Seriously Kidding

On April 8th, Massachusetts resident Robert Wood was at the bank depositing money when a robber pointed a gun in his face demanding cash. Wood apparently thought the whole scenario was a practical joke and defied the robber simply saying "no". The robber threw a bag at Wood telling him to put his money inside threatening to shoot him. Wood threw the bag back at the robber shocking everyone in the bank, including the robber. Wood says, "I think if he had his glasses off he would have had fear in his eyes." The armed man then turned his attention to bank tellers allowing Wood to get a good look at him. Police officers were able to arrest the suspect, Mark Lepage, and charge him with armed robbery. Wood came out of the whole ordeal just fine, though he did get a strong scolding from his worried wife who told him, "You never take anything seriously." He replied with, "That's my nature!"

This story was interesting because how many people really defy the demands of an armed gunman? We all like to think we would have the courage to say no, but when it is life and death, survival instincts come into play and that's the end of it. Maybe Robert Wood's survival instincts are a little slow or maybe he really does have an extremely lax personality. What else can explain how Wood looked at the man pointing a gun in his face and thought he was joking? This was an ironic situation because the robber thought he had power over Wood but in actuality, Wood saw right through the scared gunman. It makes me wonder if many other people had the courage or in this case, the sense of humor, to defy criminals, would the criminals be capable of going through with the act? They are usually faced with little opposition, which makes the crime easier to commit, but when it comes down to pulling the trigger some lack the audacity. This is an experiment I would not be willing to take part in but apparently Wood is. All I can say is Wood is very lucky that the man pointing a gun in his face had the courage of the cowardly lion.