barefoot bandit brouhaha

Let's take a break from our regularly scheduled programming of vacation updates to comment on the capture of the Barefoot Bandit.

We've been reading about this kid for years. For my non-local friends, Colton Harris-Moore is from an island north of Seattle in the Puget Sound area. For years he has been robbing hardware stores, knocking off grocery stores, etc., etc., and has managed to always evade the authorities. They said he stole planes! Cars! And stuff! Then he was in Idaho! Then he left an animal shelter some charity money! Then he was in the Bahamas! Literally, I've seen his mug in the paper for years.

And then Sunday: they finally catch him! This crazy story of bedlam comes to a close.

But truly, the more I think about it, I personally don't care. It's not like we're talking about the D.C. sniper here. He was just a kid who stole a lot of stuff and made people mad. It's annoying yes, and it's illegal, yes, but people get away with stuff like this all the time. Why all the fuss? He didn't threaten people with guns, he didn't punch people unconscious, there are plenty of other fish to fry, in my opinion. The people in Camano Island have this main complaint: "he made us lock our doors at night," and I just want to say: Big Whoop! We've all been doing that for years! Jump on the bandwagon already! I think the kid did you a favor, forcing you to look out for yourself and protecting you from who knows what else awful is out there, that you naively thought would never come to your doorstep.

I won't name names, but someone I know, when this person found out he was caught, said, "they caught him! I hope he gets the death penalty!"

Are you kidding me? The death penalty?

I definitely think people are way too worked up about this.

In my opinion, the real criminal here is the kid's mother. Pam Kohler has taken no responsibility for her son, nor has she encouraged him to take any. It so sad. The best article I've read on this so far cited some University of Washington researchers who say they see rogue behavior like this in children that don't get the attention they need at home. First, if children can't trust their parents to provide for their needs (or at least attempt to, with love), they steal to take care of things themselves, or second, if parents don't pay attention to their children, children seek attention elsewhere. Um, sounds like this whole scenario right? Kid runs away from home, evades the law, enamours the media? Finally, someone cares about him, right? I can see his point of view.

The article goes on to say Kohler did interviews in exchange for cigarettes and booze. I've also read she has hired a lawyer that represented Jimi Hendrix in his troubled years and a book is in the works about her son's life. Thankfully we have a Son of Sam law in Washington and she can't make a dime off her irresponsibility. At least, I hope not. But the point is, this lady is lame!

And, ha!, it gets better, then Kohler had the audacity to tell her son, through the press, to get himself to a country that doesn't extradite. What kind of message are you sending? It's OK to do all this stuff as long as you don't get caught? I am floored.

My heart did skip a beat when I read he put a gun to his head when he was caught, and the Bahamian authorities talked him out of shooting himself and arrested him. I am so glad he didn't kill himself. I mean, c'mon! Over what? You're a kid and you stole some stuff! Just take responsibility for it and move on. You won't be in jail forever. And I don't think he should be.

In the end, it's over, and no one died, and as the Seattle Times columnist put it, it was just a "little Billy the Kid, a little 'Catch Me If You Can.' Nobody got hurt, and whatever was stolen, well, the insurance folks can sort that out."

So come home, kid. Pay your dues, ask forgiveness, and move on. At least the folks on Camano realize they should lock their doors now. And I suppose in a couple years we'll all go see the movie.