Karen Bune
Victimology Contributor
Officer.com
Got a problem with the way your sandwich is made? No problem-- simply dial ‘911’ and expect the police to respond with red lights and siren to ensure that you get all the ingredients that you want on the sandwich. That’s exactly what Reginald Peterson did in Jacksonville, Florida. When a sandwich shop omitted the all important and “must have†sauce on his sandwich, he apparently could not figure out a legitimate way to communicate his dire need to employees of the sandwich shop so, instead, he called the police and explained his “emergency.â€
When police did not immediately rush to the scene at high rates of speed, they immediately became victims of Mr. Peterson’s disapproval. He became even more distressed that they did not share his pain and, with a level of increased anguish, he, once again, dialed “911. This time, Mr. Peterson complained the police were taking too long to answer the call. All the while, employees of the store remained rational, focused on their own safety, and locked Mr. Peterson out of the store after observing his belligerent behavior.
Though Mr. Peterson considers himself a ‘victim,†he is as far from being one as the man in the moon. To the contrary, Mr. Peterson victimized others—the store employees, the police department, the community, and all those who were subjected to his tantrum-like display of infantile dissatisfaction. When the police arrived, Mr. Peterson had to explain to him the proper use of 911 amidst his grumbling about his wronged sandwich.
Perhaps when he is in court facing the judge for his violation of the law, he could benefit from a sentence of community service as a payback for tying up law enforcement officers on a bogus call, an anger management course to calm his volatile outbursts, and a period of probation akin to “time out†for children that is analogous to his demonstration of child-like behavior.
