Powazek
Powazek

Justice, Cole Valley Style
Just a thought from 31 July 2005 about , .

Today I made peace with the fact that, yes, I am one of those neighborhood busybodies. Someday I will have the city complaint line on speedial. I'm okay with that.

It's just that I have this innate sense of justice. And when I see the jerks of the world getting away with their jerkiness, it burns me up inside.

Here's the story. Last Thursday night, as I was taking the pups on their last walk of the evening, there was the unmistakable sound of a moving car hitting a still one. A car alarm blared out and the dogs and I turned to see a purple Scion speed down Carl Street and off into the night. No note, no nothing. A hit and run. Bastard.

My car was similarly hit on Carl Street a few years ago and it cost $7,000 to fix. Insurance covered it, but my rates went up for a year. Probably some drunk idiot stumbling out of one of the bars and driving when they shouldn't. Same thing happened to this poor car - it had been sideswiped from front to back. I made a mental note to keep an eye out for purple Scions.

Then, this morning, I saw the same purple Scion. I knew it was the same car because it had a dent and a broken taillight right where it hit the other car.

photoMy mind raced. I could leave an angry note! No, better, I could etch a few choice words on the side of the car with my keys! No, better! I could go to the store, buy yellow spraypaint, and write HIT AND RUN on the side of the car. But I did none of those things. Instead, I took a photo.

Later in the day, I called the police and reported the license plate number and what I'd seen. Then I took the photo, added personal note to the people involved, made a poster, and put it up in several places on my street with enough tape to make it a huge challenge to remove.

Yeah, I'm a neighborhood busybody. But it could be worse. I could be a bastard who smashes into parked cars and flees the scene.

I know, I could be fighting global poverty or working on a cure for cancer or something. But those are problems too immense to think about. If I can bring a tiny bit of justice to my little corner of Cole Valley, that's enough for me.

Wha?
This section is called Just a Thought. It's a blog where I post little pieces of what I'm thinking about at the moment. This page is an individual entry called “Justice, Cole Valley Style” that I wrote on 31 July 2005.

Before this, I wrote a little something called “How to Make Coffee 2: Revenge of the Nerds” on 29 July 2005. After this, I wrote “I suspect that I am part of a teaser campaign” on 10 August 2005.


BEFORE
How to Make Coffee 2: Revenge of the Nerds
There's no better way to learn a few things than to tell the internet that you know a few things....
29 July 2005

AFTER
I suspect that I am part of a teaser campaign
Today I received two very special surprises in the mail. Inside was the first glimpse of the dream of every...
10 August 2005




The Fine Print

Working the web since 1995, Derek Powazek is the creator of many award-winning websites, a couple of which still exist. Derek is the cofounder of JPG Magazine and the CCO of 8020 Publishing. Derek lives in San Francisco with his wife, two nutty Chihuahuas, a grumpy cat, and a house full of plants named Fred. More »

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