Fugitives of Justice

Thank god I finally was caught and cited for doing something that I didn't do. Just think how much worse I would feel if I actually had done it, as I have done so many stupid thoughtless things without getting caught, at least not by the judicial system. I hope it all balances out and at least I can face the music knowing of my innocence this time, and continue hiding all my negligent guilts from other times, failing to read bedtime stories when they could have helped, failing to remember to touch with kindness especially when hurts could thereby be healed. We sometimes confuse reasonable human error, perhaps negligent in the absence of other stressful distractions, with deliberately choosing to respond to damage with full-willed intent, to actively evade responsibility for damage, for life's victimizing owies. And sometimes our front line justice system, we have both inherited and created to leave for our children to suffer against and rejoice with, further fuels this confused misunderstanding confuses poor communication and human error with taking high risk evasive action far outweighing positive, far less time and money invested, opportunities to act in a more socially acceptable spirit of cooperation by exercising a basic Golden Rule orientation to self-with-other governance. When this happens, we evade credibility, to too quickly embrace criminalizing responsibility, perhaps due to our own overly-paranoid imaginations. Communication. Economic and political life is all about misunderstood messages and sending out clear, consistent, redundantly positive messages. Would any right mind, when asked by a witness to a car door ding, "You're going to leave your number on their windshield aren't you?" would anyone fully insured, totally sober with a pen and paper in the car, truly respond to that question with a "no" and then drive calmly and slowly off, leaving plenty of time for multiple witnesses to get a plate number? Maybe. Maybe if he had looked at the cherry red truck and could not see damage that portended a visit for needed cosmetic repair. Then again, maybe the witness only asked this question in the silence of her own imagination or out loud but at a level of discreet volume restricted so only she and those with her could hear. After all, you don't want to confront a crazy stranger in a busy parking lot who just might need some help coping with his psychotic daughter having an ill-timed manic episode, laughing hysterically while blasting Ella Fitzgerald singing "Love For Sale" across the medical center's parking lot right? Or wrong? Or maybe something in between? Who are the victims here and is there even one that could not have been made stronger and healthier with and by a stronger spirit of cooperation? Thereby making it even more likely that next time, next place, next cherry red truck, next victims of life's little transitional challenges will get things better, rather than climatically worse.