The Kavanaugh hearing presents a woman who says she was assaulted 35 years ago and a man who says he did not take part in that assault. Much has been made of whether or not Dr. Ford is lying or Judge Kavanaugh is lying. But what if this is just a case of mistaken identity? What if Ford was assaulted but by some other guy who had nothing whatsoever to do with Kavanaugh. That too is possible. After all, it was 35 years ago, and none of us look like we did 35 years ago.
The question reminds me of an incident in my own past. When I was almost 10 years old and in the fourth grade, I was at band practice in my elementary school. Suddenly, there was a bit of a commotion and the band teacher told me that I had to go to the principal's office immediately. I did that. When I got there, I was told that I had been identified as one of two boys who had attacked and beaten another child the previous evening. The victim even told the principal that I had hit him with the case to my trumpet.
At that point, I reacted as many 9 year olds would: I started to cry. I said that it wasn't me. I hadn't done anything of the sort. I had not been on the street at 8 o'clock the previous evening. I had been home. The principal then said that the fact that I was crying showed that I felt guilty.
Now when I was in fourth grade, I was one of the tallest kids. I looked like I could have been in sixth grade. And I had the tell-tale instrument case. In front of me there was a boy who had bruises on his face and who kept saying that it was me. But it wasn't.
Fortunately for me, I had been sitting in the living room of my house the night before at 8:00 watching TV with my parents and my sister. My mother came from work and gave me my alibi. The incident was over, but I was upset by it for a long time. I kept looking for the boy who had been attacked to come after me to get revenge for something that I hadn't done.
I know that if I had been outside that evening instead of watching TV, I would have been branded the attacker. I do not know what would have been the result of that, and fortunately I never had to find out. I just know that you can't jump to conclusions in cases like these. It's something worth keeping in mind.
The question reminds me of an incident in my own past. When I was almost 10 years old and in the fourth grade, I was at band practice in my elementary school. Suddenly, there was a bit of a commotion and the band teacher told me that I had to go to the principal's office immediately. I did that. When I got there, I was told that I had been identified as one of two boys who had attacked and beaten another child the previous evening. The victim even told the principal that I had hit him with the case to my trumpet.
At that point, I reacted as many 9 year olds would: I started to cry. I said that it wasn't me. I hadn't done anything of the sort. I had not been on the street at 8 o'clock the previous evening. I had been home. The principal then said that the fact that I was crying showed that I felt guilty.
Now when I was in fourth grade, I was one of the tallest kids. I looked like I could have been in sixth grade. And I had the tell-tale instrument case. In front of me there was a boy who had bruises on his face and who kept saying that it was me. But it wasn't.
Fortunately for me, I had been sitting in the living room of my house the night before at 8:00 watching TV with my parents and my sister. My mother came from work and gave me my alibi. The incident was over, but I was upset by it for a long time. I kept looking for the boy who had been attacked to come after me to get revenge for something that I hadn't done.
I know that if I had been outside that evening instead of watching TV, I would have been branded the attacker. I do not know what would have been the result of that, and fortunately I never had to find out. I just know that you can't jump to conclusions in cases like these. It's something worth keeping in mind.
No comments:
Post a Comment