Personal Entry - 3

So I don't know if I've made this clear to all of you, but my overall view of the human race is that we suck. We pretty much ruin everything we touch. I mean, throw 50 people into a place where there is goodness and beauty, and if one person doesn't ruin it all another person will. Pretty much because of selfishness, nearsightedness, and pure stupidity.

But every once in a while, I realize that along with all that suckiness, we have the potential to be really good. And that realization usually comes as a result of seeing someone, somewhere, doing something that is purely good.

So yesterday, it was pouring rain as I was driving home from work. I was taking the back streets, and I saw this woman sitting in the road. (This was 9th East, so a very busy road.) She was by the corner of an intersection, but definitely IN the road. She had this fierce, protective look to her, and was not moving even though cars were coming really close to her. It was kind of an usual sight, so I watched her trying to figure out what was going on. I eventually realized she was sitting by an open storm drain which was flooding with water.

On the sidewalk near her were three big mechanic guys. They had clearly come over from the car repair shop on the corner. They were fussing over a cardboard box.

As I watched, one of the guys pointed over to the grass--where there was a duck. Not just a duck, but a panicking, quacking female duck.

I said to my car, "Are there DUCKLINGS in that box?"

And right as I said it, one of the guys reached into the box and lifted out a little yellow fuzzy duckling, which started peeping for all he was worth. He rushed to his mother, who was rushing toward him.

I have to say, seeing those people so concerned for those little ducklings made me remember how good we all can be. I wanted to write this as a salute to those people, and the kind of people who will stop what they are doing to protect baby ducks in the middle of a downpour. Good job.

I work with adolescent kids every day, some of whom are emotionally unstable, mentally disabled, uncontrolled train wrecks. But no child I have ever worked with seemed to be completely and utterly evil. I can see motive behind most of their bad behavior--it's the first step in refusing to be manipulated. In so doing, I can assess the situation to a point where I am almost always calm, in control, and even compassionate. I don't have huge discipline problems--I learned all my lessons last year, during my first year of teaching. Sure, sometimes I have to mentally step back and allow a student to fail--which is actually quite hard, but it is their right to do so--but again, there is always a motive, or something wrong, that prompts a kid to do stupid things. And by "stupid," sometimes I mean "bad."

Also, I am a religious person. I believe that every human being on this planet is a soul who chose to come to this earth. Sure, some are "brighter" (in many senses) than others, but they all have the potential to be wonderful, and to do good things and learn how to love each other. I do not believe that any person is inherently evil, although I am fully and depressingly convinced of our free will to choose evil should we wish to do so. But my philosophy here kind of points to evil as something that would HAVE to come with some time and experience in the human condition--i.e., the older a child gets, the more likely he is to become evil, because of his experiences and subsequent choices. That would mean that a child raised lovingly would be unlikely to become evil. Of course, it's possible, but it's very unlikely.

But lastly, I am also a little chaotic in nature (<.<) and I believe in the protection of society through reasonable necessary means, even when those means don't necessarily fall within the limits of what we understand as social law. If there is a person who is evil, that person must be eliminated somehow. Nothing else would be logical.

With all that in mind, I read this email, written (allegedly) by the stepmom of one of the monstrous, amoral kids who killed a homeless man. She paints him as 1. Socially deviant and emotionally unstable to an insane degree, 2. Inherently evil, and 3. A danger to every living thing in proximity. Clearly, from her account, this kid should be chemically lobotomized (er...that's my chaotic protection of society side speaking.)

I'm not sure what opinion to form here. Is she telling the truth? If so, WHAT WOULD YOU DO? If you were in her shoes, what could you do to protect the hapless victims surrounding this kid? Is she misleading us? Possibly...I have no way of knowing. But the person she portrayed in that email is someone who not only doesn't deserve saving--he is BEYOND it. He is utterly bad. Didn't she have a responsibility to...I don't know, accidentally "lose" him in the middle of the Atlantic? Do we HAVE a moral responsibility to protect the potential victims of people we know are capable of violent murder--nay, not just capable, but LIKELY TO COMMIT?