Thursday, October 19, 2006
What's Happening In Ohio
Here's the saddest story in the world, courtesy of the Columbus Dispatch:
Timothy Bowers handed his landlady the keys to his apartment and mailbox and the laundry room and told her he probably wouldn’t be back.
At 62, he hadn’t had steady work for almost three years. He’d been a cabdriver and worked for Encyclopedia Britannica, but he could find only odd jobs after the drug wholesaler he made deliveries for closed in 2003.
So he walked to the Speedway gas station around the corner and ate a couple of hot dogs on the "Two for $2" special.
Bowers then walked a couple of blocks to the Fifth Third Bank at 5055 W. Broad St. He handed a teller a note that said this was a robbery and to put loose cash in an envelope.
The teller put four $20 bills and a dye pack in the envelope and handed it to him. She pushed the silent-alarm button.
Bowers turned and walked to the security guard standing in the lobby. He handed the guard the envelope and told him that this day, May 1, was his day to be a hero.
What makes the story more remarkable than anything is its popularity. On the list of the Dispatch readers' top ten most-read articles, as of noon today, it lands squarely at #1, beating the usual top stories involving the Ohio State Buckeyes' football team.
Granted, OSU is playing lowly Indiana this week, but they're also undefeated, ranked number one in the country and led by Heisman Trophy frontrunner Troy Smith. Could the popularity of such an article signal the attention of Ohio citizens has finally turned from the GOP's distracting issues like gay marriage and terror panic to ones that really matter?
Who are we as a nation if we neglect the elderly, the undereducated and poor? Can we claim the right to be good Christians in a country that drives one of its citizens to commit a crime because prison is a better alternative than freedom?
Timothy Bowers handed his landlady the keys to his apartment and mailbox and the laundry room and told her he probably wouldn’t be back.
At 62, he hadn’t had steady work for almost three years. He’d been a cabdriver and worked for Encyclopedia Britannica, but he could find only odd jobs after the drug wholesaler he made deliveries for closed in 2003.
So he walked to the Speedway gas station around the corner and ate a couple of hot dogs on the "Two for $2" special.
Bowers then walked a couple of blocks to the Fifth Third Bank at 5055 W. Broad St. He handed a teller a note that said this was a robbery and to put loose cash in an envelope.
The teller put four $20 bills and a dye pack in the envelope and handed it to him. She pushed the silent-alarm button.
Bowers turned and walked to the security guard standing in the lobby. He handed the guard the envelope and told him that this day, May 1, was his day to be a hero.
What makes the story more remarkable than anything is its popularity. On the list of the Dispatch readers' top ten most-read articles, as of noon today, it lands squarely at #1, beating the usual top stories involving the Ohio State Buckeyes' football team.
Granted, OSU is playing lowly Indiana this week, but they're also undefeated, ranked number one in the country and led by Heisman Trophy frontrunner Troy Smith. Could the popularity of such an article signal the attention of Ohio citizens has finally turned from the GOP's distracting issues like gay marriage and terror panic to ones that really matter?
Who are we as a nation if we neglect the elderly, the undereducated and poor? Can we claim the right to be good Christians in a country that drives one of its citizens to commit a crime because prison is a better alternative than freedom?
