What The Hell Is Going On

Her Majesty and I left Iowa for Ohio in 1989. We settled in a suburb of Columbus on the northeast side of the City called Westerville. Fifteen years later we transferred ourselves to a northwest burb called Dublin.

Even though, early on, we were suburbanites we thought nothing about going to downtown Columbus to enjoy its sites and sounds. We even visited areas of interest after sundown. Not any more. The town once referred to as a 'Cow Town' is far from it and not in a good way. Murders in Columbus are the normal part of everyday life. I may be wrong but Columbus might be the 14th largest city in the nation. It's population could be a shade over 905,000. Columbus, like Chicago and Detroit and Philadelphia and St. Louis is not a safe place to be these days.

Sometimes, when I read certain stories my heart breaks and I have to ask myself, 'What the hell is going on in this country'?

Saturday evening, yesterday to be more precise, at 9 pm a crime took place that is so sad I hesitate to even think about it. A mother and her four year old son were on the grass parking in front of their home in, guess where, Columbus Ohio. How many times have I asked myself, "What if I'd done this or done that? What if I'd zigged instead of zagged?" I ask myself this question because of what occurred last February 8 when my lovable buddy and best friend, Charlie, was hit by a car in front of our condo and died instantly. But, in the following scenario it wasn't a dog that was killed. It was a four year old child.

As it happened a 24 year old punk thug had stolen a car and sped away from the car parking lot which was the scene of the crime-------the first crime. The criminal who sped away jumped the curb with the stolen vehicle and killed that innocent child in front of his mother. God help us!

Yes, the perp was apprehended but there's a footnote to this story that causes me to shake my head in utter disbelief and I'm certain what I'm about to tell you isn't only restricted to Columbus, Ohio.

According to the Columbus police since January 1, 2023 to date there have been 5,000 vehicles stolen in this city. FIVE THOUSAND AUTOMOBILES stolen in six months and twenty-one days.

According to the reports seventy per cent of these vehicles are either KIA's and Hyundai's. I asked Her Majesty why these cars are selected and she said it was to strip off the copper. It could be but I don't know because I've never stolen an automobile and I'm clueless as to what to do with its materials. And If I did I wouldn't know where to go to sell it. Would you care to know why? Well, it's because I'm not a damn criminal, that's why.

I have questions about all of these crimes. Where are the mom's and dad's of these youthful gangsters? Do the parents have one iota of control over their offspring? Do these parents give a whit about these kids?  Well, I have an educated guess to all these questions but I dare not ask out loud because then I'd be deemed a racist.