Robbed, Beaten & Jailed.

Ok, so finally it happened to me! I was robbed. You can't call yourself a true Trinidadian unless you've been robbed at least once!

On returning home Friday night after a party, the maxi [taxi] we were traveling in was hijacked. A couple, another guy [who was crying throughout the incident], my friend, and I were all robbed and beaten [although I think my friend and I were beaten the most] at gun point along the eastern main road.

After getting into the maxi [which was full at Curepe junction] the maxi-driver later stopped to pick up three [3] extra passengers who sat on the floor - they were the robbers. Somewhere along the line, they got up, pointed the gun and told us to empty our pockets. Music was blasting loud in the maxi so no one outside could hear our shouts; we assume the maxi-driver was in on the robbery. After emptying our pockets of everything [including my watch, wallet - equipped with all cards: id, drivers, permit, rituals and subway cards; my shoes, chap stick and two power mints, my peircings, and my list of things to do tomorrow] and constantly beating our faces with the gun-butt, my friend and I were dumped in a drain that we later found out was in Bon Aire East - Arouca.

Lucky to have been alive and close to home. Hey at least we now have stories to tell our grandchildren. Don't you think my eye looks similar to a pokeball [see picture].

Technological viewpoints & solutions:

1. My Face - Self Healing: there's some faint desire in my mind right now to be Wolverine, an X-men character who possesses a healing factor that allows him to recover from virtually any wound. This is far from far-fetched as proven by nanotechnology and human integration research.
2. Property Retrieval: A Simple installation of an RFID tag in cellphones or setting up a GPS tracking network in Trinidad could aid stupendously in property retrieval after robbery or even suspect apprehension. Of course Trinidad is not GPS ready or at least it's still in the infancy stages of it. One example is AccuTracking, a low cost online GPS tracking service using your cell phone to track the current location of your mobile clients.
3. Suspect Apprehension: Well ATM cameras are there for a reason, but in Trinidad they are just for show and tell. After checking with the bank, I was told that one of my accounts were accessed [with minimal monetary loss]. Upon request of a printout of the details, I was told that I had to wait one week. Upon further request for access to or retreival of the surveillance [for police use], I was told it was a long and drawn out process, I had to get an affidavit of some sort form the court, and I had to pay a fee of $300. Now the technology is there - video surveillance - but no one wants to use it to apprehend the suspects. The police are lazy to investigate, the bank staff are lazy to get the tapes, and this country is just a waste of time and life. No wonder there is a "brain drain" in this country.
   

I guess there are more important things than "bandwidth for all" that this government needs to pay attention to; like crime. It's a pity though that they're looking into neither issue. I know it was partly my fault to be traveling at an unsafe hour, but you can't really call this a democratic country if you can't walk freely at nights or at anytime for that matter.

I live in a crime-powered country and I have no bandwidth to occupy myself with while I stay chroot-jailed in my own home.
:S