Rob a bank

I met a guy who robbed a bank. Uhm, before he robbed the bank. Uhm, i guess i should say attempted to rob a bank. He had a partner.

On the surface, the plan sucked. There was no real getaway plan. That is, the bank was in downtown Philadelphia, where driving is difficult. It was rush hour at that. This particular bank was nowhere near public transit. They didn't have bicycles. They weren't in good running condition. They didn't have a pre-written note, and scribbled one as they walked in. They stood in line to see a teller. When they handed the teller the note, the teller couldn't read it, and they had to explain what it said out loud - attracting attention of other tellers. A couple minutes into this exchange, a foot policeman walked in. This is even before the silent alarm was tripped. So, they were caught. At least they didn't have any real weapons.

Now, as i said, i'd met this man before. He'd done some dumb things, like get hooked on alcohol, and likely drugs. And, in fact, about this time, both he and his partner in crime had just been evicted from their respective apartments. Probably for non-payment. But, this guy did not seem totally stupid. He could perform logic, and such, and was less delusional than most of my historic managers.

And, it was not that he didn't understand the consequences. He'd been in jail before. His partner too. So, it would be easy to classify them as repeat offenders.

But it was winter in Philadelphia. And these guys had been in homeless shelters before too. Jail was just better. Warmer. Better food. Health care. Less access to drugs and alcohol.

Better.

Merry Christmas.