CAT | Juvenile Delinquents
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah-
Doing foolish things as a child is part of life. I was better behaved than many kids I knew, but I still grew up making my fair share of mistakes. I did things at the time I didn’t give much thought to, but after many years I realized how the ill-advised actions and their consequences helped to form me as an adult. Had I never made the mistake and faced the consequences it could have been a valuable lesson missed.
Typically, when a young person gets away with doing something wrong or against the law they forget about it quickly, minds racing about girls/boys, money, alcohol, and other gratifying things, there is little time to dwell on mistakes, much less any time to repent for them.
In Utah, an unknown man made a mistake as a child and could not let his transgression go. Thirty-five years before, the unknown man had stolen a stop sign from an intersection and his actions had haunted him ever since. Over the years he had prayed that no one had gotten hurt from the missing sign and even called the Utah Department of Transportation in an attempt to correct his mistake, but was told not to worry about it. Not satisfied, the mystery man took out a cashier’s check in the amount of $600 and anonymously mailed it to the UDOT, signing it, “a very foolish youth.”
The UDOT of transportation spokesman said the money would almost pay for the installation of three new stop signs.
The moral of the story: If you anonymously send $600 to a transportation department to fix a wrong you did 35 years ago, you’d better get over it, you have more than paid your dues.
© 2010 StrangeRush.com
Print This Strange Story
COEUR D’ALENE, Idaho-
He wasn’t your typical neighborhood robber. Most robbers would steal your TV or XBOX 360, maybe some cash or your most treasured jewelry. But this robber was notorious and stole often, but he was simple. All he usually wanted was basic items of clothing and nothing would stop him from fulfilling his fetish.
He stole so much and so often, that eventually he was caught, but it took quite some time. Once he was finally identified as the culprit only his first name was given, Jack. How fitting since he seemed to “Jack” everything in the neighborhood. He stayed tight lipped about why he stole so often. His mother considered bringing in some sort of specialist to try and get through to him since he would absolutely not talk to anyone about his crimes, not even dear old mom.
Jack never wanted anything flashy and did his best work in the wee hours of the morning, sometimes getting started around 4am. Jack seemed to steal simply for the thrill of it. Typically, he’d take a hat here, designer shorts there, and had stolen several towels. Something he seemed to be most fond of were gloves. Jack had stolen 27 pair of gloves in all (sometimes he was known to only take only one glove at time). Jack’s mother had finally figured out his clothing fetish and taken everything he had stolen and put it all out in the front yard for others to see and potentially claim. There was so much stolen material that one neighbor thought it was a yard sale.
Logic would tell you that once Jack was caught he’d conform. After all, how hardened a criminal could he be if all he ever jacked were various types of clothing? But Jack could care less about public opinion, nothing would stop him. So Jack’s mother decided she had to take a stand and air all his dirty laundry. She admitted to everyone the truth about Jack. He was not your typical cat burglar, he was only a year old and that’s one of the reasons no one could get through to him, the other was because Jack was a cat.
The moral of the story: If your kitty can’t keep his paws to himself, might be time to leave him in the house.
© 2009 StrangeRush.com
Print This Strange Story
ROCK HILL, South Carolina-
I remember when I was a kid, the week leading up to Christmas day was agonizing. In terms of a child’s mind and the desire for instant gratification, it was as if the entire month of December crawled by. First, the tree would go up in early December, then the packages would slowly trickle in. There were presents coming from the parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and of course the Santa factor. On December 10th five packages resided under the tree, by the 20th there were 10, and by Christmas morning 50+ for everyone in the family. The kids always had each of their own targeted, the size, shape, weight, wrapping paper, and exact location locked in their memory banks.
At some point most kids had their hands in the cookie jar (wrapped around their own presents) long before Christmas morning ever arrived. Most kids, myself included, would shake, rattle, and roll the ones we suspected were the “big ones”. Maybe even on a rare occasion, when no one was home, the courage arose to peel off one side of tape and sneak a peek. But usually that was pushing it. After all, if Santa caught wind of such a desperate and daring act, he may have skipped your house altogether.
So what happens when the temptation gets to be too much? Pretty easy, you just open the present you want early. And that’s exactly what a South Carolina boy did. He was specifically told by his great-grandmother not to open any presents, but this rebellious 12 year old didn’t listen, because he knew he was getting a Nintendo Game Boy Advance, and by God, he wanted it right away.
The boy’s 27 year old, single mother said she had had it with his behavior, saying that he had stolen money from her, shoplifted, punched a police officer, and was nearing expulsion from school. She asked her son about the missing Game Boy and he denied knowing anything about it. Then she threatened to call the police and he fessed up and returned it. Despite returning the stolen goods his mother still called police and had her delinquent son arrested. He was charged with petty larceny but not jailed. The mother said she hoped the arrest would scare some sense into her son.
The Moral of the story: If you have a son who has shoplifted and punched a police officer, maybe the damn Game Boy should have never been under the tree in the first place.
© 2009 StrangeRush.com
Print This Strange Story
MARTINSBURG, W.Va.-
This is scary. While at her grandmother’s house an 11-year old girl was so determined to have her 7-year old sister play with her that she took her grandmother’s .38-caliber pistol out of the bedroom and pointed it at her little sister. The child also pointed the gun at her grandmother when granny demanded she hand it over. Eventually, the woman was able to get the gun from the child. Turns out the gun was not loaded, but it is believed that the 11-year old thought it was.
The Moral of the story: If your big sis points a gun at you, you’d better play with her or run like hell.
© 2009 StrangeRush.com
Print This Strange Story
