Advice from a Lemon

"I hope he is prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law." So says a quote from Bridgewater Board of Selectman, Herb Lemon, in Thursday's Boston Globe.
Mr. Lemon added, "I don't care what this person's background is, homeless or not, there is no excuse for it."

The heinous crime? Did he hurt someone or worse molest a child under the guise of priestly protection?

No. On a hot day, a homeless man dressed in dirty jeans, a thick leather jacket over a hooded fleece and known by residents to be living rough in local woodland, put his hand in a change jar at a roadside lemonade stand and took out $8 instead of paying for his drink.
The stand was set up and being run by children aged 8 to 12 in aid of Relay for Life, an annual cancer walk of the American Cancer Society. The children, who appeared shaken and voiced disbelief at the alleged theft from their charity effort, had raised $40 towards their target of $100 after 4 hours work.

Yes, people should not take money from children; yes, children have a right to sell lemonade for a good cause (especially if they had a hawker's license and a charity registration).

However, people of America, Selectman of Bridgewater, Boston Globe -- let's get things into perspective.

A homeless man, overdressed on a hot day, living in woodland is arrested and charged with personal larceny, which carries a maximum sentence (fullest extent of the law) of 24 to 36 months in prison for $8. The Globe reporter and photographer is on hand to snap pictures of a cowered man being led away in handcuffs and a second police officer handing dollar bills (the evidence) back to a group of 8 children.

Does this make any sense?

Doesn’t this AMERICAN man need help, at least as much as an American Cancer Society and at least as much as people in other countries that the USA is pouring billions of dollars into? When arrested he still had the $8 on him. That's it; no other means to pay for a glass of lemonade was mentioned.

Perhaps Mr. Lemon's call for retribution came from his heart and not his head, since he has just finished a course of cancer treatment and was grateful for the funding of research that allowed such treatment?

It is a petty he had not just finished a course of being homeless. He might have had a trace of compassion for those for whom a lack of treatment or a glass of lemonade on a hot day is a way of life.