Jodi Arias Trial Raises Parenting Questions
Thanks to Jodi Arias — the confessed murderer who is on trial for the brutal killing of her ex-boyfriend — Pasadena is known for one more thing.
Granted, the idea that Arias filled up a few gas cans at a local Arco station doesn’t measure up to the city’s world-renowned Rose Parade and Rose Bowl game, but this four-month courtroom drama in Mesa, Ariz. comes pretty close.
“Which Arco station?” my household young adult, who is fascinated with the “sex, lies and grizzly murder” trial, wanted to know. But that piece of information hasn’t been mentioned as it probably has little to do with the prosecution’s quest for the death penalty.
Not to be put off by a lack of tidbits, my household member went on to speculate that local media would surely be tracking down which Arco station was involved. Following that discovery, they would be looking for any and everyone who spotted the young mentally disturbed Arias as she filled up her rental car for that deadly drive to Mesa, where she is alleged to have killed Travis Alexander by shooting him and slicing him 29 times.
I keep hearing this is a story too grizzly for the public to hear, particularly people who are positive thinking.
Just like Pasadena ain’t all roses, neither is life. And too many folks, particularly parents, choose not to see the thorns as they emerge on the children we raise. The signs are there. Is it that parents don’t care? Is it that parents can’t see? Maybe we don’t know the meaning behind what we see. Maybe we don’t know what to do.
Jeffrey Dahmer and other serial killers in their younger years murdered and mutilated animals, sometimes their own pets
Uh, where were the parents?
In police interviews, Arias’ mother and father describe her as a kid with a problem personality that included constant lying.
A lot of parents simply see the lies their little darlings tell as a part of creativity and having a vivid imagination. The kid is both clever and cute, according to Mom — maybe not always Pop. But this ruse is continued, even after their child should be old enough to distinguish between fantasy and reality.
Whether or not the Pasadena media folk track down which gasoline station Arias stopped at to fill her gas cans — which have now become a cliff-hanger piece of evidence — doesn’t matter.
What does matter is that the City of Roses is an integral part of the court transcripts and that people everywhere, once again, are enchanted with who we are.
Are we more than a parade and a football game? Are we more than a mystery Arco station where an alleged murderess stopped to, in part, sustain her calculated and vicious plot?
Shouldn’t we also be known as a city that provides resources for parents, helping them understand their children’s behavior and where to go when they need help?
