“Crime doesn't pay unless you're very good at it.”With apologies to Leo Rosten, the American Humorist who is credited with that quote, sometimes the unlikeliest of people pursue a life of crime. Take for instance the curious case of Charles Boles, better known as "Black Bart," an infamous stagecoach robber in California.Like many stories in the old west, the life story of "Black Bart'' Boles has many inconsistencies, but a common theme in many stories reference his career as a school teacher. In one occurrence of the legend, Boles was working as a teacher until he pulled a practical joke on a friend who worked for Wells Fargo. With an unloaded weapon and a cheap disguise, he was surprised that the driver gave him the cash box on the stagecoach. Thus began a 8-year crime spree by "Black Bart, Po8"a bandit who robbed numerous stage coaches with an unloaded weapon and crime-related attempts at poetry left as clues. Black Bart was eventually caught after being traced to a handkerchief left on the scene of one of his heists.
How is that for a reason for leaving the classroom? Granted I have encountered in my research several reasons why people leave teaching, but "Black Bart" might be the only one who left for a life of crime and bad poetry.
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