Excessively Moral?

I took my friend Tabitha downtown to not such a nice area last week. If I were reading this I would be wondering why Jessica would do such a thing. She recently came to Uganda to attend a study abroad program. In route her baggage was lost and she was in need of some cheap items to hold her over until her baggage could be claimed. I took her to an area that is more crowded than a can of sardines!!! This area however, has anything(clothes, shoes, batteries, toys, food, hair supplies)anyone could ever want for a very cheap price. Before going we discussed the importance of carrying your bag very close to you due to the high amounts of petty theft.

While we were walking I saw a man following very close to a random girl of which I had no relation. He seemed very suspicious and jumpy. I, being the curious type, followed them for a bit. I then saw him reach his hand in to her purse. Without thinking and just reacting I slapped his hand as if I was scolding a young child for doing something wrong (not that I would ever really slap a child’s hand)! We looked each other in the eyes for a moment. Both of us were as shocked as the other. My shock was derived from my action where as his shock was derived from the fact that a Muzungo (white) had caught him in the act of theft and then assaulted him! He then said sorry in an attempt to not seem suspicious to others standing around us and ran away.

In Uganda if a thief is caught they perform what is called “mob justice.” I have yet to have witnessed such an event being that most thieves are very skilled in what they do. I have been told however, that if one is caught stealing people here do not wait for the police rather they strip the thief (male of female) of all of their clothes and then beat them. I can only presume that the aforementioned thief that I slapped ran quickly to avoid such an occurrence.

When reading this one might think, “good for you Jessica.” In some ways I agree. I stood up for what I believed to be morally wrong. Thinking about it logically however I realize that this man/thief could have easily had a weapon on him and pulled it on me in retaliation. A saying that I often use/hear is that alcohol is liquid courage or stupidity depending on how one looks at it. This is also true to my act; sober mind you. Was it courage or stupidity??? It wasn’t really courage because I didn’t think about it, however it was stupid being that the results could have been detrimental to my safety.

As for the next time such an occurrence happens, I hope I will think before I act, although it is unlikely being my nature. Cheers to being excessively "moral"