Why hurt the old?
Attacking old people is something I really do not understand. We hear of stories of pensioners being assaulted on their doorstep just yours can get a small amount of money to feed whatever addiction they have.
On some occasions it seems it is just done for fun and the mind boggles as to how someone can get their kicks from beating up people who are frail and not in a position to defend themselves.
The most recent story I read of was an 86 year old woman in Reading, who was attacked and left with a broken arm by an assailant on a bike. The shocking thing about this was that it happened in broad daylight. I realise that whenever a crime such as this happens it is terrible but still.
Incidents such as this can leave any person feeling insecure as to the places they can walk around , no matter what the time of day. It’s the work of cowards in my view who feel that they will have an easy ‘score’ by surprising people like that. Do they get some sort of power from doing it? Do they look great in the eyes of their friends?
On the other hand do we forgive them because there is always a chance that they are addicted to drug or drugs and will do anything to gain their fix? I’ve been mugged and I can tell you first hand that you question everything about you once an incident like this happens, asking yourself things like ‘Could I have done something to prevent it? Maybe I walked down the wrong street etc.
It seems crazy to me that old people should be constantly in fear of some idiotic yobs who have nothing worthwhile in their lives. I know that desperate people do desperate things but to think for even a minute that this is a victimless crime is foolhardy. In fact I would argue that there is no such thing as a victimless crime.
It makes me wonder what society is coming to. Should we not respect older people? Do they not have enough problems to deal with, without fear being another to add to the list? While there is a lack of police presence in Ireland, and the UK, incidents like this will continue to feature in the news, unfortunately.
Thursday, September 13th, 2007 and is filed under Thoughts & Questions, Views on News.
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Mary Says:
People who are old today are people who were parents 20 or 30 years ago. In some cases of violence towards old people, it’s simply their now-adult children dishing out the same that they received when they were helpless small children.
September 25th, 2007 at 8:53 pm