I don't know about you but some things haunt you for life. For me it was when I was about 9 years old and I needed a needle to air up my basketball.
I was next door getting my hair cut at Don's and I remembered I needed to get an air needle to air up my basketball. Well I loved to go to the Otasco store and look around because they had everything a person could ever want. They had toys and hammers and nails and bolts and v-belts for everything. I thought it was about the coolest store ever and it was right down town Shidler. I also remember that Joe Curnutt owned it and he had two kids, Buddy and Shirley. Now if there were more family members than that I just missed it and I don't remember the first name of their mom either. But I do remember that about every time we went to town dad needed to go see Joe Curnutt to get some bolts or something. My favorite part was looking at the toys and in particular the toy farm equipment.
Anyway when I was in there looking around I found the needles and of course back then they did not package them so you had to have dynamite or a college education to open a package. They just put a pile of them in a bin and you picked one out. Back then they trusted folks which was a cool thing except for this very day. You see I was young and no one was paying me much attention and those needles cost about 10 cents of which I was concerned about. You see 10 cents could get you two packs of Wriggly Juicy Fruit Gum ( 5 pieces per pack) or a 16 oz. Pepsi or a Baby Ruth candy bar or Butter Finger. Man, doesn't that make you want a pop and candy bar? Well the problem was that I made a bad decision that day and I picked up that needle and I guess since folks were busy and I was a kid no one was paying attention so I finally just took off. YES, I stole it. I could not sleep that night. It haunted me for years and of course I still cannot forget it because I knew it was wrong at the time. Well I am sure Joe is in heaven and laughing at me but I really did need forgiveness for my error. I knew that day I had sinned against God and Joe and his family. I am a firm believer that that day made a difference in my life as I never wanted to steal again and I knew it did not make me feel good about who I was or what I wanted in life.
Now that brings me to today and I read an article of how crime was down but that is not the truth. I can give you example after example of where crime is not only not down but up. You see what is happening is that breaking the law is so cumbersome that the police don't or can't do anything because the courts are so burdened and the lawyers are so expensive that small crimes are not prosecuted. Now let me describe small crimes. My partner and I for about 5 years owned the Auntie Anne's Pretzel stores in Oklahoma (8 stores) and several times we were robbed by employees and could prove it. One time we had about $8,000 stolen by the manager of a store and we had it on film. The police told us that it was not worth their time as the courts would throw it out because the manager would just say that someone else stole the money and he did not see who took it. You see the problem is the money was locked up and the manager was the only one with a key and we have a film of him putting the money in the locked room and leaving but there is no money in the room the next morning.
OK, if you are not convinced let me tell you another story. I had a lawn mower stolen that was worth about $1500 and I found it (it was marked with my identity) at a local lawn repair place who was selling it for $250. Of course the owner says he bought it and I asked, "who from" and of course he says he does not remember. The police show me pictures of the person who stole it and the fact that this repiarman buys stolen lawn mowers every month from the same person who stole mine. They explain to me that they can't do anything about it and the courts don't want to mess with this small stuff.
How about another story. I have a friend who bought an airplane and the lady who sold it did not disclose a mortgage on the plane and the bank had not filed the mortgage for over two years. She got the money and my partner wound up paying the bank almost $200k to keep his airplane and on top of that he is about $200k deep into legal fees trying to recover the money and the lady is off Scott-free (does anyone know where this term comes from?). It pays to steel. Net, net my partner has spent almost $600k to keep an airplane that originally cost him about $200k and the lady who sold it is not being prosecuted for fraud.
I have lots more stories just like this but the fact is people who steel air-needles or sell airplanes fraudulently should be prosecuted and there needs to be quick justice and consequences. If my dad had known I guarantee I would have stood before Mr. Curnutt and apologized, paid for the needle and then I would have had consequences at home, without discussion or an attorney, and then a spanking and probably no dinner and extra chores.
What do you learn in the Osage?
