So this whole thing seems really interesting.
First I want to point out, in case anyone missed it, she was to take part in a wedding where there were to be 14 bridesmaids, 14 groomsmen and 600 guests. 600 guests! I don’t think I even know 600 people! I’ve lived in a town that didn’t have that many people inside the town limits. That’s a lot of people.
What I really find interesting is the fact that everything resulting from this woman wanting to escape the circus that had her at it’s center is suppose to be her fault. I have to wonder at that. In most of the cities I’ve lived in the police won’t begin any kind of real investigation into a missing person until the person has been missing for 72 hours. The exception being hikers who fail to show up at the expected time from a hike. I guess going jogging is like going hiking but not really.
OK. So, Jennifer Wilbanks makes a plan to escape the circus at which she is the center ring act. She buys a bus ticket for Las Vegas and plans her escape. She boards the bus and, at least for a few days, she is free of the pressure and stress of an impending wedding. The logical question might be, why didn’t she just talk to some one. Giving the reaction of the town, my answer might be, who the heck was she suppose to talk to? It doesn’t sound like anyone was very open to the idea that the bride might want to slow things down a little bit.
I think it quite possible that Miss Wilbanks was feeling a lot of stress and didn’t feel like she had any where to go for support. So, she bailed. Everyone over reacts and flies into a panic. Visions of Lacy Peterson dancing in their heads they among the long list of over-reactions demand that the groom to be take a lie detector test. Essentially proving the reason why Miss Wilbanks felt the need to get out of town for a little while.
Now, everyone’s over reaction is Miss Wilbanks fault and she should pay the cost of a bunch of decisions, mostly bad ones, that she didn’t make and really had no control over. Of course, none of the townspeople are in anyway responsible for their own over-reaction. It’s all Miss Wilbanks fault. If she had simply stayed put and provided our entertainment like she was supposed to everything would have been fine. Then, after all the townsfolk had had their fun and entertainment if she was unhappy with things she could get counseling or a divorce. Hell, that’s what everyone else does.
Miss Wilbanks, good on you. I think you should have gone on to Vegas and spent the week having a blast. Mr Mason, good on you for standing by the woman. I think both of you ought to take a quiet trip to Hawaii spend a week or ten days talking things over and then, if everyone is still up for it, have a quiet wedding on the beach. If you decide to go to Kauai send me an email and I’ll have two people there to serve as witness and quietly celebrate your wedding with you.
Aloha
Um, the fact that she called 911 and said she had been kidnapped by a Mexican man and white woman does indeed make everything that followed HER FAULT.
Right. Everything that followed. Everything that occurred up to that point, I contend, was not solely her fault. I am not saying she doesn’t share in the blame. I only wish to point out that so do the people who made rash decisions.
She didn’t call 911 until the third day. By then, the damage had been done.
Aloha
But now we know more about this women. She has been arrested about three times. I believe for shoplifting.
Therefore she wasn’t this sweet innocent scared bride to be. She cost her parents, the grooms parents, the towncoffers and and the bridesmaids and the other states that were involved, money. All for what her, inconsideration for others feelings. She deserves no nothing but jail time or at least a repayment schedule for some of the various costs.
How does having been arrested for shoplifting 3 times (I have not been able to verify this) play into the present issue? More importantly, Jennifer’s past record does not explain the townspeople’s reactions and choices.
Like subjecting her fiance to a polygraph test and increasing suspicions when he refused to take it unless it was videotape. Insofar as I have seen, Jennifer disappeared into the night without a word. Rude? You bet. Criminal? Nope. Not until three days later when she called 911 with her story of being kidnapped.
Should she be prosecuted for the false story to 911? Absolutely. But I still don’t see any reason that she should be required to reimburse the townspeople or the town for decisions that they made over which she had no control. I guess they could sue her in a civil suit for breach of contract.
Aloha