The box cutter bandit
Trevor's Take
Trevor Hutchinson is a writer, musician and not-for-profit executive. He lives in Lindsay with his wife and three of their children.
I had truly planned to write something pithy and humorous (well, to me at least) for this month’s edition. I ended up binge-watching some Wayne & Shuster. Their take on the assassination of Julius Caesar, ‘Get the Blood off my Toga’ skit is hilarious. Riffing on the Ides of March (which interestingly was also the day Roman’s taxes were due) was about to inspire comedic gold.
But within 12 hours, jokes that ultimately centre around someone being stabbed multiple times kind of lost their appeal when someone attempted to rob me by knifepoint in Lindsay. The attempt was unsuccessful. I received a punch in the head. Any cash I had, and my phone, remained in my possession.
The perpetrator picked the wrong guy on the wrong night. I’m old and weaker than I used to be, but I was once in the army and if I learned anything there it was how to react in a situation. It should be noted: it wasn’t a knife per se; more like the cheapest dollar store box cutter one could buy or steal.
I did not call the cops. It was dark, I had no real description, and I had suffered no loss. I was pulsating with an adrenaline I thought I had lost years ago, and if I’m honest I was in a post-traumatic situation. Also, the punch in the head (which would have been very minor to a healthy person) aggravated a pre-existing brain injury, further affecting my memory the next day. And this is meant in no way to impugn our outstanding constabulary, but my last three break-in reports were just that: reports into the data ether. One gets jaded I guess. On the advice of counsel, all of this hypothetically happened.
I’m fairly positive the guy was on drugs, but that doesn’t exactly narrow things down in, well, any town or city in the world right now. I am privileged to do a bit of travelling and every town or city I have been in is affected by petty probably-drug-related crime.
Whoever he is, I feel sorry for him and not just about his shame of a late-50s grandpa taking him to school. No doubt there have been bad decisions and defaults of character that led to this moment or his current life. But our social supports are inadequate. Our healthcare system is crumbling. Mental health resources are scarce beyond measure. Housing is beyond impossible, even for some people with full-time jobs. Complex problems need science-based, complex and interconnected solutions. The war on drugs is an absolute joke. It has never worked anywhere, ever. Fully legalizing and providing all drugs has helped in Portugal, for example. But that is an argument for another day.
But anyone suggesting that this can be solved by getting tougher on crime and magically increasing treatment without funding, is well, on drugs.
Gee, Trevor, that sounds like a very nasty incident. I am glad to hear you suffered no loss and, hopefully, no permanent damage resulting from a punch to the head on top of an existing previous head injury but I hope you will take care of yourself and not hesitate to seek medical help, should you require it.
Some years ago, I was assaulted by someone who was also likely suffering from some sort of mental health dysfunction as his rage was unprovoked, unanticipated, and over the top. I didn’t report it to police either as he was the employee of a local charity that I did not want to suffer the public negativity that might have attracted. However, like you, I suffered the effects of a minor assault on top of a pre-existing head injury and related traumatic stress criminal injury. For days afterwards, I could not have told you what time or day it was, my sleep became peppered with screaming nightmares, and my already exaggerated startle was aggravated to screaming at shadows and at movements in my peripheral vision. Unlike you, though, I sought out care from a Ross Memorial Trauma Nurse who assessed my condition and confirmed the injury I’d sustained. I was glad I did that because it provided me with the care I needed to stabilize the symptoms associated with the injury and it kept a record I could rely on in case my condition deteriorated and I needed to try to civilly recoup any damages.
In Canada, the “thin skull doctrine” or “crumbling skill doctrine” makes a defendant liable for the plaintiff’s injuries even if the injuries are unexpectedly severe owing to a pre-existing yet stable condition.
As for what might cure the rise in dangerous drug use, my view is that no one could access the dangerous drugs currently for sale on all our streets if our borders were better policed and local laboratories shut down. I think the reason they are not must be because there is such a good return for investors in government corruption.
“Crumbling skull doctrine” not “crumbling skill doctrine” – my typo.