Pizza stabbing brings justifiable concerns
Senseless acts of violence are always supposed to happen somewhere else, to someone else. At least that appears to be the popular line of thinking, or our version of denial.
It’s all too easy to believe a drive-by shooting will never take place in Warren County. After all, that only happens in big cities like New York or Los Angeles.
It’s much more pleasant to think a pizza delivery driver will never be attacked on the outskirts of McMinnville city limits. It’s comforting to feel a complete stranger would not viciously attack another person with a knife to the throat here in the Nursery Capital.
Unfortunately, that perfect house surrounded by a white, picket fence doesn’t always remain so squeaky clean. And we are faced with the unpleasant reality that life can be dangerous right here in our very own backyards.
Since word has spread about the pizza delivery driver who was ruthlessly attacked Saturday night, the Standard has fielded a number of questions. One of the most recurring themes is, “What has happened to Warren County? What has happened to that cozy little town where it was once OK to leave your doors unlocked?”
Well, that town is still here, only with a 2003 twist. Warren County will never again return to the slower days of yesteryear when doctors still made house calls, the strip was a two-lane road, and small children could play outside unattended. Yes, those days have vanished but we can never forget what a caring community we have.
Warren County is a great place to call home, but like the rest of the country, it’s a place that’s not immune from the drugs and violence of today’s society. It’s a place where it pays to use caution and where common sense cannot be ignored.
Saturday’s attack could have very well been avoided if the pizza delivery person Elisha Boles wasn’t sent to a house with no electricity. The caller even said as much when he phoned in the pizza order.
But hindsight always provides perfect vision and the ability to see the right choices. We must take a great deal of thanks from this incident and be sure to learn from it in the future.
We must take thanks in the fact Elisha Boles was able to have the strength to escape her attacker and find a good-hearted citizen willing to call 911. We must take thanks in the fact she has already been released from the hospital and is back at home.
But we must also remember Warren County is not an enchanted forest. While this county is a nice place to live, we have very serious problems like the rest of America. That means it’s best to listen to gut instincts and proceed with the utmost caution, especially when personal safety is concerned. Saturday’s attack has taught us that much.