There are places in the world where it seems time slows down. It’s peaceful and quiet. When you step outside, on any given day, you don’t hear the roar of traffic or the bang, bang, bang of a hammer. You hear the birds sing and the wind rustle the trees.

Sounds great, doesn’t it?

I didn’t always think it was so wonderful, but the older I get, the better it seems.

I once thought the only thing to do in this small Alabama town on a Sunday afternoon was to sit around and watch the cars rust.

Boy, was I wrong.

This week, I heard a story from some of my cousins that has changed my mind.

I’ve heard about people who fight back when faced with a crime – people who &uot;stand up&uot; to the bad guys. I just never expected it would happen in Georgiana, Ala.

It seems that at my new cousin-in-law’s wedding shower a couple of weeks ago, a 12-year-old boy walked into the parking lot and began to rifle through the bride-to-be’s purse in one of the cars parked there.

Her 12-year-old sister saw the boy and alerted the crowd of women.

Immediately, my twin 16-year-old cousins joined her sister on a chase that you would not believe.

The boy, noting he had been caught, began to run up the street, through the alleyways between several homes, into an abandoned home, over a barbed-wire fence and behind a bush.

And right behind, tails wagging and long, red hair sloshing from side to side were my cousins. They were joined by another cousin, 20, who threw off her shoes and took off up the street as well.

My aunt jumped in a car and began to chase right behind them, and other women, several of them over 50, ran out into the road to direct the girls as they chased after the boy.

Finally, they (about eight of them) surrounded him, pointed at him and told him, &uot;You have nowhere to go.&uot;

All the while, he was crying and screaming, &uot;I didn’t do nothing. I want my momma&uot; to which my fiery twin cousins replied: &uot;It was all you, man! It was all you!&uot;

The police finally arrived and the boy, fighting and kicking all the way, was loaded into the car and taken away.

Now this is how crime should be handled. I’m convinced that boy, who already had a juvenile record, by the way, will never attempt that crime again.

A bunch of little girls had chased him down like a dog, caught him and delivered him into the hands of the police. Very proactive law enforcement, if you ask me.

Now, I’ve been to a lot of &uot;functions&uot; here in Shelby County, and I can not imagine anyone I know from this part of Alabama taking care of things the way they did in Georgiana that day.

Maybe we could learn a thing or two from south Alabama.

Candace Parker is the news editor at the Shelby County Reporter. She can be reached at mailto:candace.parker@shelbycountyreporter.com