4 - Sunday, October U1, 1987 - North Shore News Bob Hunter @ strictly personal ® THE BEST crime story so far this year was the one about the escaped convicted bank robber who walked in- to his own bank on Granville Street in downtown Van- couver, withdrew $30 from his own account, then whip- ped out his gun and demanded a roll of cash from two tellers. As he strolled out the door, he is reported to have said: ‘‘Don’t worry about it. You know who | am.” That has to be the best bank robbery line of all time! Or at least the dumbest. Hard to tell which. But then, great lines are like that: enigmatic. Think what Woody Allen would do with this scene. I’m amazed no producers have mate- tialized to insist on throwing tremendous gobs of cash at some deserving scriptwriter to make a movie about the ‘‘You-know- who-I-am’”’ bandit. The gentleman in question had been serving an 18-year sentence for armed robbery when he fled ‘Booze who’ on the North Shore RECENT CONVICTIONS in North Shore courts have resulted in the following fines and convic- trons: for drinking: and = driv- ing-related offences. Mandatory licence suspension is in addition to published penalties. NORTH VANCOUVER COURTS: Sheldon Roger Bradie, ‘2161 Monteray St., Coquitlam (over .08, $750 fine); Allan John Robinson, 835 Lillooet Rd., North Vancouver (over .08, $700 fine); lan Smith, 1670 Deep Cove Rd., North Vancouver (over .08, $700); Norman Garth Cunningham, 883 W. 16th St., North Vancouver (over .08, $1,000 fine); Patrick Michael Onions, 7634 McCallum View, Grand Forks (over ,08, $750 fine). from Elbow Lake, a federal min- imum security prison in the Fraser Valley, some five months before. Since then he’d been working at a bakery, had opened his own bank account, and was surviving on the lam until he pulled this bizarre caper. The cops are all over his case now. His picture has appeared in the papers. What made him go to his own bank, of all banks? Was it an ex- ercise in chutzpah? Was he un- able to stand the pressure of liv- ing underground any longer? Was he secretly wanting to be recaptured so he could enjoy the security of prison again? Was it just his vanity that Amgard Security Stons Burglars and Intruders “Betore they get in” Remote Control & Wireless Operations Designed for reliable war- ning of intruders, fire, and other emergencies. “FIVE-YEAR FULL WARRANTY” We also offer Portable Protection — design your own security zone for your vehicle, vacation home, motel, vessel, etc. Take action now to in- crease protection of your loved ‘ones and possessions. Phone 987-7400 7 Yor problems with algebra threaten to hold a student back, you need to find a solution. Fast. Because the longer you wait, the further behind your son or daughter will fall. Sylvan Learning Centre can help. We'll teach a student to con- quer the basics of algebra—and give him or her a better start toward a successtul future. The tirsi step: An appraisal of a student's current abilities. We begin by pinpointing a stu- dent's strengths and weaknesses in numeration, fractions, sets, operations, polynomials and factoring. Then, based on the test results, we tailor an algebra pro- gtam to meet his/her needs. The duration of the program varies. A student may need to review and reinforce basic math overwhelmed him? That's possi- ble toa. Maybe there’s a clue in his age. Could well be. He was 47. Late mid-life male identity breakdown? Might have been tanked-up or wired. Probably just crazy. Whatever the case, there is something about this guy and his fate that makes me sit up and wonder about life, what we do with our fives, how we do ourselves in. Our unbashful bank robber, while an extreme case, was acting out something that I see in all of us. It varies in degree. Certainly | have never encountered anyone who was quite so spectacularly self-destructive before, but f have met a lot who were nearly so. Back in the '60s, in the era when marathon T-groups and gestalt therapy were new, there was a lot of talk about taking re- sponsibility for one’s own destiny. It was a part of the lex- icon of the time: Why am I doing this to myself? To this day, there remains an influential school of psychology which has as its starting point the - = LIFESTYLE — PROGRAMS * Smoking Cessation © Stress Management © Weight @ Introductory Control Fitness For information contact the YMCA NASA Technology RCAGL ES | PUT YOUR MONEY IN . THE BANK, NOT IN YOUR TANK!! 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Reincarnationists would say each lifetime is merely the soul trying on different experiences for size. Leaving the total cosmological meaning of life aside for the moment, let us simply note in passing that bank robbers who deposit calling cards ut the scene of the crime are nothing if not self-fulfilling prophets. As a therapist might say, they must want to be doing this. For all their griping, people wind up mostly doing what they want to be doing. My late guru Henry Miller remarked that anybody who says they would rather be doing something other than what they are doing is kid- ding themselves. Robbing a bank is a perfectly traditional undertaking. !'m not offering a value judgetient, you understand. I’a1 just saying that bank-robbing, while not being the oldest profession, is quite possibly the second or third oldest. It can’t predate the invention of money, since banks couldn’t be said to exist until then, but the setting up of the firs: vault must have instantly invented the idea of stealing what was in there, by force or stealth — those being the only means, since sweet reason wasn’t going to work then any more than it does now. Can you imagine going up to a teller and saying: “Listen, I’m going to explain to you why | should be trusted with, say, a billion dollars.’’ And after you stated your beautifully-ar- ticulated case, she said: ‘You're right. Absolutely. Here." One thing you do have to ad- mit about our vociferous bank tobber. He sure knew how to make himself vulnerable, eh? Presented by Bob Warkentin Too many people live too much in the past. The past must be a springboard, not a sofa. -Harold MacMillan A positive attitude can enhance the value of almost every experience. -Anonymous ~ * ! recommend you to take care of the minutes, and the hours will take care of themselves. -Lord Chesterfield eo ® One way to have a happy life is to learn to like the things you have to do. ~Goethe CAPILANO MALL 20-90% ore Selecied Fall merchandise. Limited time offer. Good selection and value. GREASE TRAILS Box 425, Stn. A, Kelowna, B.C. W1Y 7P1 Dear Mr. Tilley watked in the steps of Sit Alexander Mackenzie, wear: ing my Tilley hat... The Alexander Mackenzie Trail Association works to. preserve and enhance 450 km of Mackenzie's overland route from the Fraser River near Quesnel, 8..C, to the Pacific. The trails he followed were the prehistoric In- dian “grease trails". many of which remain today as Mackenzie recorded them. .f like that hat, so | bought shorts and pants as well. So did my wife. If you have been to Expo you will have noticed the nods of recognition among the Tilley hat- fair goers. John Woodworth Mr. Woodworth is president of the AMTA: we thank him for his letter. Drop in, Phone or Write. New Hours: Mon-Sat. 10-5; Open Fri. til 7 Alexander Tilley Barbara Tilley 1559 Pemberton Ave., North Vancouver 980-2631