Other Evil

There are other evils in our city and county.  My 29 year old daughter was mugged a week ago tonight.  she and another young woman were walking to that woman's home, a 2 block walk, at about 11 p.m.  They had been at a popular bar and grill.  Shaw neighborhood should be safe only a couple of blocks north of Tower Grove Park.  Any neighborhood should be safe. But a coward hiding behind a bandanna and a hand gun jumped out of a vehicle and surprised my daughter and her friend from behind. Neither of the young women is wealthy and some of the stolen items, like a silver necklace from Korea, cannot be replaced. Whatever things like bike tools in an old backpack fetch at a pawn shop, the new ones will cost far more. As inexcusable as the sentimental and monetary losses may be, another element of the crime fosters contempt. The real violence of a gun threat, of having a gun held to her head, traumatizes a person and makes trust difficult to rebuild.  The criminal committed not only that assault, but he reached into their shirts and groped the young women adding some vile commentary while supposedly in search for more loot.
My daughter has wondered aloud what in the robber's life must have propelled him into crime.  Right now, I don't care.