Pearl Hart was the only woman known to have robbed a stagecoach. On May 29, 1899, Pearl and a man known as Joe Boot stopped the Globe, Arizona stagecoach, relieving its passengers of something like $400. Pearl, not wanting to leave her quarries penniless, decided to give each a dollar, just "enough to eat on". This robbery is said to be the last stagecoach robbery of the Wild West.It was the get-away that failed. Joe Boot was convicted and sentenced to 35 years at the territorial prison in Yuma. Pearl was given a 5 year sentence. The newspapers named her the "Bandit Queen". After serving 2 years of her sentence, Pearl was paroled under heavy speculation she was pregnant when released.
What drove Pearl to such resorts? She was no model citizen but she was not living a life outside of the law either. She made a decision to step out of her normal bounds.
How many people mingle with society today that are only one or two steps away from breaking down to the stresses that surround them? How can our day-by-day decisions move us toward or away from some very bad choices? You don't just decide one day to go rob a bank, vandalize public property or cheat on a spouse. On the other hand, most people cannot just decide to go pay cash for a brand new car, house or other major purchase. We cannot just decide to practice medicine one day either. These things do not happen in a vacuum.
The little things we do or do not do establish the foundation for choices we are going to make in the future. Making the right decision on a small, seemingly insignificant problem today might be the foundation for great actions tomorrow.
2 comments:
I've always contended that I'm hanging on by a thread, walking a very thin line until some tool cuts me off in traffic and I snap. I'm reminded of that interesting, though slightly disappointing Michael Douglas movie "Falling Down." The main character has one bad thing after another happen to him one day until he finally goes ballistic. Turns out, he was just mentally ill, predisposed to such actions. It would have been much more thought-provoking if he were just an average Joe the Plumber.
Falling Down was one of those movies that really hit a cord with my brothers and me. You see, Michael Douglas played that character in such a way that he was very reminiscent of my father who was an engineer in the defense industry. My father also has extreme, almost extra-human patience. I have, however, seen the occasion when he lost hold of it.
You make those choices, I've seen it, that help you maintain your fragile hold of the light side of the force. It is by these minor decisions that we continue to hold onto the few strings holding us to the better causes.
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