Watch the World Burn

“Some men just want to watch the world burn” – Alfred Pennyworth.

I never thought evil people were real.  Naive, I know.  I thought true cruelty and drama only existed in movies, until I started working at probation.  Not all probationers are bad, but some were just rotten to the core.  I remember two in particular that still bother me.  Two 19 year old males beat a autistic kid so badly he urinated himself.  They literally beat the piss out of him, and they were proud of it.  In court they were laughing at the victim’s family and making gestures mimicking the victim as he was being beaten.  Because it was their first offense as adults, the court granted them 365 days in jail and probation.  Within weeks of their release, they attacked an older man crossing the street.  He was leaving a 7-11 and the boys beat him, causing permanent brain damage.  All so they could steal his case of beer.  They were both sentenced to 10 years in prison.  That was a long time ago.  By now, they have completed their prison time and are in the community.  Do you think they are rehabilitated? Do you think they will never commit another crime?  Or, do think they are even more angry at the world and have spent the last 10 years learning from other criminals?  Some just want to watch the world burn.

I had one young probationer in a street gang with the  moniker ‘lil Spaz.  He was known as “lil Spaz”, because his dad was “Spaz”, in the same gang.  His uncle and three older brothers were also in the gang.  Lil Spaz admitted to shooting heroin in the 8th grade … The 8th grade.  Now, how much of a chance does he have?  He was in a car accident and had a compound fracture in his lower leg.  He didn’t keep up on the care, so it got infected.  Instead of taking antibiotics and spending just a little more time on the wound, he decided to have his leg amputated below the knee.  We tried to talk him out of it, but he had made up his mind.  Besides The Green Mile and I, he had no real adult role models to advise against it.  While he was in the hospital recovering from the surgery, his dad was down the hall recovering from a gun shot wound.  He wheeled over to say hello.  His father ignored him and pretended he didn’t know ‘lil Spaz because he wasn’t active enough in the gang.  We caught up with lil Spaz when he left the hospital, at the usual corner where he would sell drugs.  This day he wasn’t selling, he didn’t run when he saw us, and he greeted us with a smile.  Said he was done with the drugs and wanted to be someone.  I’d like to tell you he later went to medical school and became a world class, one legged surgeon.  He didn’t.  But, he did finally finish his probation grant without going back to prison, and that was real progress. Here is a kid who had every reason to hate the world, but didn’t. It took a lot of effort to get off probation without committing a new crime, and he did.  Progress is a matter of perspective.

Before I worked probation, I was an intern therapist at a drug and alcohol program.  Almost all of the clients were there by the order of the court.  There were a few who were not, one was Rich.  Rich had been though the program before.  As a matter of fact this was his 51st time.  Others laughed and him and told him to surrender, but he ignored them and did his best.  So, here is another guy who has every reason to give up on life, defeated by drugs, but he kept going despite the odds being against him.  He put his mind in the right place and stayed positive. 

My naivety disappeared rapidly in my career.  I know now that real evil exists, some really do want to watch the world burn.  But some don’t, even if they have every reason to; they stay positive.  That’s real grit.  That type of determination doesn’t get the attention it deserves.