Hold Up

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This past Saturday the Bank of America in my neighborhood was robbed, by a man with a knife. I don't know the details like how much money he managed to get away with, what he looked like or his age. I only heard snippets of the case. He was caught by police about an hour later.

In this day and age is it even possible to rob a bank (if you aren't Bernie Madoff...who really was stealing from people more or less...digitally)? I mean get a brown paper bag full of cold hard cash, rubber banded stacks of $100 bills, and get away with it? Or is this crime now gone the way of fantasy?

Who hasn't wanted to rob a bank? I used to think about it in high school all the time (during class while staring out of the window). What bank? What time? What weapons? Mask? No mask? Once all the details were sorted I'd be on a plane, with freshly bleached hair, on my way to Figi, never to be heard from again.

I didn't have enough gusto to actually act on my thieving day dreams, but this person, on Saturday actually did. Supposedly he went in during a lull in customer activity, moseyed up to the teller and demanded money. He also let it be known that he had a knife, but he didn't hurt anyone, didn't even take a hostage. With loot in hand he ran out of the door, jumped into an unmarked car and darted off on the road to....? Meanwhile the police had already been alerted to the robbery and were on the hunt.

I can't say that I have the most faith in our local force, but who is this "bank robber" kidding. Of course he was going to get caught.

We live in a time where everything is recorded. The entire thing was on video, even the get away car. Someone is always watching.

However, I have to admit even knowing that he would be caught, I was quite excited for this guy. He actually pulled the execution off, and that's half of the crime! All he had to do was not get caught, much easier fantasized than accomplished. Underneath the knowing that it was just a matter of time before he'd be in jail, I was rooting for him to get as far as he could, to even maybe take a sigh of relief that maybe, just maybe he pulled off a heist.

All of the crimes we hear about these days seem to be filled with murders or big businesses squashing the little people. Isn't it about time that a little person has his/her crooked glory? As long as no one is hurt, what's a few hundred grand from the bank going to do? Sure, my money is in that bank, and my mom's and probably everyone who lives around here, but it isn't really like he stole my money or theirs. Our money is numbers, in a computer. He literally stole the bank's money. And to me, that is kind of funny, and even slightly admirable. Maybe I'm wrong for feeling this way, backing a criminal, but here's to all the girls and guys that ever wanted to rob a bank, but decided to go to college instead (and now can't find a job). Better luck next time!

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