All Hail Semaj Booker (and 2009)

My OffSpring, who tries hard to work up antifeminist furor in my single parent household, tried to assure me that L'il Semaj's quest was to try to find his father, who must be out of the family picture because of a divorced mom who is "probably a vindictive bitch." The level of ugly this statement evoked in me was firmly in the red-alert zone, for real. OS tends to produce this egregious and unpleasant nonsense most often when in mixed company ("mixed" here meaning teenaged friends plus me.) Rest assured, oh my best beloveds, I will address this in private. The kid "only does it to annoy."
Here's the thing: I know that even the most recent Semaj furor is old news, but in the process of researching his story in order to rebut my kid's disgusting spin, I found that there was way worse spin out there.
[Do y'all recall the story? Our hero, a 9-year-old boy, first steals a car and drives it into a tree or something during a high-speed car chase. He lives in Washington state, and he's trying like a mad thing to get to Dallas to see his grandfather. The police release this baby back to his mama, and the next morning or something, he--get this--takes a public bus to Sea-Tac airport, convinces the ticketing agent that he's a kid with an e-ticket already booked, changes planes in Phoenix, and is apprehended in the San Antonio airport because he's not booked through to Dallas. About a year later--May of 2008--he tried it again! This time the little dude only made it as far as the boarding gate, but Holy Canole!]
The interesting things to note: He's got a mom and several siblings who appear to be squarely in his corner, right where they belong. The grandfather has no statement at all, in three pages of google research. And the language around this kid's adventures is astonishing. Truly. Language like: "troubled," "acting out," "out of control," "a cry for help," "felonious," "a con artist," and "dangerous." The closest thing to language that accurately described Semaj's behavior came (interestingly enough) from a police officer, who called him "incredibly motivated."
By me, this kid is my Hero Of The Day. He is plucky. He has drive. That boy is a DIY-er of the highest order, and I offer him his propers. He knew exactly what he needed, he figured out some way to make it happen, he made a plan, and he put it into action. He didn't wait around for the low-income grown folks in his life to hock their jewelry to send him where he wanted to go, he got about as boot-straps with his bad self as a 9-year-old can get. I wish I had half the grit, I tell you truly.
I know that he took stuff that didn't belong to him. This stuff was: a neighbor's Honda, and a round trip ride to San Antonio.
Here's the thing: to a 9-year-old, or even an 11-year-old, transportation isn't a product.
Remember a few months ago, when we all finally tumbled to the notion that bad debt is actually a product, and we were screamingly bemused? I'm figuring Semaj had a similar reaction about a ride to the airport and a flight to--well--HOME.
This country has a long-standing tradition of free rides, if not free lunch. As younger folk, my contemporaries hopped freights and hitchhiked and ride-shared and made these funky arrangements to drive the cars of relocating suits to the destination of choice. According to the news articles about Semaj, one of the reasons he wanted out of his Washington neighborhood was because he was frightened about a sex offender in the vicinity. Under those circumstances he would have rejected hitchhiking and freight-hopping out-of-hand. Ride-share arrangements are made by people with driver's licenses. In other words, by people over 16--usually over 21. So young Semaj was faced with a choice. Wait until either: some grown up took him seriously and then could afford to send him across the country, or the for sure 12 years until he got old enough to negotiate with a car-owner. OR: take the initiative and do what was available. See his real options and make it work.
I know that as of this writing, Semaj Booker is in BIG TROUBLE. But I gotta say it--Semaj Booker, I salute you.