Guest Comment: Will she find a new pair of silver slippers?

Who was the lady with the silver slippers? Was she Cinderella? Was she seeking her prince charming? Probably not, or at least not in the Green Valley area. These slippers were found in the desert just southwest of Green Valley. And, there wasn’t any sign of a carriage turned to a pumpkin.

Among the thousands of backpacks, clothing items, personal hygiene items, cell phones and various and sundry other items that are scattered around our desert and mountain terrain I, also, view just pieces of someone’s life. In some cases, it becomes personal.

Who was she? Why did she leave her new silver slippers along with her cosmetic bag filled with the beauty enhancers? She even left her tooth brush and toothpaste. The backpack looked new and was not soiled. Oh, and she removed her denim pants and blouse, possibly to change into a cleaner pair of clothes.

These items along with a water bottle and several unopened food cans were “dropped” where she was, apparently, picked up for transport to her new life. Or were they? We’ll, probably, never know. We don’t know her name, her hometown, her motive for travel through the harsh desert landscape, with whom she was traveling and the point of her ultimate destination.

Of the thousands of illegal aliens that come through our area, daily, this picture was poignant. She is someone’s daughter, possibly, a sister or a wife. And, she had those silver slippers for a reason. But, not any longer!

When she arrives at her final destination, will she obtain another pair of silver slippers and the personal beauty items essential to her superficial being? Was she unfettered thus leaving all these items behind voluntarily? Or, wasn’t she given a choice? Will she find relatives, work or will she be placed in a stash house until she pays off her debt to the travel cartel and coyote?

I have viewed thousands of items scattered throughout Southern Arizona. Still, I am amazed at what is left behind and question why such items were left. CD players, CDs, cell phones, wallets, money, pieces of I.D., family pictures, letters, books, unworn clothing, nearly new backpacks, items of sentimental value, seemingly irreplaceable personal items and the list goes on.

Also, I am amazed at the number of “trophy trees” strewn with women’s underwear, marking a conquest by some male(s) over female travelers. Was she a willing participant or wasn’t she given a choice? After all, if she was raped, to whom would she report the crime? Or were these sexual favors simply part of a payment plan for guided travel? Of course, the banditos who rob there fellow travelers will take whatever they want or else.

Being a husband, father and grandfather, I have the same feeling in the pit of my stomach viewing rape trees as I did viewing these silver slippers. Women should be protected.

My wife would explain it by stating that I came from a generation of men who felt it was our obligation to protect females. Particularly, the ones that we love. I still worry if my wife is out alone after dark. How old-fashioned is that?

I can’t imagine someone that I love, leaving home and traveling with a group of unknown people who are predominantly male. And, males who are from a macho culture at that. This woman, probably, did just that.

Ms. Silver Slippers, undoubtedly, broke the law under the U.S. Code of justice. If this is a second crossing of the border or more, illegally, she has committed a felony. But, she is just one of 12 million to 14 million or more illegal aliens in the U.S.A.

Since I will never know the outcome of Ms. Silver Slipper’s life, I can only hope that she is not a serious criminal, does not carry serious third world diseases and is not a potential terrorist.

I am going to assume that she is neither a hardened criminal nor a terrorist. So my hope is that she is not engaged in an endeavor, such as a food handler, whereby if she is carrying a serious third world disease she won’t infect thousands of others, unsuspecting victims who may, in some way, come in contact with her.

Hopefully, she will live a peaceful and happy life in her new found land, will work diligently, pay her debt to society, not accept welfare from any government agency and become a part of the solution rather than a part of the problem.

Oh, and also, I do hope that she gets some new silver slippers and finds her prince charming.

Don Severe is a full-time resident of Green Valley. He is a retired president/CEO of an insurance marketing company, a USAF pilot, community volunteer, freelance writer, motivational speaker, father and grandfather He drives the back roads of Southern Arizona frequently in his 4x4 Jeep. Don is an amateur historian and archaeologist.

The views expressed are the writer’s own and do not reflect those of this newspaper.