Weekly Roundup: There But For The Grace Of BART Go I
Nine days ago, at 9:30 on a Friday night, the contributor and spouse known as "Danger Girl" stepped onto a BART train at the Oakland Coliseum station. She was on the way to San Luis Obispo to visit a family member who was terminally ill. I don't like it when DG takes public transit; I've seen too much stupidity happen on various subways and elevated trains to ever feel totally comfortable with the idea of my wife in that situation.
But not even in the most racist, classist, bigoted productions of my fevered imagination did I ever predict what actually happened the very next night at that station: forty to sixty "teens" mounted a coordinated attack on occupants of the BART train stopped there. In under five minutes they robbed every single occupant of the train, beating five of them severely enough to send them to the hospital. Some reports indicate that the "teens" singled out a particular family for a vicious attack.
About two out of three BART trains do not have a functioning security camera; this was one of the exceptions. One arrest has already been made. All that this means is that the "teens" will have masks on next time. Don't expect the police to arrest a majority of the perpetrators. The beauty of participating in a robbery like this is that you have a measure of what biologists call "predator satiation"; the cops will grab a few of you for the proverbial slap on the wrist and the rest will go free.
Danger Girl's days as a BART rider are officially over starting now, but surely San Francisco and Oakland locals are starting to consider the best way to counter the next one of these attacks. What's ironic here is that California is the home of the argument that you don't need a high-capacity semiautomatic weapon for self-defense. That's normally very true; I've always said that a five-shot small-frame revolver is sufficient to settle most social situations. Imagine, however, that you are on that train with your children when you see sixty "teens" running towards your train with robbery and assault on their minds. Wouldn't you like to have seventeen in the magazine with a spare mag on the belt? Yes you would. Speaking of assaults on decency, let's see what I got published this past week.
At TTAC, I considered a case of overreaction to the Dodge Demon. I then issued a correction regarding statements made by the Demon-hater in question. I advised a prospective Lexus buyer then asked the readers about dangerous cars in general.
For R&T, I bid farewell to the last real American muscle car.
Next week I'll be offering a modest proposal regarding the Dodge Caravan, considering a few reader questions, and much, much more!