Believe it or not, I do have friends. Well, at least, people with whom I converse on a fairly regular basis. Every darn one of them is - as far as I can tell - a pretty decent person. Maybe I'd change my mind if I actually met them, but since that's really unlikely, it doesn't matter much, does it?
As it happens, I was going back and forth with a few of these folk (we do love a good argument) the other day. The conversation was between myself and three residents of the UK. Particularly, London, in fact. The topic: crime. In particular, how heinous crime here in the states is when compared to crime in more civilized countries, such as the UK.
It really wasn't much of an argument. We both suffer from random muggings of the unwary by groups of idiots. We are both inflicted with hordes or morons who riot after sporting events (win/lose - no matter). We both have serial killers.. The drive-by shootings pretty much put paid to the list of comparisons, though. Apparently a drive-by is just plain unheard of in the UK. Such wanton disregard for the safety of others is, well, pretty darn hard to beat. I bowed my head and surrendered the high ground.
This evening though, I learned of a common occurrence in the UK that, to my way of thinking, absolutely takes the cake.
Apparently it's rare for a week to go by wherein an ambulance crew is not deprived of their ambulance. Sure, it happens here, occasionally - some smurf-brain comes along, sees the keys in the ignition, and WOW, lights and sirends joyride.
Except that's not what's happening in the UK. There, the ambulance crews are being held up and gun and knife point, or brutally beaten and left in the mud, just so a gang can heist the wagon. There is even a documented case where the ambulance crew was wheeling the pram (patient on board) from a building to the ambulance when a couple guys ran by and stole the ambulance.
Are these thieves hard-up for the esoteric narcotics kept on board the ambulance? Is it just a national frenzy for a lights-an-siren joyride? Do the ambulances sell for a zillion dollars in Ireland? Are they parted out to all the other ambulance services for huge savings?
No. These unmitigated cretins are after the electronics mounted in the ambulance. In particular, they seem to be after the GPS units, though I imagine the radios are worth something too.
I think I've just recovered the high ground again. There's a world of difference between an action that *may* cause harm to a bystander, and an action that *WILL* cause harm - to probably more than one.
I think I'll continue to live here in the US - at least the ambulances are relatively sacrosanct - and at my age, that's important.
