"Stuff we did was pretty ignorant"

I'm not sure when truer words have been spoken recently.

By now, most people have heard the story of the two young women who have received national attention for robbing a bank in metro-Atlanta.What was once a local story is now making national headlines. One of the "bank robbers" (I qualify why I put this in quotes later in the post) was interviewed on Good Morning America this past Friday. Bank robberies are beginning to become commonplace in metropolitan areas of the US. Why so much attention for this one in particular? Well, several factors make this story uncommon, not to mention sadly comical in some ways.

First off, the fact that the bank robbers have been entitled "Barbie Bandits" tells you all that you need to know. You can probably count on one hand the number of people you have heard of who have robbed a bank that fit the description of giggly, blonde girls. I would venture to guess that one of the reasons we haven't seen very many blonde bank robbers is because bank robbers usually keep their physical appearance as non-descript as possible by disguising themselves. Duh.

Also, this doesn't qualify as a real bank robbery since the bank teller who was "held up" was actually in on the scheme. Webster defines a robbery as the felonious taking of the property of another from his or her person or in his or her immediate presence, against his or her will, by violence or intimidation. Since the teller was a part of the whole plan, I can't imagine that any of these individuals involved can actually be charged with felony robbery.

Another interesting tidbit was the special attention that has been paid to the expensive-looking sunglasses that these women wore during the "robbery". The woman told Good Morning America that she and her cohort referred to them as their "stunner shades". Wow.

Finally, all of the information that has come about from the Good Morning America interview makes it clear that these young women were basically a couple of idiots, for lack of a more sensitive word. They originally went to the wrong bank; they misunderstood the directions given to them by their friend, the teller. They were supposed to get wigs to use during the robbery, but that plan fell through somehow so apparently they figured their "stunner shades" would serve as an appropriate replacement disguise. After getting the money, they went directly to an upscale hair salon at Phipps Plaza to get highlights in their hair. Jeff Dauhler of Q-100 joked this morning that the stylists at Phipps Plaza were actually interviewed as well, and pointed out that the way the girls' hair looks on all the photos is NOT indicative of their work. The girls simply did not do a good job with the upkeep of their hair. HA! I love that the stylist wanted to be sure to get that message out there. :-)

I know that somewhere all across America there are young, blonde women shaking their heads and rolling their eyes, thinking themselves, "Great. Just friggin' great."

"Auto"matic Foul!

Update: 3:30pm

My labels for this post are quite redundant, wouldn't you say?
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I got hit by a car yesterday morning. It was one of those things that was inevitable based on the "near-misses" I've been having recently. A car pulls out of a gas station into the road. I'm driving in the left lane of said road, figuring that he is merging into the open turning lane to wait on my lane to clear of traffic. No, this car actually proceeds to drive straight into my lane...right into my truck! The driver never stopped, and I guarantee you that they saw me. There was no blind spot involved here, or anything like that. I did not stop and get out of my truck to check for damage and exchange insurance information. I just kept driving even though the other driver was at fault. Here's why:

There are a few roads here in metro Atlanta that Chris has warned me over and over not to drive on. MLK Drive is one such road. Chris has actually pleaded with me to take any other side street I wanted, but to avoid MLK Drive like the plague. Well, this morning, I got a late start leaving home, and by the time I got on the road traffic reports were measuring the length of time to drive from Douglasville to the I-285 perimeter at 65 minutes. Bear in mind that this is a drive that should only take about 17 minutes. So, MLK Drive pretty much dead ends at the CNN Center, and I figured I'd chance it this particular morning. Looks like the odds were against me. most of the people that live in this particular area of town invite confrontation so that they have a reason to react violently and impress their friends. I refuse to give them the opportunity to use me to prove their thug, wannabe "manhood" to someone. So I never even stopped driving until I got safely to work.

I prayed the entire remainder of my drive, specifically asking the Lord for peace and understanding. I was beginning to tremble with anger. "Why does this keep happening to me", I wondered aloud? Remember the incident with "Laura" from a few months back? No? See my post "Legalities vs Emotion" for a refresher. I also neglected to mention the interesting event that occurred about two weeks ago where a MACK truck came barreling uncontrollably across the entrance ramp simultaneously crossing all 4 lanes of the highway before crashing into the median wall 25 feet in front of me. I was too shaken up to bring it up here, and by the time I got over it, I had moved on to other things.

I can't help but wonder if this is the Lord's way of getting my attention. Sometimes I get so caught up in my own worries and concerns that I forget to just listen out for Him. You better believe I'm listening intently now! Oh and by the way, I did finally check my truck for damages after I got to work. Not a single scratch! That's called "God's Unwarranted Favor!" :-)