I read the article in a recent paper about a 41-year-old man who had a skateboard downtown and smashed in a car window, smashed windows in an art gallery, and smashed windows in a Plaid Pantry and a Salon & Spa (“Vandal smashes windows at three Vancouver businesses,” The Columbian, Aug. 18). He has a $10,000 bail and is probably out of jail. He has rights, just like everyone else, but what happened to the consequences of vandalism and bullying?
I am a senior, and I hate what has happened to our world, from rudeness to servers to yelling at clerks. Do you stop people from being rude or destructive? I am not a quiet person and will defend someone if I see it happening. But the fear is real. And when you watch the videos of a person who has guns drawn, you cannot fathom that someone could shoot someone, especially a child, but that someone could be so cruel.
I am so sad that our news is full of these stories every day and that we don’t know how to defend ourselves anymore. But make these people with petty crimes, like the 41-year-old guy, pay for his crimes. Make him work, make him pick up trash, make him do something to show him that he cannot do this without consequences.
