"Gangs" of Wenatchee: Those Who Harass Me

This is a direct address to all of those who went out of their way to harass me today and who have been purposefully trying to cause me misery for...what? voicing my opinion on a blog?

I have had many positive responses and comments from some. They know who they are. Then others, have just amped it up and gone out of their way to bully me and make their displeasure known.

Tell me something. Have I personally offended you? If so, why don't you approach me then, like a normal person, and let me know. Tell me how whatever I wrote affected your life or the life of someone you know, in an unfair and negative manner.

I don't go out of my way to harass people for sport. I have better things to do with my time and I believe most people in this town do as well.

I quit writing for a short time, and people began to approach me. Some of the individuals were sincere and maybe wanted to get to know me, and other were not. They just wanted to get close to me and ask a lot of questions and steer me in various directions that might benefit them or others they knew.

If I WRITE about someone, and it is negative, there is usually, from MY standpoint, a good reason for it. I'm not out just writing about people in general, and picking fault for no reason. If you look at who or what I write about, it usually is only when it's someone in a position of power who is abusing that position, because I feel this endangers the public interest at large. I told my attorney, for example, if I see someone doing drugs (which is rare) I don't go tattling to police about it. However, if that person is a judge or someone who has influence over others lives, the point is that it's a direct conflict of interest to be taking drugs and then sentencing people for drug related offenses. It puts one gang against the other, or any gang in a superior position for being able to bribe a judge to get what they want, when someone else might get a worse sentence because they don't have as much power.

Corruption affects everyone. It doesn't just affect a couple of people. I do not side with "state corruption" or "mercenary corruption" either. If people in legal positions are lying and abusing their influence, and yet they work for the U.S. government, it's still corruption and it's dangerous to the integrity of the justice system. Someone who will take a bribe or do a "favor" for some grade school buddy who works for the gov, will be just as likely to do the same thing with someone in any kind of group or mafia. I don't approve of ANY kind of corruption, whether it's police abusing their authority, or the state, or any church or church member, or grade school friend, or even family member.

There is not ONE person in this town whom I have a PERSONAL dislike for. I don't even know people well enough to like or dislike. If I've written about someone, it's in connection with their WORK or the way they conduct BUSINESS and my feeling that it is corrupt and dangerous to either MY life or the lives of others. If someone is going to be an outright liar with me and work for the gov or mafia or anything at all, why wouldn't that same person do the same with others? Who knows HOW MANY others? When any kind of corruption goes unchecked, it escalates.

I think the problem in this town is that too many people have lived here forever and know eachother and they just assume their buddy from school is a good guy, or they don't care if they're NOT and just enjoy the mutual exchange of benefits that come with looking the other way when one party gets hysterical and oversteps the law or it's rules.

I am not with any "gang" and I'm not with "the state" and I'm not with any particular "religion" or "church" or "group". I am just a normal U.S. citizen who feels people who are in positions that affect the lives of others, have a higher standard to adhere to, and that if there is no accountability or reporting of the problem, there is no protection for innocent people who come into their sphere of influence or power and there is no solution to the problem.

Some people may be angry with me because the person I reported happens to be in their circle of friends. Well, I didn't mean to offend you. I made no intentional move to offend you, your friends, or your family. But if I did, why not come to me about it instead of turning into part of the problem and acting like a gang of it's own right? Gangs are not just people who wear certain colors. Gangs are, simply defined, "groups" of people who band together to protect one another and punish others who get in their way or "insult" them. That means there are groups like this in every church, and in law enforcement, and any kind of social organization, at times.

In my opinion, it is one thing to take a stand and just report something of concern, than it is to group together and try to bully someone into silence because you don't like how they look, what they say, or what you may THINK they're trying to do.

What's interesting, is how we make the gangs who wear colors, the "bad guys" and highlight all of their doings, but pay no attention to the group of 4 women riding by in an SUV deliberately mocking someone, or the group of people in a shitty four-door American made sedan who yell out the window to call me a whore (which happened today), or the group of medical professionals who basically cover up evidence and prevent people from getting evidence they need to cure what's wrong and get enough money to compensate for damages. It's interesting how we think a group of 8 cops on the force, who destroy evidence or make false arrests, or drum up charges against someone they don't like, are not part of a "gang". Well, they are, by definition. You don't have to slash someone with a knife or shoot another person (though that also happens under color of law, which means "using the legal right as an excuse for illegal behavior") to be a part of a problem. You could be some group at any church, that goes out of their way to slander another church member for speaking up about something they disagree with. You could be a group of harraunging mothers who sit around over coffee gossiping and trying to figure out a way to make a teacher they don't like, pay for saying something negative said.
about their kid.

It is said that one person's "terrorist" is another person's "freedom fighter". Sometimes the lines are clearly drawn, right? and other times, you just don't know and misinformation feeds the public or group impression that another person or group is highly offensive or dangerous.

