Might Try Wearing a Sign

To Brandon’s brief mention of a man hit by a stray bullet right next to Brandon’s apartment building in Austin, TX (link), I would add a recent story published here. In broad daylight (11:30 am) a gun-wielding man pushed a teenage girl to the ground at the intersection of Charlesvoix and Lakeland in posh-posh Grosse Pointe, MI and took off with her cell phone. It happened last Sunday.

I was on my walk yesterday some brief time after school let out—nice sunny day. The incident was far, far from my mind. I came up to an intersection just as a teen-age girl was crossing at right angles to me. She was picking some music on her smartphone and then, listening to it, passed on. Then I recalled the incident and looked to see where I was. I was at the intersection of Charlesvoix and Lakeland. Please note, editors of the Grosse Point News: the young do not read papers. I continued on, reminding myself to “Stay Positive.” Therefore I was trying to discover ways of preventing such holdups. The thought occurred that someone should be selling large signs you can pin to chest or back. It should say: “I’m Not Carrying an iPhone.” Here is an opportunity for our go-get-’em private enterprise. Where are those signs? Better yet, where are those jackets, overalls, elegant tops, and baseball caps—with the message front and back as such caps are often worn wrong-way ’round by young males…