Odd Monument

[alexxkay]

On my way to work, I pass through a little park in the center of Quincy. There is a small stone bench there, with the following inscription:

Dedicated to the strength and courage of all crime victims.
Every victim. Every time.
2007

This seems extremely odd to me.

Are they suggesting that being a crime victim is a good thing, and that we should have more of them? I can't see how that could be accomplished without also increasing crime, which seem like a really bad idea to me.

Are they trying to suggest that all crime victims have extraordinary strength and courage? I thought crime victims were generally selected for their appearance of being weak and not likely to put up a fight. I suppose they could be celebrating the *smallness* of the strength and courage, but that seems unlikely.

Are they celebrating the fact that these victims survived the crimes, and didn't let them ruin their lives? But some of them *didn't* survive, and some lives *were* ruined, so the repeated emphasis on "every" seems counterfactual.

I suppose they might be saying that "If you are a crime victim, you should be strong and courageous about it." That would at least make a little sense. But if that's what they mean, they've phrased it very poorly.

(And for that matter, what are they saying by carving this into a bench? "We think this message should be sat upon"? "People who sit on park benches make great crime victims"?)

Comments

[baron-steffan.livejournal.com]

I'll offer this thought: perhaps this is a subset of what one might call The Pride Meme, the odd phenomenon of folks taking pride in, well, really odd things to be proud of. As you mention, this appears to be saying "All of us/you crime victims are/should be proud of being crime victims, because we/you are all strong and courageous". To which I agree with you: yeah, right, crime victims are often (but no, not always) less than strong and courageous. But we do take pride in odd things, like being gay, or left-handed, or from Pocatello, or liking vinegar on our french fries. Or having been mugged.

Steve

not particularly proud or ashamed of being straight, right-handed, from Boston, liking ketchup on my fries, or having been held up at gunpoint.