I was next door getting my hair cut at Don's and I remembered I needed to get an air needle to air up my basketball. Well I loved to go to the Otasco store and look around because they had everything a person could ever want. They had toys and hammers and nails and bolts and v-belts for everything. I thought it was about the coolest store ever and it was right down town Shidler. I also remember that Joe Curnutt owned it and he had two kids, Buddy and Shirley. Now if there were more family members than that I just missed it and I don't remember the first name of their mom either. But I do remember that about every time we went to town dad needed to go see Joe Curnutt to get some bolts or something. My favorite part was looking at the toys and in particular the toy farm equipment.
Anyway when I was in there looking around I found the needles and of course back then they did not package them so you had to have dynamite or a college education to open a package. They just put a pile of them in a bin and you picked one out. Back then they trusted folks which was a cool thing except for this very day. You see I was young and no one was paying me much attention and those needles cost about 10 cents of which I was concerned about. You see 10 cents could get you two packs of Wriggly Juicy Fruit Gum ( 5 pieces per pack) or a 16 oz. Pepsi or a Baby Ruth candy bar or Butter Finger. Man, doesn't that make you want a pop and candy bar? Well the problem was that I made a bad decision that day and I picked up that needle and I guess since folks were busy and I was a kid no one was paying attention so I finally just took off. YES, I stole it. I could not sleep that night. It haunted me for years and of course I still cannot forget it because I knew it was wrong at the time. Well I am sure Joe is in heaven and laughing at me but I really did need forgiveness for my error. I knew that day I had sinned against God and Joe and his family. I am a firm believer that that day made a difference in my life as I never wanted to steal again and I knew it did not make me feel good about who I was or what I wanted in life.
Now that brings me to today and I read an article of how crime was down but that is not the truth. I can give you example after example of where crime is not only not down but up. You see what is happening is that breaking the law is so cumbersome that the police don't or can't do anything because the courts are so burdened and the lawyers are so expensive that small crimes are not prosecuted. Now let me describe small crimes. My partner and I for about 5 years owned the Auntie Anne's Pretzel stores in Oklahoma (8 stores) and several times we were robbed by employees and could prove it. One time we had about $8,000 stolen by the manager of a store and we had it on film. The police told us that it was not worth their time as the courts would throw it out because the manager would just say that someone else stole the money and he did not see who took it. You see the problem is the money was locked up and the manager was the only one with a key and we have a film of him putting the money in the locked room and leaving but there is no money in the room the next morning.
OK, if you are not convinced let me tell you another story. I had a lawn mower stolen that was worth about $1500 and I found it (it was marked with my identity) at a local lawn repair place who was selling it for $250. Of course the owner says he bought it and I asked, "who from" and of course he says he does not remember. The police show me pictures of the person who stole it and the fact that this repiarman buys stolen lawn mowers every month from the same person who stole mine. They explain to me that they can't do anything about it and the courts don't want to mess with this small stuff.
How about another story. I have a friend who bought an airplane and the lady who sold it did not disclose a mortgage on the plane and the bank had not filed the mortgage for over two years. She got the money and my partner wound up paying the bank almost $200k to keep his airplane and on top of that he is about $200k deep into legal fees trying to recover the money and the lady is off Scott-free (does anyone know where this term comes from?). It pays to steel. Net, net my partner has spent almost $600k to keep an airplane that originally cost him about $200k and the lady who sold it is not being prosecuted for fraud.
I have lots more stories just like this but the fact is people who steel air-needles or sell airplanes fraudulently should be prosecuted and there needs to be quick justice and consequences. If my dad had known I guarantee I would have stood before Mr. Curnutt and apologized, paid for the needle and then I would have had consequences at home, without discussion or an attorney, and then a spanking and probably no dinner and extra chores.
What do you learn in the Osage?
- Your self esteem is dependent upon your integrity
- God sent Jesus so that we may be forgiven but we still must reconcile with fellow man
- No one but you is responsible for YOUR bad actions regardless of circumstances or other folks actions
- We all need forgiveness and we all need to give grace to others
Thanks for your time,
gary@thepioneerman.com
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