I’m shocked, almost. Our paper *did* publish my letter to the editor.
The called it “Nothing to Laugh About During Bank Robbery” and edited it only to mention the actual article to which I was referring.
I feel a little better now.
I really don’t get why the html won’t work–
But this group is called “Giving Victims a Voice,” and it’s specifically intended for anyone who’s been a victim of a crime in the Lehigh Valley of PA. Writing about my experience has been liberating, and I think others might benefit from the opportunity to semi-publicly share what they’ve been through.
I finally wrote a very short letter to the editor of my paper, specifically regarding the statement that I had laughed during the robbery. That nonsense has been eating at me–and today a former coworker told me a fellow teller at another bank had asked her why on earth I had laughed at him. While I appreciate that Mr Cavallo Sr understands my situation to some extent, I simply can’t go on letting the “world” think that I believed that the whole thing was a joke. If it gets published I’ll throw in a link. If it doesn’t I’ll post it here later.
all in my latest witchvox essay!
I don’t know how many of you are or have ever been bank tellers or other members of the service industry who are, every day, asked to place their lives on the line for little pay and little or no respect. I am a former bank teller. In 2005 I experienced my first robbery. In 2006 I went through the second, this time as the target.
James Cavallo Jr had pleaded guilty to robbing me, at the bank where I worked. Some might argue that technically he robbed the bank, but the bank didn’t take his note, and the bank didn’t fear for its life. The media coverage has been spectacular, if you’re a Cavallo. First, there was the People magazine article calling his Asst Police Chief dad a “hero” for turning him in when he recognized his son in the surveillance video. My special moment? The back of my head is in the still they show from our cameras. Next we have all of the coverage in out local paper, the latest article on Father’s Day, speaking of daddy’s “tough love” and how Jr has forgiven him for turning him in. Between this article and the last, I discovered that Jr did *not* tell me he had a gun, and also that I laughed when he handed me the note. Funny that. As I recall, he was all coked up at the time–at least, that’s what I was told. I’m sure that “enhances” his memory, though…Not only did his note specify that he had a gun, but while I clamped my jaw shut so tight that I later hurt for DAYS and was so angry that I actually bent the key in the lock getting his longed-for $20s, he insisted that I hurry up, and reminded me more than once that he had a gun. I didn’t laugh. If I had done anything except stay silent and act like a robot bad things would most surely have happened. It must be much easier for his wife to believe I thought it was a joke, and that it never occurred to me that her waste of a husband might also rob my children of their mother, being a mother herself. I wonder how Mr Cavallo Jr would feel if one of his drug buddies held up his wife trying to collect on money he owes? I wonder if he would feel sorry for them, and shake his head sadly, bemoaning how drugs did it all, the way he and his family expect the rest of us to react.
By pleading guilty, Mr Cavallo Jr has “spared” me the inconvenience of appearing in court to testify. In actuality, as both his father and lawyer know, what he has done is AGAIN robbed me, this time of speaking as the victim has the right to do, at his trial.
For fun and giggles, please feel free to read the article at The Morning Call.
