Whoever came up with the idea of putting mug shots of fugitives and other dysfunctional members of society in a sort of Auto-Trader style newspaper and then selling it for a $1...well, in my book...it's pure genius.
Recently I was driving near Broadway @ the Beach and I stopped in at the Mobil Station on the corner of 21st Ave. & Robert Grissom Parkway for a coffee. It's always fresh and the lady who usually mans the battle station is so sweet and personable and besides...Starbucks and Dunkin' Donuts close too early.
While paying for my caffeine elixir; I noticed a newspaper style publication on the counter.
The cover was filled with orange clad individuals and when I saw the name of the paper; I had to chuckle.
It's not a freebie though; it's a somewhat thick paper and it's filled to the gills with page upon page of people who are out on some sort of warrant or who fit into some category of fugitive.
The cost: a Dollar!
Being the only one in the store; I asked the cashier lady why anyone would want to purchase such a periodical.
She gave me a great answer and it matched up with what I read on the Carolinamugshots.com website.
Apparently the paper is put out as a sort of aid to the men and women who have to hunt down criminals for the purpose of seeing justice enacted upon them.
My Mobil Gas Station Attendant Friend went on further to enlighten me on all the ways people have been found hiding out...and most of them in plain sight....
at work...
...hanging around in the hood with the boyz and girlz not even pretending to hid...
...and even standing in line at the very Mobil gas station where I was that night.
The fugitive gets noticed and someone calls in the tip.
I wish this paper was around back in 1984 when I was working in the Fugitive Unit of my County Prosecutors Office in New Jersey.
I was an investigator, but I rarely left the office.
My job was to hunt down fugitives who were known violators of the Welfare System... in particular.
In fact, I knew nothing about Welfare until I began working in that capacity. I was shocked to find out the number of aliases men and women adopt in order to score big from Uncle Sam.
I was brought up in a typical Central Jersey Suburb which consisted for the most part of Italians, Jews, Poles, Czechs, Slovaks, Hungarians, Irish, Swedes and the like.
The motto was: "If you want something, then you'd better get your heiny out there and work for it".
I've been working since I was 11 and even though I've been in a place several times where I had not a dime to my name...my first thought wasn't to head on down and sign up for Food Stamps, nor was it to stand on a corner with a sign made out of cardboard begging... but it was to somehow secure more work
I'm not saying that those who truly need help shouldn't seek it out.
I had things hammered into my head since I exited the birth canal which just couldn't be reversed during the very difficult times I suffered through.
Not only didn't the idea come to mind to seek help from the Government, but I am of that old school and was taught the idea during my formative years of how embarrassing it was to do such a thing.
I was taught taking that course of action was a cop out and was a severe blow to not only the self-esteem of the individual seeking out that sort of help, but it was also a hit against that persons family.
The attitude hung in the air that if you did that, then your family didn't raise you right and wasn't there to help you in your time of need.
I'm not sure what would have been worse in my family's eyes...eating pasta sauce from a can...or signing up for Welfare benefits.
Oops, sorry; I think the appropriate term now is Public "Assistance".
Assistance...seems like something temporary...you know, something you receive until you get on your feet, but the definition of "assistance" now is that once that spigot is turned on...ain't nobody turning it off again and you're a creep if you even suggest it.
It's sort of like Social Security in that aspect...once people receive it, they don't expect the payments to diminish even though many collect way more benefits than they earned during their working years.
Oh well, this wasn't meant to be a social commentary piece, but it's the middle of the night and I just feel like going off course a bit.
The thing I like about the Carolina Mug Shots paper is that I believe it really does provide a service to those in Law Enforcement who are constantly assigned the task of hunting these folks down...only to see them back on the street pulling their same shenanigans again and again.
Theft is theft...but I think we don't really feel the sting of someone taking something of ours (tax monies) which doesn't belong to them unless the crime is perpetrated upon us personally (such as in the form of having our home burgled or our purse snatched)
If the crime isn't "all up in our face" then we tend to move through our days without giving it much, if any, thought at all.
The thing that really had me chuckling when I walked out of the Mobil Station that night was the fact that the folks at Carolina Mug Shots sell Apparel:
T-shirts with the Tag line:
I've not seen anyone sporting one yet, but I now have my eyes peeled.
I thought for sure that with a name like Carolina Mug Shots...that they'd have some Coffee Mugs for sale. Maybe that's just too plebeian or too obvious!
If they produce them; I'll buy one!
Only they should be made of some sort of material which doesn't break upon impact with a tile floor because I can be rather clumsy!
Post Script: When you check out the website...take note that they have some great links on there and one of them is to a website which lists where Registered Sex Offenders are located.
I've moved a lot in my life and whenever I do; I check out this site so that I'm forewarned and forearmed.
Also; I imagine there are some Rewards associated with locating some of the more dangerous and high profile fugitives...and so there you go...if you find one, then that $1 you spent on the paper will have been well worth it.
Well; I'll be seeing you!
Just hopefully not in the Carolina Mug Shots Tabloid!
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