Spring Break
Do-gooders be damned in today's society
Alex McElroy
Issue date: 4/17/09 Section: Forum
After 20 years on this planet, I felt as though its social codes were coming into focus. That was until I heard the story of Talon Curtis, a Los Angeles woman who found a cashier's check worth more than $350,000. Rather than do the logical thing - deposit the check into what one must assume in this economy is a paltry bank account - she set out to find the rightful owner. Apparently Ms. Curtis skipped a crucial developmental stage in her childhood: the phase where one is taught the finder's role as keeper.
Surely this woman can't be a citizen, because here in America we have a national dream: get rich despite the ramifications it may have on others. But Talon had other intentions; she chose to ignore her own name's desperate plea for sharp action all so the former owner of the check would know "there are honest people left in this world."
I hope you enjoy your nights sitting in darkness, because honesty doesn't pay the electric bill.
Though this story damaged my perspective of humanity, it did not shatter it. For only two days after reading of Ms. Curtis, the mankind I knew reappeared.
As Talon fulfilled her moral quest, a more logical incident was occurring in the suburbs of Oakland: recently-furnished houses that were to be shown by local real estate agents were broken into and robbed of their recent acquisitions. Now that's the American way!
D.J. Grubb, president of a real estate company in Oakland, acknowledged the good taste of the thief, claiming them "somebody who knows mauve is out."
Not only do these thieves have the intellect to locate recently-furnished houses (without occupants!), but they have style. How can we not fall for these lovable looters?
In such a dire economy, we need ways to save a few bucks here and there. TV on the fritz? That stain on the arm of your couch refuses to come out? Just locate your nearest open house - at night, though, since getting caught is un-American.
Crimes like Talon's aren't necessarily considered harmful; many believe that people like her keep our world from crumbling before us. But the sole presence of these honest folk keeps our country, our planet, from creating a universal identity.
Surely this woman can't be a citizen, because here in America we have a national dream: get rich despite the ramifications it may have on others. But Talon had other intentions; she chose to ignore her own name's desperate plea for sharp action all so the former owner of the check would know "there are honest people left in this world."
I hope you enjoy your nights sitting in darkness, because honesty doesn't pay the electric bill.
Though this story damaged my perspective of humanity, it did not shatter it. For only two days after reading of Ms. Curtis, the mankind I knew reappeared.
As Talon fulfilled her moral quest, a more logical incident was occurring in the suburbs of Oakland: recently-furnished houses that were to be shown by local real estate agents were broken into and robbed of their recent acquisitions. Now that's the American way!
D.J. Grubb, president of a real estate company in Oakland, acknowledged the good taste of the thief, claiming them "somebody who knows mauve is out."
Not only do these thieves have the intellect to locate recently-furnished houses (without occupants!), but they have style. How can we not fall for these lovable looters?
In such a dire economy, we need ways to save a few bucks here and there. TV on the fritz? That stain on the arm of your couch refuses to come out? Just locate your nearest open house - at night, though, since getting caught is un-American.
Crimes like Talon's aren't necessarily considered harmful; many believe that people like her keep our world from crumbling before us. But the sole presence of these honest folk keeps our country, our planet, from creating a universal identity.
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