Diary of a Network Geek

The trials and tribulations of a Certified Novell Engineer who's been stranded in Houston, Texas.

2/5/2007

Wild West

Filed under: Advice from your Uncle Jim,Career Archive,Criticism, Marginalia, and Notes,Deep Thoughts,Life, the Universe, and Everything,News and Current Events — Posted by the Network Geek during the Hour of the Snake which is just before lunchtime or 11:45 am for you boring, normal people.
The moon is Waning Gibbous

So, we had a little excitement at work last week.

Hmm, let’s see if I can tell this story without implicating anyone…
These two guys at work got into it last week. One’s an older guy, probably close to retirement age. We’ll call him Cowboy. The other one is younger, in fact, barely out of high school. We’ll call him Young’un. Young’un used to work in the same department that Cowboy did, but moved on to another area. Young’un, in fact, works here because his father, who we’ll call Pappy, works here in yet another department.
So, Cowboy was always running his mouth about one thing or another and he got into it with Young’un. Things escalated to the point that Cowboy apparently got very upset. He left the heated “conversation” and went to his cubicle. He returned with a paper bag that he started shoving in Young’un’s face. Then, he pulled the bag off his hand and revealed a loaded .45. For those of you unfamiliar with that reference, that’d be a kind of handgun.

Well, somehow, things de-escalated to the point that they both walked away without incident. But, Young’un was bothered by this behavior, to say the least. Based on what I pieced together, he talked to several people about it, including Pappy. Pappy, being a standard, protective father, wanted to handle things “the country boy way”, his words, and stomp the excrement out of Cowboy after work. Thankfully, cooler heads prevailed and the police were called.
Turns out, Cowboy had a rather long rapsheet. Several counts of burglary of various flavors, spiced with prior weapons charges and assorted felonies. In fact, he was in the last year of his parole for his latest felony. Now, again, for those of you not familiar with our criminal justice system, it is illegal for a convicted felon to possess and handgun. It’s also a violation of his parole.
When I left Thursday night, after working a little late, the nice officers were still doing their paperwork, but, I’m told, that he’s now a guest of the State. His car was still in our parking lot most of the weekend, but was gone this morning when I came in. The gossip grapevine hasn’t delivered any news regarding his ultimate legal fate, but I suspect he’s be a guest at the Gray Bar Inn for quite some time.

Okay, now, I have to be honest about this. As glad as I am that he’s off the street, I feel a little sorry for the old guy. I just try to put myself in his shoes and imagine the long string of bad decisions that led him to this place. In spite of having made some really big mistakes in my own life, honestly, it’s a bit hard to see myself doing that many things that wrong.
Still, I pray that God will take care of even so lost a lamb. And, I pray that I never get so lost.

UPDATE:  Apparently, Cowboy is out on bond.  Not sure how that could have happened, all things considered, but there’s limits to my grapevine.


Advice from your Uncle Jim:
"Everyone wants to live at the expense of the state. They forget that the state wants to live at the expense of everyone."
   --Frederic Bastiat

2 Comments

  1. Oh my Gosh! Doesn’t that scare you? Are your bosses going to start screening applicants a little better in the future? When I worked at the high school, students were regularly removed from public school situations just for implying they wouldn’t be opposed to the idea of someone shooting up the school! I can only imagine how things would have gone down if anyone actually brandished a weapon and assaulted someone with it!

    Now I’m actually scared for you. You should stay home sick.

    Comment by Cheri — 2/6/2007 @ 4:02 pm

  2. No, it doesn’t scare me, really. Which is pretty stupid, actually, because that should scare me. Ever since I talked that guy out of cutting my throat in Boy Scouts, I just haven’t been real worried about those kind of situations. Of course, I’m always looking out for them and never find myself in them.

    Besides, he’s in the criminal justice system now. I’m sure he’ll be off the street again after they finally bring him to trial.
    And, I figure, I’m going to die however I’m going to die. I have no real control over that, for the most part, so there’s not anything to worry about until I see the bright light.

    Comment by the Network Geek — 2/6/2007 @ 4:19 pm

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