Sinister: Robbery In Progress

[Lee Vowell]

>    Last week I was sitting in my car at a red light. Directly to my left I
>saw a man sprinting down the sidewalk. He had just come out of a drug store
>and had something in his hand. A second later I saw a large man, whom I'm
>guessing was the manager of the store, come out the doors and begin chasing
>the running man. He stopped after a few steps and began attempting to wave
>down a police car parked across the road. By this time the light had turned
>green and I had, to my slight disappointment, to begin driving again. A few
>seconds later a police vehicle sped past me on it's way towards, again I'm
>guessing, the drug store and the running man.
>    My reaction was, of course, one of incredible curiosity. I had never
>witnessed an actual robbery in progress, and it was quite absorbing. But
>after a few moments I began to wonder about the moral issues involved in 
>the
>burglary. Is the man who had taken whatever from the drug store guilty
>without reason? What if he had just been trying to steal some jars of baby
>food for his child because he himself had not been able to acquire the 
>funds
>to actually buy the merchandise? Of course, it is wrong to steal, but if 
>one
>has a great enough reason to do so...Hmmm...
>    Another element was that the robber was African-American and the store
>manager was white. The store was in a predominantly African-American
>neighborhood. What effect, if any, would this have on the issue of 
>stealing?
>I find it odd still that even though an area can be heavily populated by
>blacks that the majority of the owners of stores and managers of them are
>white. It's sort of this subliminal racism, maybe.
>
>    Of course, the whole robbery scene was taking place whilst I was 
>sitting
>in my car with "I Fought In A War"  playing on my car stereo. I imagine 
>that
>the robber was fighting his own war, and it seemed like he would have more 
>to
>come.
>
>    Lee

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