Thursday, March 29, 2007
Beat Me, Whip Me, Make Me Eat Cheese
Yesterday in San Diego, two executives of a fence building company were sentenced for knowingly hiring illegal immigrants. Their punishment includes 180 days of home confinement and 1040 hours of community service. They also were fined several hundred thousand dollars.
As I heard this, a realization dawned on me. Home confinement? I work from home. There are days I feel tethered to my computer and phone. I may go outside to pick up the paper. I may walk to the grocery store or to Subway. But there certainly are stretches of several days where my car does not move.
Community service? I do 150, 200 hours each year of volunteer work.
Fines? Well, I live in California. I pay a lot of taxes.
So what is the difference between the punishment for the businessmen who broke the law and my general day-to-day lifestyle?
If you really wanted to punish the businessmen, make them spend three hours each day in LA traffic with no air conditioning and no cell phone. A sig alert every day. They are type A personalities? Make them late for every appointment. That seems to me to be more of a tough sentence than home confinement.
As I heard this, a realization dawned on me. Home confinement? I work from home. There are days I feel tethered to my computer and phone. I may go outside to pick up the paper. I may walk to the grocery store or to Subway. But there certainly are stretches of several days where my car does not move.
Community service? I do 150, 200 hours each year of volunteer work.
Fines? Well, I live in California. I pay a lot of taxes.
So what is the difference between the punishment for the businessmen who broke the law and my general day-to-day lifestyle?
If you really wanted to punish the businessmen, make them spend three hours each day in LA traffic with no air conditioning and no cell phone. A sig alert every day. They are type A personalities? Make them late for every appointment. That seems to me to be more of a tough sentence than home confinement.
