Working Class Corner/Torture

      Grown-ups do not torture either people or animals.   Torture is done by adolescents or children.   In my formative youth I tortured two creatures.   One was a turtle, asthma and the other was a lizard.   Also I once shot a crow with my BB gun.

       In Rochdale College we once caught a guy who had beaten another guy over the head with a pipe.

       We had him in the Security office.

       He had beaten and robbed a Mesclyine dealer.

       We asked him what made him think he could come into our building and beat and rob one of us.

       He said somebody told him he could do it.

       One of us punched him in the face.

       Then infront of him we discussed what to do with him.

       One of us had long had the desire to cut off someones finger.   It was discussed how much he ought to pay for the privelged of cutting off one of this guys fingers.

       One of use wanted to give the guy 30 tabs of bad acid, and put him out on the street.

       30 tabs of bad acid at one dose would likely make a person permanently insane.

       Cutting off someones finger is pretty gruesome, and both things done would have consituted crimes from my point of view.

       However this guy had hit one of ours over the head with a pipe, and robbed him.

       We had victim  bleeding from his head identifying who we had caught.

       We had a woman running around screaming at us for punching the guy.

       I asked the guy how he got to our building.   Turned out his car was in the parking lot.

       I suggested that we get him to give us his car.

       We offered him the deal, that we would not cut off his finger, or make him permanently insane, if he gave us his car.

        He agreed to this deal, and we took him downtown to the motorvehicle bureau, and he signed over to us his Chevy Imapla.

        Then we let him go.

         My goal was to keep the building, and the people in it safe from attack, and I figured he may well tell that it was not a good idea to attempt to rob my charges.

         It is no wonder that I approve of Larry McMurtry receiving the Pultizer Prize for Lonesome Dove.

         It is very stressful to decide to hurt people as an adult.

         My goal is to protect and empower my friends, and in this case what I attempted to do was have the word spread that it was not a good idea to rob and hurt any of my people.

         If feel I did the best I could, and that the punishment fit the crime, and advanced security in the building.

         The fact that in Rochdale where a certain set of drugs were legal, that were not legal outside of the 18 story highrise there at 341 Bloor Street West, did create a unique educational experience.

         I feel lucky to have both experienced these conflicts, and survived them.

         Truly I know that real enemies will kill you, and it is a good idea to make it known they need to know you know it is not practical for you to ignore that.

        Value your life.,