Mostly Harmless

The Missing Piece

Disclaimer

Someone around here is one piece short of a jigsaw puzzle.

It is a curious fact of human nature that how we feel about a crime is not primarily dictated by the size of the injury - the amount stolen or the severity of the violence. When it comes to sentencing, size matters; but as social beings we are often swayed more by the motivations of the perpetrator and what the crime says about their trustworthiness, or simple worthiness.

So when we read about someone up on a charge of GBH for confronting a burglar with perhaps more than reasonable force our sympathies tend to go with the householder rather than the burglar - even though most people would rate violence as worse than theft. If I see someone deliberately drop an empty crisp packet on the street I'm emotionally ready to rescue the litter and incorporate it into the litterer's body in some painful configuration. Yes a crisp packet is tiny, but the void in the head of the person who dropped it is the size of a parking lot.

By the same token I imagine spammers are probably frightened of being identified in crowded places (if they ever leave the house, that is).

Someone in Lake Guillemont probably thought it was an amusing practical joke to pinch a piece from the completed Jackson Pollock jigsaw in Project Central. I imagine them thinking "They were a piece up, now they can try being a piece down...". Well, mean-spiritedness is revealed in the smallest actions probably more clearly than in the largest. If you want to join the ranks of street litterer's, spammers and others who should know better, then hang on to that piece. Otherwise replace it and we'll say no more about it.

In fact - I'll even offer an inducement. Return the piece and I'll blog one entry on the subject of your choice (at my discretion) - a reward made possible by the anonymous-coward technology of the internet.

P.S. You'd best wait till no-one's about. Donna thinks she knows who you are and I wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of her wrath. She handles that shredder like a pro these days.

Posted at 11:42AM Jul 13, 2007 by John Alderson in Lake Guillemont  |  Comments[0]