially in the store. It does, however, prove that you cannot always judge the integrity of something based solely on the way it looks. Yet this is exactly what we do when we prejudge and label others, especially the “criminal”.

We create in our minds a definition of what a criminal is and then attach the label “criminal” to this definition. If I were to ask you what you saw when you read the word “criminal” in your mind’s eye would you see a smiling, well dressed man, with a neat hair cut, an expensive watch and well polished dress shoes or would you see an individual of a certain ethnicity, with a certain dress code, hair cut, tattoos, and a disdainful demeanor? Be honest. Be brutally honest if only with yourself. For the majority the latter is the definition with the label.

The media has a role to play in this as criminals are often portrayed in TV and movies by their ethnicity, by physical features such as close cropped hair or tattoos, dress code or a certain look. They are identified as being in a certain place at a certain time, for example in back alleys, ghettos, in gangs, only out at night, etc. This is done so as to enable them to quickly convey to you a character type but it does not portray the real life. Unfortunately with the pervasiveness of the media and the need for shortcuts in our ever increasingly busy lives we accept the caricature as fact and by doing so leave ourselves wide open to attack from the reality that is a criminal.

                Criminals should not defined by their activities.  Real criminals have flawed characters but fundamentally they are very, very human. They look, act, in the main feel and behave just like you and I.  Real criminals’ have families and friends with whom they laugh, cry and share their fears. They may have jobs (but this is unlikely for career criminals), give back to the community, care for animals, etc. What marks them as different is how they function internally.

The difference is how they see the world. They see it very much in terms of “I”. They may see someone with something they want, be it a nice car, clothes, phone, ipod, money, etc and think “I deserve that” and because of poor impulse control and laziness they do not want to work for it so they “take” it instead with the justification that they deserve it more than you, you got the breaks, they did not. How they feel is very much centered on themselves.

The criminal holding a knife to a young woman’s throat as he robs her may think “Why is she crying? I’m not gonna hurt her. She is really starting to piss me off. If she doesn’t listen to me and stop I’m gonna cut her throat, man why won’t she just listen”.

The guy kicking another man in the head feels justified in doing so as the victim had offended his “honor” and therefore made him feel bad, small, disrespected Therefore, the guy on the ground deserves to be kicked to death.  “That”, he thinks “will teach him”.

These examples are extreme to drive home a point.  A criminal does not “look” a certain way, nor does he hang out in a certain place at a certain time. He engages in a multiple criminal activities (he doesn’t just rape, he lies, will steal, etc). But he still looks, act and talks just like you and me. He sits beside you on the plane, walks the sidewalk by your side, gets his movies in the same store, and brings his kids to the same church. The differences are inside, not visible to the naked eye, the difference is he will act on his desires without thought or regard for you or me.

Now realize that if I saw a large shaven headed thug, with a tattoo of a spider web on his neck, I would certainly give him a wide berth and be very wary of him as he passed me by. But I would also view with a similar suspicion a well dressed, clean shaven man as he approached me. He is a stranger, I do not know what is in inside as such must treat him for what he is, a stranger.

In order to protect yourself and your loved ones you must treat all strangers as just that, strange. You do not know them and therefore they do not warrant your trust. You should both physically and mentally keep them at a safe distance.  You can be civil but also be cautious. Err on the side of rude if you must to keep yourself at a safe distance.

With all the decisions you have to make on a daily basis buying an apple based on how it looks is a very low risk proposition. You can always take a bite of an apple and if it is bad spit it out with no more than a sour aftertaste in your mouth. A quick swig of water and it’s forgotten. Spitting out teeth and blood because you failed to recognize that any stranger, no matter how he looks, can be a criminal who intends to harm you will take a lot longer to get over. It’s sad but it is also reality.

Stay Safe. Stay Alert.

P