I knew an old lady who swallowed a fly …

The resolution of a situation almost always follows a chain of events that starts from a less consequential choice but ends in a more serious outcome. Recently we had a deputy attempt to pull over a vehicle and when it failed to yield, it proceeded to drive somewhat of a circle around the area he lived in. He did not drive very fast, and about the time the deputy thought maybe the driver was trying to play ring around the rosy, he pulled over and gave up.

It was a little surprising that he just gave up like that, and after talking to him, he said he had warrants and did not know what to do. Although he still made a bad decision, he did what many fail to do and stopped the chain of events that could have led to something much worse.

Sometimes when I listen to the stories told by some of the people who stay in our facility, I think back to the old nursery song of the old lady who swallowed a fly. Each animal she eats becomes larger and larger. The small crime grows just a little more to cover the error of the first one. Before you know it, you have turned an infraction into a misdemeanor, and then a misdemeanor into a felony. Then one felony turns into two, and three.

I had a person tell me this story that followed a domino effect and changed his life forever. It started with smoking a little marijuana with some friends. He thought there was no harm in this because everyone smokes a little pot, right? After he started smoking marijuana, he let one of his friends convince him to try some pills for an even “better feeling.” After the pills came just a little meth, and before he realized it, he was beginning to have trouble not taking meth on a regular basis.

This was an expensive habit and he found himself without the money to support it, so the next wrong turn in this chain of events was to shoplift to help buy just enough drugs to get him by. He was caught shoplifting and as a result, lost his job because he was in jail and could not show up on time for work. Once he lost his job, he started breaking into houses and selling what he took to buy meth and food.

But one house he broke into happened to have someone inside when he broke in. This not only got him arrested again, but also increased the severity of the crime because someone was inside. He was in jail a little longer this time and while in jail, found himself listening to the stories of others that were much like his. As much as he wanted to change, once released from jail, he again found himself stealing from others to buy the drugs he still craved so badly. It was not long before he was in a vehicle with a friend when a police officer attempted to pull them over and they ran because they both had warrants.

While they were running they hit another vehicle hurting the other driver, and after running on foot, ended up fighting with the police officer as he was being arrested. When it was all said and done, he was facing multiple felony charges that included possession, assault on law enforcement, and reckless endangerment. He said that while he was spending his time in prison, he could not count how many times he thought back to that first day and wished he had made a different decision.

He told me that he was released from prison a few days before Christmas and sent to stay with his grandparents because they were the only ones that had ever been there for him. As a result, he was able to get his life back on track and now Christmas is his favorite time of the year because it reminds him of when he changed his life. Although Christmas is the time of the year for giving to others, every day can be a day of giving and helping someone who needs nothing more than to know that you care, and you are there to help them.