As I looked in the newspaper, I saw that a guy for whom I had done some freelance editing and proofreading before -- Richard Elstner -- had lit his car on fire outside a Bank of Hawaii branch. He then went inside, threw red and blue paint around, and set off fire extinguishers.It wasn't just any Bank of Hawaii branch, though -- it was the one I had worked at four years earlier.
On top of that, the person who wrote the story for the Honolulu Star Bulletin -- Leila Fujimori -- was someone I'd worked with at the University of Hawaii student newspaper.
It's not everyday you see somebody you used to work for in the newspaper, and I felt bad for the guy. Still, the circumstances surrounding the story made me feel like I was really part of Hawaiian society. As a Mainland transplant, that feeling was really special.P.S. The Elstner story didn't end there. After avoiding prison, he sued the public relations manager we'd worked with, and despite losing every lawsuit he'd filed (in probate court and civil court with Bank of Hawaii and with the lawsuit with the PR manager), insisted on appealing everything. [Source]
1 comment:
I know Richard, a very nice and normal guy who was screwed unbelieveably by the dirty Bank Of Hawaii, his own family, and those handling his father's will, all rotten scum. When you're done as wrong as Richard was, and left penniless and helpless, you tend to want to do something like he did.
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