By LEONARD GRAY

Cruelty is appearing to be the norm for human behavior these days, and it’s a scary trend.

In the news yesterday was the story of a nurse’s aide in Fort Worth, Texas, who (police say) struck a homeless man with her car.

Then, with the still-consicous man stuck head-first in her shattered windshield, she drove home, parked her car in her garage, closed the garage door and went inside to have sex with her boyfriend.

Then, to continue to make matters worse, police contend, she checked on him from time to time during the following two days, apologizing for the accident but doing nothing to help the mortally-injured man, who lay bleeding to death and going into shock.

Finally, the man died, and she enlisted the help of some friends, who helped transfer the body to the trunk of another car and then abandoned the car.

Police got the tip from one of the friends, unable to live with her own conscience.

Now, let’s think about all this for a few minutes.

This woman worked as a nurse’s aide, presumably assisting in the care of the ill or injured. To do that sort of work for any amount of time demands the utmost in caring and empathy. It requires a person of strong character who loves her work.

How did this person slip through the cracks, and if she could do this deed, how good did she do her job? I, for one, would want to check her employment record and who her patients were.

It is astonishing to imagine this cosmic level of cruelty developed overnight.

Long-time readers of my column will often enjoy my examination of the strangeness of the human creature, usually humorous in nature. It’s said that man is the only creature which blushes – or needs to.

However, this particular story stuck me as one of such excess depravity, I could not ignore it.

Surely, the end of civilization is near. Witness the upcoming televised boxing matches between Tonya Harding and Paula Jones, and Barry Williams against Danny Bonaduce.

Or, you take a look at it.

The clock is ticking. Get yourself ready. Surely, the end is near.

LEONARD GRAY is assistant managing editor of L’Observateur. He may be reached at (985) 652-9545.