The thing is, you can't always protect someone you love, no matter how much you love them, like them, or care about their well-being. Sometimes, covering for the family member that's abusing another is not the loyal or right thing to do. Sometimes, it is very wrong to excuse behavior that may not be affecting YOUR life personally, but has greatly affected the life of someone else. It's understandable to want to shield someone or even be angry, but trying to bully and get revenge, especially if that person really HAS done something wrong, is not the morally right thing to do. It may be that it is your very own father, who covered up a crime, or obstructed justice. You may love this person, but when you think about how many lives have been destroyed or affected by his behavior, do you think you should condone it?

There are other subjects which offend, which someone may take offense to, which are also not intended to be personal. Like someone coming into a town and saying they'd rather not be there and that they are more of a city person. It's an opinion or feeling expressed which is just a personal opinion and not intended for anyone to take personally as if they are the dullard or dimwit or not creative because they just so happen to be living in that town. Some things I write about or express, are nothing more than an expression or impression of the moment, not intended to even be considered as a permanent opinion but part of an ever changing and ever evolving set of perceptions. Sometimes we have firm opinions we think will never change and other times, if you're open to new ideas and always taking things in, your opinions and even sometimes your values can change. It's just not personal, though it's sometimes easy to forget what someone expresses is just of the moment or fleeting.

I talked to someone today who told me people leaned out of their window to make fun of him wearing a headband and sometimes he'll come back from the gym in spandex and he's called gay or attacked verbally and harassed. He's only been here a month from Arizona.

I am just thinking, when I see PROFESSIONAL men and women, and non-professionals, and young and old alike, going out of their way to leer, sneer, or get a point across, why even take the time out of your own lives to criticize me or harass me? I see you, and I DON'T KNOW WHO THE HELL YOU ARE. I am not kidding. I have no idea what your name is, or who you know in the town, and I have no idea why you're yelling at me or glaring at me. Don't you think it would be more effective to constructively approach me and tell me what the issue is and what it is you don't like?

Just the other day, a waitress at a cafe I've gone to often, where I've had a glass of wine or ordered dinner, and always tipped, went out of her way to freak out, in public, and tell me I had to leave because I was "stealing wi-fi without ordering anything." I had been there 15 minutes and her own friends and coworker agreed and someone came to the counter and she stopped her threats. But she actually got in my face and happily, with a sadistic glee, told me if I didn't leave, she was calling "the police" and gave me the eye. It was so bizarre and such an expression of obviously pent up anger torwards me, I just sat there stunned, watching the display unfold. What should I do? Should I be equally inflamed? I wasn't, and that doesn't make me a better person either. It doesn't make me a better person to have had to sit through that and be assaulted verbally for something that didn't make sense. But it made me wonder. And, I felt I had to protect myself from her story unfolding into some huge one-sided version, so I made sure to ask her own buds how long I'd been there (she said a half hour) and I spoke with her coworker. I'm sorry, but the only excuse for that kind of harassment, in my opinion, is pregnancy. If that woman is pregnant, I fully forgive her for the hormones getting in the way of reason. But on the other hand, I thought, "Who does SHE know, that I offended, which made her so angry?" and I even wondered if it was a jealousy thing because she was always keeping an eye on her boyfriend when I was there, even though I never flirted with him and he never once came onto me.

It makes me wonder, the rage with which some people become so consumed, they forget to talk to the supposed "offender" about what's troubling them.

If Wenatchee thinks they have a "gang problem" they need to start looking further than the blue and red and hispanic community and poor white community and start thinking about the gangs that exist in the justice system here, in the medical clinics, in the churches (all of them) and just in general. And if you really hate me or hate what I write, why don't you ask to talk to me about it?

It would seem like a good thing to ONLY write about good stuff. But there is not just "good stuff" going on in Wenatchee, and it is not a "happy place" to be for some. When corruption goes unchecked and underground, and people just want to put on a fake show and hope their buddies from school and intermarriages don't get in trouble, it just allows serious problems to fester, and suddenly, it's not me or one person writing about a problem, it's a bona fide "gang" or investigative agency that is going to take serious action, for better or worse. When you're shining a light on something, it always gets worse before it gets better--the darkest hour is just before dawn. Instead of allowing all of the problems to be like something out of the movie "Hot Fuzz" why not just deal with some of the issues head-on.

I am not your enemy.

I did not come to this town to be Public Enemy #1. I came here to live a normal life, but I just so happen to be a writer and I also happen to care about what happens in the long run, when corruption gets out of hand. That doesn't make me a martyr and I never asked to be one. It also doesn't make me "better" nor do I think I am a better person than anyone else. I do not think I am superior to anyone except perhaps the moral cowards, and everyone, including me, as been a moral coward at some point in their lives, and everyone has the potential to change.

Thanks for listening. I am ready to listen to you too, and to your side, but glaring at me, giving me the finger, shouting out that I'm a "whore" (and then another group yelled at me to "go home") and doing all kinds of bizarre things and making threats, is not informing me about your position on anything.