3 Stories Which Challenge My Faith In American People

No, I’ve still got faith in us.  But, sometimes, when I read stories like this, I’m overwhelmed just for a moment.  It physically hurts.  I’m forced to face the reality that there are some people on this earth who have no sense of decency.

All three of these stories have to do with bureaucracy, and the senseless, calloused actions of people.  Though one is different.  I’ll start with the first one…….

Naomie Breton, 34, was meeting her ex-boyfriend Roosevelt Mondesir, 52, outside of a 7-Eleven in Boynton Beach. Mondesir allegedly doused Breton in gasoline and then lit her on fire. A graphic surveillance video shows Breton first trying to get away from her ex, then running through the parking lot in a ball of flames.

Mondesir was charged with attempted first-degree murder and is being held without bail. Breton was taken to a local hospital, where she was treated for second- and third-degree burns.

Now, this is horrific enough, but, I’ve long come to realize that there are animals masquerading as humans in every country and society.  Now, clearly, this poor lady has been through an experience none of us can grasp.  So, here’s where the rest of society breaks down…….

Zuccala’s Wrecker Service had responded to police requests to remove both Breton’s Mercedes and Mondesir’s Jaguar from the parking lot. Since Breton’s name was on both titles, she found herself hit with the towing fees, which amounted to over $600.

Originally, it seemed the wrecker service had insisted that it get paid for this work.  Adding $25/day storage fees.  This was after they were contacted and explained the situation.  Maybe the city should pony up the expenses under these circumstances, but, in no circumstance is it appropriate to confront someone who has just been through such an ordeal as to bill them for towing because she chose to deal with the injuries of being set on fire first.  After, uncountable calls to the wrecker service, the owned has declared that there would be no charge and her vehicle returned to her.  Miss Breton was right, that was a disgrace.  Throughout the process there were many people who chose not to do the right thing and simply follow procedure.  And this brings me to the next bit of calloused insanity.

Mom slapped with bill to clean street after son killed by illegal immigrant drunk driver

A grieving mother told a South Carolina court Tuesday she was slapped with several bills, including one to clean the street, after her son was killed by a drunk driver last year.

“I had to pay to have the vehicle towed,” she said according to WYFF. “I had to pay for the vehicle removed and to clean up the street from Justin’s blood on the ground.”

For now, I’ll resist the temptation to write about why this event was allowed to occur, but we see this, too, is another breakdown which is corrupting our society.  But, how in God’s name is it that something like sending a grieving mother a bill to clean her child’s blood off of the street ever allowed to happen?  Are there real people running these bureaucratic entities?  Is there a thought process?  Find the one responsible and fire them for human inadequacy.  A rule is no excuse to hide their lack of humanity.

I’m familiar with rules in a bureaucracy.  I used to work in one of the world’s largest bureaucracies, the U.S. Army.  For a time I worked in a pediatric clinic.  We had rules, lots of them.  But, that didn’t mean I would allow a rule to be substitute for my judgment.  The children and the mothers, when they walked through our doors, they were in our care.  I can’t count how many rules I violated.  But, it occurred with the approval of all the people in the clinic.  Whatever was necessary and possible was done.  But, that was a time ago, and many people seem to have lost the plot.  Their priorities are screwed up.  Their sense of justice is wrong.  For many, even their basic sense of right and wrong seems off.  And this brings me to my last disturbing story…….

Eye for an eye, hair for hair? Judge orders Price woman to cut off daughter’s ponytail in court

The mother of a 13-year-old girl says she has filed a formal complaint against a juvenile court judge who told her he’d cut her daughter’s sentence if she cut off the girl’s ponytail in his courtroom.

“She definitely needed to be punished for what had happened,” Valerie Bruno told the Deseret News. “But I never dreamt it would be that much of a punishment.”

Sure, this seems strange, though, I’m not sure how traumatic a haircut can be.  Let’s dig a little deeper……

Bruno’s daughter, Kaytlen Lopan, was referred to 7th District Juvenile Judge Scott Johansen’s court in March for an allegation of assault. Lopan and a friend endeared themselves to a 3-year-old girl at McDonald’s in Price and then used scissors to cut several inches of hair from the little girl’s head, according to Price police.

Okay, so some little delinquents were doing some mischief.  But, there’s more…….

At a May 28 hearing, Lopan entered admissions in the assault case, as well as another case stemming from eight months of phone calls she made to another teen in Colorado that included threats of rape and mutilation, according to an audio recording of the hearing provided to the Deseret News by Bruno.

Now we see that this isn’t just some mischief.  This is a 13 y/o criminal.  She’s been intimidating another teen with harassment and threatening rape and mutilation!  A 13y/o girl?  And we’re worried about a ponytail?  The judge gives his judgment…..

Johansen called the girl’s behavior “egregious.” He ordered her to serve 30 days in detention, pay restitution to her victims and serve 276 hours of community service.  Then, he offered Bruno a deal.  “If she was my daughter, I wouldn’t want her with the (youth) work crew,” the judge said.  “I know, I thought of that,” Bruno said.  “I’m going to give you this option: I will cut that by 150 hours if you want to cut her hair right now,” Johansen said.  “Me, cut her hair?” Bruno asked.  “Right now,” the judge said. “I’ll go get a pair of scissors and we’ll whack that ponytail off.”

…. Bruno said she wishes now that she hadn’t taken Johansen up on his offerof a reduced sentence for her daughter, and that she’d consulted an attorney before taking her daughter into his courtroom.

“She definitely needed to be punished for what had happened,” Valerie Bruno told the Deseret News. “But I never dreamt it would be that much of a punishment.”

“I guess I should have went into the courtroom knowing my rights, because I felt very intimidated,” she said. “An eye for an eye, that’s not how you teach kids right from wrong.”

This mother has a child who bullied the most helpless of our society, a 3 y/o child, she’s threatened other teens with rape and mutilation.  The judge gave her an option and she took it and now……. now she thinks that child losing here ponytail was a harsh punishment?  She has the audacity to believe she knows or can preach about how to teach right from wrong?  She’s already demonstrated that she’s an abject failure at such instruction and given her reaction to such a lenient judgment, I’d say she doesn’t have an appreciation of right from wrong herself!

It’s easy to get depressed about these things.  But, it does cause me to look around and see many, many more people who do have an understanding of right from wrong.  And many more people who do try to make a positive difference.  There’s so much more to read, write, and discuss, but, these were bothering me.

Read more on these stories here, here, and here.