I don’t want revenge. I don’t want the perpetrators of this heinous, stupid act tied down, covered with syrup and left out for the ants, cockroaches and flies. I want them to somehow feel, deep in their hearts, what 100 kids, their parents, the staff and supporters of the Community Transitional School felt when realizing that the school busses they depend upon every school day had been incapacitated, ruined, rendered useless and unable to do what is so vitally needed by having their gas stolen. All for some quick cash that will likely be gone equally quickly.
The feeling is of sudden loss, of betrayal, of disappointment. The confusion – why pick on those who are already at a disadvantage in our society, those trying to make it better, those who may be just as desperate as you to get out of their current situation, or at least feel better for a while? I want the bus-damaging gas thieves to feel in their hearts the reality of this: Live your life in such a way that, when you're at the end, you know you lived each day with integrity. Living your life in honesty and compassion with and for you, as well as others, is the only way. Anything else is just lying to yourself.
Marty Bankhead, Lake Oswego