2013-12-17 – My son Nat was victim of a hit and run last night. He’s not hurt, but his car is. The guy was driving a white pickup truck with a yellow or orange snow plow attached to the front. I’ve forgotten exactly what he told me. The guy slammed into his left side and then sped off. We’ve got some repairs to get done. I’m not sure exactly where he was, but it probably was in the River North area.

This was a very scummy thing to do.

The cops came, but a fight involving a cabbie broke out shortly after the cops arrived, so they had to leave Nat to take care of the fight. Nat had to go to a police station to make his report. Then insurance. Next estimates and getting the work done. Etc. Etc.

Merry Christmas.

I wondered what the statistics are. Apparently pretty grim. The worst statistics involve pedestrians. One out of five pedestrians killed are hit and run. What I’m writing about is a damaged car. Still, there has been a continuing rise in the number of hit and runs over the last couple decades.

What could account for this lack of responsibility?

When a city is wracked by crime, a big strategy, which was adopted in New York, was to start enforcing little things. Clean up an abandoned building. Fix broken windows. Fight against an environment in which crime seems to be inevitable.

Maybe the same is true of crime like hit and run. When our economy crashes because of greed and recklessness on the top, and no one takes responsibility, maybe ordinary folks get the message that this is the way we all ought to behave.

It isn’t.