thedrifter
07-16-08, 02:56 PM
Don't you love it when a senior citizen prevails
07/15/08
By Lynn L. Martin
Too often we read, see or hear news stories of senior citizens being assaulted in some way by youthful punks. I'm sure most of us recall stories of purses snatched in shopping center parking lots; home invasion robbery attempts, shyster home or vehicle repair crooks.
I saved this AP story from about a year ago for a rainy day of writer's-block.
This tells how a punk got an education from a 72-year senior citizen. I have to admit this wasn't your everyday run-of-the-mill retiree, but the story did my heart good. Ex-Marine Teaches Pickpocket a Lesson
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - Bill Barnes says he was scratching off a losing $2 lottery ticket inside a gas station when he felt a hand slip into his front-left pants pocket, where he had $300 in cash.
He immediately grabbed the person's wrist with his left hand and started throwing punches with his right, landing six or seven blows before a store manager intervened. "I guess he thought I was an easy mark," Barnes, 72, told The Grand He's anything but an easy mark: Barnes served in the Marines, was an accomplished Golden Gloves boxer and retired after 20 years as an iron worker.
Jesse Daniel Rae, the 27-year-old Newaygo County man accused of trying to pick Barnes' pocket, was arraigned Monday in Rockford District Court on one count of unarmed robbery, a 15-year felony.
Barnes said he had just withdrawn the money from a bank machine and put it in the pocket of his shorts before driving to the Marathon service station and Next Door Food Store in Comstock Park, a Grand Rapids suburb.
He remembers noticing a patron acting suspiciously, asking the price of different brands of cigarettes and other items. While turned away, Barnes felt the hand in his pocket, so he took action.
"I guess I acted on instinct," he said.
Kent County sheriff's deputies said the store manager quickly came around the counter. The three of them struggled through the front door, where two witnesses said the manager slammed Rae to the ground and held him there. "There was blood everywhere," said another manager on duty, Abby Ostrom, 25.
Barnes was a regional runner-up in Golden Gloves competition in the novice and open divisions before enlisting in the Marines in 1956.
He lived most of his adult life in Comstock Park with his wife, Patricia, before recently moving to Ottawa County. The couple have three children.
After retiring as an iron worker, he now works part-time as a starter at a golf course.
Barnes said he'd probably do the same thing again under the same circumstances, if for no other reason than what he would face back home.
"I wouldn't want my wife to give me hell for lettin' that guy get my money," he said with a smile. …This is a funny Internet piece someone sent!
I WANT TO LIVE MY NEXT LIFE BACKWARDS
You start out dead and get that out of the way right off the bat.
Then, you wake up in a nursing home feeling better and better every day.
When you are kicked out of the home for being too healthy, you spend several years enjoying your retirement and collecting benefit checks.
When you start work, you get a gold watch on your first day.
You work 40 years or so, getting younger every day until pretty soon you're too young to work. So then, you go to college: play sports, date, drink, and party.
After that you're at high school, become very popular because you are so mature, are an excellent athlete after your experience in college, and the first love is not your first, so you know how to handle yourself.
As you get even younger, you become a kid again. You go to elementary school, play, and have no responsibilities. In a few years, you become a baby and everyone runs themselves ragged keeping you happy.
You spend your last 9 months floating peacefully in luxury, spa-like conditions: central heating, room service on tap.
Until finally...You finish off as an orgasm.
I rest my case.
Ex-Marine Bill Barnes, 72, thwarted an attempted pickpocket in the Next Door Store.Rapids Press.
07/15/08
By Lynn L. Martin
Too often we read, see or hear news stories of senior citizens being assaulted in some way by youthful punks. I'm sure most of us recall stories of purses snatched in shopping center parking lots; home invasion robbery attempts, shyster home or vehicle repair crooks.
I saved this AP story from about a year ago for a rainy day of writer's-block.
This tells how a punk got an education from a 72-year senior citizen. I have to admit this wasn't your everyday run-of-the-mill retiree, but the story did my heart good. Ex-Marine Teaches Pickpocket a Lesson
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - Bill Barnes says he was scratching off a losing $2 lottery ticket inside a gas station when he felt a hand slip into his front-left pants pocket, where he had $300 in cash.
He immediately grabbed the person's wrist with his left hand and started throwing punches with his right, landing six or seven blows before a store manager intervened. "I guess he thought I was an easy mark," Barnes, 72, told The Grand He's anything but an easy mark: Barnes served in the Marines, was an accomplished Golden Gloves boxer and retired after 20 years as an iron worker.
Jesse Daniel Rae, the 27-year-old Newaygo County man accused of trying to pick Barnes' pocket, was arraigned Monday in Rockford District Court on one count of unarmed robbery, a 15-year felony.
Barnes said he had just withdrawn the money from a bank machine and put it in the pocket of his shorts before driving to the Marathon service station and Next Door Food Store in Comstock Park, a Grand Rapids suburb.
He remembers noticing a patron acting suspiciously, asking the price of different brands of cigarettes and other items. While turned away, Barnes felt the hand in his pocket, so he took action.
"I guess I acted on instinct," he said.
Kent County sheriff's deputies said the store manager quickly came around the counter. The three of them struggled through the front door, where two witnesses said the manager slammed Rae to the ground and held him there. "There was blood everywhere," said another manager on duty, Abby Ostrom, 25.
Barnes was a regional runner-up in Golden Gloves competition in the novice and open divisions before enlisting in the Marines in 1956.
He lived most of his adult life in Comstock Park with his wife, Patricia, before recently moving to Ottawa County. The couple have three children.
After retiring as an iron worker, he now works part-time as a starter at a golf course.
Barnes said he'd probably do the same thing again under the same circumstances, if for no other reason than what he would face back home.
"I wouldn't want my wife to give me hell for lettin' that guy get my money," he said with a smile. …This is a funny Internet piece someone sent!
I WANT TO LIVE MY NEXT LIFE BACKWARDS
You start out dead and get that out of the way right off the bat.
Then, you wake up in a nursing home feeling better and better every day.
When you are kicked out of the home for being too healthy, you spend several years enjoying your retirement and collecting benefit checks.
When you start work, you get a gold watch on your first day.
You work 40 years or so, getting younger every day until pretty soon you're too young to work. So then, you go to college: play sports, date, drink, and party.
After that you're at high school, become very popular because you are so mature, are an excellent athlete after your experience in college, and the first love is not your first, so you know how to handle yourself.
As you get even younger, you become a kid again. You go to elementary school, play, and have no responsibilities. In a few years, you become a baby and everyone runs themselves ragged keeping you happy.
You spend your last 9 months floating peacefully in luxury, spa-like conditions: central heating, room service on tap.
Until finally...You finish off as an orgasm.
I rest my case.
Ex-Marine Bill Barnes, 72, thwarted an attempted pickpocket in the Next Door Store.Rapids Press.