I understand the need to make a living, but there’s more at stake here than dollars and cents. So, seeing the flashing, neon “OPEN” sign in the window of your beauty salon presented, for me, a moral conundrum. Should I snitch you out? Through the window, I could see you styling a silver-haired client—clearly someone old enough to be disproportionately vulnerable to the dreaded virus. I literally stopped in my tracks to mull over whether to call 3-1-1. Ultimately, I decided against it because of how loathe I was to get anyone tangled up in the criminal justice system over a misdemeanor. Plus, I figured that the flashing light in your window would signal another, perhaps less conflicted, passerby to alert the authorities.
I Saw You is an anonymous “man on the street” column. Email your rants and raves about co-workers or any badly behaving citizens to [email protected], or send to 380 S. First St, San Jose, 95113. Submissions should stick to about 100 words.
