What Is This For?

One mantra that I drummed into my children, and anyone else who would listen, was, “What is this for?” Or after the fact, “Is that what this is for?” I continually challenged them to ask themselves that question before they did something.

It could be as simple as using a knife blade to turn a screw, or using a toy as a hammer to drive a nail back into the wood. We had a few broken knives and damaged toys, but thankfully, nothing big to explain.

This training played in my head as I read about five Michigan teens who were tossing tires and rocks off an overpass on I-75 at cars passing underneath. Several cars were damaged, and the passenger in one van was fatally injured by the missile.

Evidently, none of these boys, now adults in the eyes of the law, ever asked, “Is that what this is for?” “Rock, overpass, throw rock at car.” Nope, that is not in the handbook of sensible uses for rocks.

As a result, a young father is dead, a young family is fatherless, and five families are coping with criminal charges for their children. And that is not to mention the civil damages that will almost surely be awarded to the owners of the damaged vehicles and the gigantic award awaiting the murdered man’s family.

Yes, you read that right. It was murder. Second degree murder is committing an act that is capable of taking a life without a specific target in mind. Premeditated murder differs in the fact that a specific individual was targeted. The charges may be pled down to first degree manslaughter, but that is still a felony and usually involves significant jail time.

A youth director who led the group my children attended confessed to the kids and parents that he had been convicted, as a teen, of manslaughter. Years later, he was still affected by the consequences, both legal and moral. He warned them to consider the long term ramifications of actions before “doing something dumb.”

“Is that what this is for?” sometimes still causes me to delay an action until I can get the proper tool or whatever, but that delay is minuscule to the one resulting from misuse. (Do I ever get away with “cheating?” Occasionally, but more often I am stuck with repairing or replacing the damaged item and then completing the action with the proper equipment. The instances are coming farther and farther apart.)

Is that what this is for? It may save a life–even your own.