Fear

[velvetpage]

I went downstairs a while ago, as I do every morning, and fished the newspaper out of the front door. I hadn't turned on any lights yet, so I didn't get to read the headline immediately.

What I read nearly made me lose the two spoonfuls of cheerios I'd eaten.

On the street which runs perpendicular to mine, half a block from here, was left a bouquet of red silk roses, and another of yellow silk dahlias. Glued to the stems were rusty Bic razor blades. This was discovered when a ten-year-old girl, thinking the flowers would make a lovely gift for her teacher, picked them up and cut herself.

She's okay. She had some shots against possible infections, and the cuts weren't deep.

I walk within ten metres of that spot, every single day on my way to the bus. I walk that way with Elizabeth after picking her up from Oma's. On Saturday mornings, Elizabeth and I often take walks around the block, right past that spot.

Worse, the goal seems to have been to entice children. This bouquets could just as easily have been left on my front lawn - they would have had the same effect.

My mind is in a turmoil. I don't see how I can work today, through this kind of horror. Crime has never hit this close to home before.

It could have been us. The fact that it wasn't is very little comfort, since it was one of my neighbours instead.

Comments

[lousy-timing.livejournal.com]

I'm glad to hear that she was physically in good shape. I hope that she will be provided with some counseling.

Will they be stepping up patrols in your area? I'm so sorry that this happened to her and that it happened in your neighborhood! I'm sorry crap like this happens at all!

[velvetpage.livejournal.com]

The police are all over this. It was so random, though, I really wonder if they'll catch the guy. I also really wonder if it might have something to do with our local juvenile delinquent, who I'm certain is a psychopath. But I'm sure the police are familiar with SHane. Piet's called them before about him.

I've warned my classes thus far this morning to watch out for things that look out of place, like flowers on the street. I think I scared them, but that's better than not warning them.

[anidada.livejournal.com]

I read about that this morning and immediately wondered how close it was to you guys, but had no idea it was that close. :( I don't understand people. What kind of monster does stuff like this, anyway? *sigh*

I know that being constantly paranoid is no way to live, but at the same time, it's probably better to be wary than to risk disaster. Whether it's parents like us not letting our toddlers pick up something on the ground, or teachers like you telling students to watch out for things like this, sadly, we live in a world where we don't have much choice but to exercise, and teach, caution.

[anidada.livejournal.com]

By "us" I do obviously mean you guys, Alex and I, etc. (bad grammar, no coffee).

[velvetpage.livejournal.com]

A psychopath. Like some of the kids I've taught in the last few years. I can totally picture a few of them doing something like this. And because I can, it scares me that much more. In some house in the East End, there's a teenager giggling over all the fuss he's caused, and planning his next escapade.

The thing that's been haunting me all day is that, if Elizabeth and I had been walking there, I probably wouldn't have looked too closely at those bouquets until after she picked them up. Why would I, after all?

[kianir.livejournal.com]

I dunno. Not to make light of this, but you should be teacching your sprout not to pick up roses anyway -- as someone who works with flowers on a semi-regular professional basis, I can safely say that five or six puncture wounds from thorns is very nearly as bad as one good shallow slice with a razor blade.

It definitely sounds like a "those damn kids" sort of mischief, though. Be glad it was just razors and not Molotov cocktails or other exciting youth projects.

[velvetpage.livejournal.com]

That's true. And I would have realized that they were out of place, and inspected them. I'm just not thinking too clearly today.

If the razor blade is clean, that's probably true. But rusty ones?

I really hope it's Shane, actually, and that the police catch him and throw the book at him. He's caused plenty of trouble around here. He deserves to get some of it back, especially if he's responsible for this.

[r-caton.livejournal.com]

Or fish hooks..... that would make a nice mess as the victim tried to get them out. (An old teddy boy trick was to put fishooks under the lapels , so that if someone grabbed you, while they were trying to disengage themselves you could slip out of your jacket and "nut" them....)

I reckon you're right about kids tho'....whoever did that obviously doesn't spend too much time thinking about consequences....

[velvetpage.livejournal.com]

I will never understand how teenagers can be said to not think about consequences. I mean, my grade fives certainly know that if you cut someone with a razor blade, it will hurt, and if you leave things lying around that will cut people, it's a bad idea. So how can a child several years older be said to not think about consequences? Unless they are complete psychopaths, as I said before, and have no empathy for anyone. I think they probably knew and expected that someone would get hurt, and thought it would be fun.

[r-caton.livejournal.com]

It's the thought of playing a "clever" prank on someone...anyone...and getting away with it, laughing at their cleverness privately.
You catch them best when they just have to show someone how clever they are....

If that makes them psychopaths, so be it....
They see it as them pitting their cleverness against unknown others, not as an act resulting in pain and infection.

[sassy-fae.livejournal.com]

*HUGS*
First of all, I'm so sorry to hear that this happened so close to home. I know how sickened you must feel to have something like that happen in your neighbourhood. Chances are that the one who did this left behind some sort of fingerprints or evidence, and if it was one of the delinquents, they likely have their fingerprints on file.

My take on it was it was someone trying to get attention, a coward.

The fact that the media has jumped all over this (I saw footage of the school as I was flipping past a foreign language station, for goodness sake) may only make things worse; I suspect it's a copycat crime after those teens glued glass shards to children's slides in Brantford, which happened after someone planted razor blades at the beach volleyball courts in Toronto.

I was shocked when I heard about this, especially at the school right next to you. What doesn't surprise me is the greedy way the media jumps on the hype bandwagon.

[sythyry.livejournal.com]

Heavens... Good luck ..