Obviously I didn't explain my situation right, and I probably can't, but it is annoying being judged here when everyone in the actual situation thought I took the best actions possible. [  ]
I don't live in Puna. I live in old sugar cane camp territory, and it is different. In most of Puna, you have plenty of people whose family has been here on island for generations, but you don't, in the subdivisions created in the 60's, have people who have lived in a tight knit group of the same families on the same properties for multiple generations, with only a handful of newcomers (which is how it is where I live).
I'm not saying that theft isn't wrong from my perspective. What I am saying is that there are those who don't think it is wrong, and one has to deal with the reality of that mindset as best one can, especially when the police are NOT willing to be pro-active when they are called.
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I guess I just had too many years dealing with "denial" or "it's not my problem" or "let the police worry about it" to have patience with the attitude that stands and watches as society slides into anarchy. There are many ways you can justify non-involvement, if that is your desire. The cops can't do it alone. All they can really do is support the community's or individual's efforts to protect society. There is no excuse for dishonesty or theft, etc. Don't complain about the cops if you don't do your part.
Pua`a
S. FL
Big Islander to be.
Pua`a
S. FL
Big Islander to be.
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..and judge not, lest ye be judged...
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better yet - help the meth heads load the copper pipe - grin
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quote:
..and judge not, lest ye be judged...
OK, I'm not 100% clear where you're going with that but I'll mostly agree, as long as you're (generic you're) not encouraging the same behavior in others by posting it to a forum as an example of proper behavior. Even then I'm not contesting your right to post it but I'm asserting my right to opine as to it's propriety.
Pua`a
S. FL
Big Islander to be.
Pua`a
S. FL
Big Islander to be.
oink, you clearly don't understand what happened.
You are accusing me of complacency when it was my family that stepped up and confronted the people, at night, being unable to see how many they were or if they were armed. That took some courage. We ran them off and invoked their anger at us.
We could not see the make or model of the truck or the plates. You have never been here and you don't get the picture of the lay of the land.
Once they had split, the lay of the land prevented us from having a visual on them. We only had sound. That's not enough for the police. My neighbor called the police.
btw, the first thing I did was call that neighbor and warn her that guys were creeping around near her house with flashlights. She then yelled at me for waking her up when she was peacefully sleeping and not worried about the situation, if you can believe that. After we ran the creeps off, she called the police, but of course by the time they arrived there was nothing for them to see.
They knew who the probable culprit was, but they didn't have sufficient info in their opinion to go roust them. So instead they notified the property owner. Now I myself would have been calling the owner in the morning had they not done so.
Our actions and no one else's put an end to the stripping of that property. Do you understand better now?
However, in doing so, we felt from their extreme anger that we were this close to being violently assaulted, and the police would not have been there in time. We discussed with our neighbors who have been there forever and they warned us to be careful as this is a bad guy.
My neighbor said, yes, it is their mindset that they have some right to do this. I am not complacent about it. Do you think I want my house plundered? No, and I make sure someone is watching it all the time. There is nothing I can do about this guy, unless he is caught redhanded by the police, as I did not see him because it was midnight and there were trees in the way, so our statements were not sufficient to make an ID of him.
Sheesh. If I were complacent, I would have ignored what was going on and stayed safe.
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Hey Kathy
Thank you for your comments. We never intended to let the house sit for as long as it did, (and won't again) without having someone in it...life just got in the way I suppose. We had a conversation with some friends of ours who seemed to think it would be fine for them to pop by every couple weeks to mow the lawn, trim trees, and just to give the overall appearance of care-now we know that's not enough! We'll do whatever we can to prevent this from happening again-lights, cameras, etc...but I do beleive that the good old fashioned "getting to know your neighbor" is probably the most effective route. We are looking forward to participating in this community and if we could lend an eye to help prevent this from happening to someone else's home, we would gladly do so, as you did before.
As strange as this may sound, when I found out that the pipes had been stolen, I found it amusing in a way...I think because it was the last thing I had imagined happening-and believe me, I imagined some things, with the house sitting there since May. I imagined maybe no appliances, no wood trim...fat rats feasting on fruit outside...a giant termite colony...hehehe. I never imagined the pipes would be taken!
Thanks for listening!
Amanda
lol, I like your sense of humor, Monda.
Yeah, absolutely know your neighbor.
The thieves around here have the whole guerrilla thing down as far as sneaking around in the jungle through unlikely routes, so depending on how close your house is to a neighbor, and how visible, the neighbor may be aware. That is one problem with the large lots here, not a lot of visibility.
Copper is something with real dollar value. It's a real problem with the public works here, and on Oahu it seems to be out of control with the large scale copper pillaging. (Copper wire is big business.)
Run a search on
copper theft hawaii
and you'll get a sense of how prevalent this is. I got hits from 2007, so it is nothing new.
http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/articl...60388.html
You'll be fine ,,, hopefully this is the worst that will ever happen.
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Kathy, I'll assume your 5th post in this thread correctly reflects your original intent and therefore I apologize for previously misunderstanding your message. I'll try to assume the best and accept that your first 4 posts, which initially appeared to be clearly advocating (consciously or not) complacent spineless behavior were in error.
Construction thefts and thefts from unoccupied residences and businesses are common nation wide. Hawaii isn't special in this regard.
Pua`a
S. FL
Big Islander to be.
Pua`a
S. FL
Big Islander to be.
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This is what gun control gets you.
If the copper buyers were smart, they'd start registering their sellers before it becomes a mandatory regulation.
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