It’s all in the Translation

You don’t generally think of bank robbers as being courteous but that’s the rap (so to speak) on a man who robbed a bank located inside a Kroger in Houston, TX this summer. The video shows Mr. Manners tipping his hat at the teller and wishing everyone in line a wonderful day before making his getaway. Last I heard he was still at large. Authorities admit to being puzzled as to why they haven’t gotten more tips on his identity when they had such a clear shot of his face but my money is on his courteous ways. Mama always said manners would help you get ahead, but I’m pretty sure she wasn’t meaning in a life of crime. Now, surely you know I’m not condoning his behavior. I just thought I’d share because it gives me an excuse to tell y’all about another Texas bank robbery I heard about years ago.

The way I remember it, a Mexican bandit made a specialty of crossing the Rio Grande from time to time and robbing banks in Texas. Finally, a reward was offered for his capture, and an enterprising Texas Ranger decided to track him down.

After a lengthy search, he traced the bandit to his favorite cantina, snuck up behind him, put his trusty six-shooter to the bandit’s head, and said, “You’re under arrest. Tell me where you hid the loot or I’ll blow your brains out.”

The problem was the bandit didn’t speak English, and the Ranger didn’t speak Spanish. So, the Ranger asked a local to translate his message, giving the bandit a choice to come clean with where the money was or die.

After hearing the Ranger’s translated message, the terrified bandit blurted out, in Spanish, that the loot was buried under the oak tree in back of the cantina.
The Ranger turned to the local. “What did he say?” he demanded.

“He say…” the local hesitated, “he say he no afraid to die!”

Hugs,
Shellie