Can we use ‘technicality’ to overcome prejudices?

By Rasha Almaqaleh

Carnival is a popular Catholic festival which is held every year in all parts of Italy during the period of February to March. People celebrate in the streets walking in beautiful parades, wearing masks and funny costumes. They also eat special dishes and desserts. We were lucky to attend one of those celebrations in Rome with some friends.

On that day, while I was taking some photographs of the festival, I accidentally saw two young men standing next to each other. Then, to my surprise, one of them put one of his feet on something lying on the ground, and the other was looking around to make sure that no one was watching. The first bowed to the ground and picked up the thing so quickly. I had a chance to look at it and I found out it was a smart phone! Then, the two young men walked away!

At that moment, I got confused and I did not know what to do. Obviously, someone lost their smart phone and I saw the person who took it. All I managed to do was to ask our friends to check their cell phones. They did, but nothing was missing!

So, I forgot the whole thing and got involved with the festival. The parade was about to leave the celebration area to a larger one. People headed to their cars or to the buses that brought them. Then, I saw an African lady crying. She refused to get on the bus saying her cell phone was missing! She wept while saying it was a brand new Galaxy S-4 that cost a fortune! The woman was definitely collapsing and I felt kind of guilty and responsible.  I darted towards her and told her about the two men who took the cell phone off the ground and that I accidentally took some pictures of them. I showed her the photos. We looked around but the place was almost empty because everyone left. I told her that there was a good chance the two guys already moved with the parade to the larger square. The lady felt hopeful and we immediately got on the bus and headed over to the big square.

 Once we arrived there, the lady and I started searching for the two men. It wasn’t easy at all as the square was really big and full of celebrating people and their children. After half an hour of the thorough search, I saw one of them! He was standing with a group of girls and guys. They were all talking and laughing. Fortunately, there was a police car nearby and there were some policemen standing next to it and chatting. We rushed to them and told them what happened. One of them came with us and asked us to show him the person. I pointed at the man and the policeman went directly to him. The finder was puzzled when the police officer came to him and gently pulled his arm to get him out of the group. He thought it was about the gun he was holding, so he explained to the policeman that it was just a toy gun and that it was a part of the costume he was wearing. The policeman told him about our claim and the man was stunned. He was embarrassed. Then, he put his hand into his pocket and grabbed the cell phone. He handed it over to the policeman and said that they weren’t thieves! They just found the cell phone on the ground and they were about to announce this!  The policeman then took the cell phone and gave it to its owner, the African lady. She bent at her knees in front of me and burst into tears, expressing how thankful and grateful she was for my help.

  

 What really annoyed me was the policeman’s reaction afterwards. He was keen to explain to us the difference between ‘steeling’ something and ‘finding’ it! For me, He was just defending a wrong act depending on technicality. I knew for sure that those who took the cell phone weren’t planning to return it despite their claim. They would have never given it back , if we hadn’t got them. I truly wonder what if it were the opposite; if an African person found a cell phone and kept it for themselves, and an Italian guy went to the policeman to complain about it. Would the policeman side with the African and justify that taking something which doesn’t belong to you is different than steeling it?! Would he depend on technicality to describe the situation or would he just judge by stereotypes and prejudices?!