Foiled Abduction
Garbage Men Help Teenager
By Daniel Muniz

Growing up poor and in the barrio, I personally knew that society always had a misperception about poverty in that poor people were in a lower social class. And that lower status had all kinds of negative connotations and a stigma attached to it, as if the poor were not as good as everyone else. It has been that way since the beginning of time and it will probably continue to be that way to the end of time.

And even when my parents were able to leave the barrio and enter the great middle class, which allowed me to start my first day of high school in the suburbs, they had always drilled into me was that first and foremost that it is the content of your character that counts. And it doesn’t matter one bit what the size of your wallet is or where you came from or where you live at, being a good decent person is about values.

Even though we had left the barrio, they reminded me that we were not any better than anyone else because there are good and bad people in all levels of society.

My parents and especially their parents had been through a lot of poverty so even though I was born poor and I had always known the reality of that truth. However, my youth and the affluence of my new environment temporarily clouded my judgment about humanity but that didn’t last long because my parents have always played an influential role in me reaching my maturity especially in regards to any materialistic inclinations.

In fact, there is a recent incident that grabbed the attention of the city I live in but of which did not surprise me one bit.

A 15 year old girl was walking to her high school when 25 year old Jose Jimenez drove up beside her. Jimenez propositioned her for sex but the teenager flatly refused. She immediately walked away and continued on her way to school hoping that this man would leave her alone.

Unfortunately, Jimenez would not take no for an answer and he began to follow the young girl in his car. After stalking her for a short while, he exposed himself and then reached out of the car window to abduct her. In the ensuing struggle, the girl managed to fight off her attacker to break away and flee.

The first adults that the terrified teenager found were a team of three garbage men who were busy at work. The teenager explained to them what had happened to her.

And then Jimenez returned.

Two of the sanitation workers stayed with the girl while the third one chased off the assailant and then was able to corner him with his garbage truck. The garbage man yanked the keys out of the car that Jimenez was driving and dragged him out and then all three workers subdued him to the ground.

Jimenez profusely begged the sanitation workers to be let go and even offered them money and drugs but to no avail.

The police arrived and arrested the pervert and booked him with indecency with a child by contact.

The three garbage men, Steve Aguirre, Joe Mendez, and Hector Villaneuva, have a combined work experience of 31 years. And all three of them are decent people who felt compelled to help a fellow human being in dire need especially in an emergency like this that could have been tragic.

One of the sanitation workers, Steve Aguirre said:

"I give the girl credit for coming up and being strong, confiding in us... yes at the same time I know my blood was boiling as soon as she mentioned the word...you know... what the man was trying to do."

Source: KENS 5 Eyewitness News

The school district of where the girl goes to school recognized and honored the three men.

And from what my parents instilled in me, I wasn’t surprised at all at the courage that these men exhibited. They were ordinary people who did an extraordinary deed.

There are good people at all economic levels and my folks sternly reinforced that concept in me.

Unfortunately, the working poor often do get a bum rap from society that is truly undeserved. Such a broad generalization and characterization is unfair but it really doesn’t matter because it is really your character, not your income that determines if you are a good decent person.

And that is a realization that I want to be able to impart on my own children as they grow older.

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