Things I Don’t Understand

From today’s GR Press —

LOWELL TOWNSHIP — A 65-year-old Lowell woman was undergoing facial surgery early today after a homemade bomb flew about 40 feet through the air on Monday, went inside a passing car she was riding in and burned her, police said.
Frances Bernadette Thomas was being treated at Spectrum Health Butterworth Campus for serious injuries.
Kent County sheriff’s deputies said a 20-year-old Lowell man was at a friend’s house in the 13000 block of Grand River Drive about 6:30 p.m. when he filled a foot-long metal pipe with gunpowder and a paper towel. The man lit the explosive, which flew through the car window, striking Thomas.

What could possibly be going through someone’s head when they do something like that? I was a pretty heedless young man at age 20, I guess. Multiply that heedlessness by a factor of N and you get bomb throwing?

8 thoughts on “Things I Don’t Understand”

  1. Maybe he was thinking “Happy 4th of July”?

    Our neighbors across the street had some mongo (pony keg-sized) fireworks last night, and enough to last for over an hour. A few times cars going by had to stop in the middle of the street to allow a given firework to fizzle out. At one point I muttered “Now you know how it feels to be on patrol in Baghdad, fucker” to a a big-ass Escalade.

    I even documented a few minutes of it, but sadly the lo-res streaming version messes up my lovely “feet in the flicker of candlelight” shot. :-)

  2. I dunno, man, I don’t think of bombs made of *metal pipes full of gunpowder* as being for the sake of patriotic visual excitement, but maybe I would if I was a 20 year old in Lowell.

    We were driving around town and saw a lot of pretty extreme homemade fireworks on our way to and from the show downtown, but nothing approaching a foot long pipe full of gunpowder, as far as I know.

  3. You and I both knew a guy in high school (we’ll call him Jerry M.) who regularly made pipe bombs for his own entertainment. This was a guy who was fascinated with ninjas, collected weapons and later went into the army (military police). I have no idea what the army made of him, but I think he’s long since out of it now.

    So far as I know, however, he never was stupid enough to throw a pipe bomb through a car window.

  6. On the one hand, I can understand why he made it. When I was 8 I dreamt up the same thing using a toilet paper tube. On the other hand, when I was 8 I was smart enough to realize it probably wasn’t a Good Idea.

    Lastly, he didn’t throw it. Based on the material it was made from, I bet my bottom dollar it did the bottle rocket thing.

    So while I don’t think he should be charged with maliciousness, I DO think he should get nailed for negligence, and do some pretty serious reparations.

  7. Some fireworks are legal in Michigan. Not pipe bombs, I’m prety sure.

    Id’ forgotten about Jerry M, Jim. This would be totally up his alley.

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