Paul Bahr a Class Act

Jim Stingl shares a terrific story in his column today, "Pianist makes girl face the music after tip theft."

He writes:

Paul Bahr was wrapping up "Strangers in the Night" when it happened.

He sat at the baby grand piano last weekend at Mayfair Mall's food court, where you'll find him nearly every Saturday during the lunch hour.

Out of the corner of his eye, Paul saw someone reach into his tip jar with both hands and grab most of the money.

"I hear this whoomp, and the person takes off. I stood up and yelled, 'Hey!' She went down the escalator, and I went down after her."

The fleeing thief turned around, and Paul could see it was a teenage girl. Paul Bahr has more than a passing interest in the welfare of kids that age because his day job is principal of Milwaukee Lutheran High School.

...The girl bolted out the mall door toward the parking lot with Paul in full-adrenaline pursuit. He's 57 years old, which would seem to give the teen an advantage in a race like this. It didn't help that Paul slipped and fell on the snowy pavement, bloodying his elbow and knee. But he bounced back up and kept running.

"You need to stop," he yelled at the girl as she sprinted toward Mayfair Road with a few bills spilling from her pockets. She appeared to tire, and Paul caught up to her and grabbed her by the coat.

"I said, 'What you did was wrong and you need to give me the money back.' She said, 'OK, OK.'"

The thief was a 15-year-old New Berlin girl.

The Wauwatosa police took her to the station, gave her a ticket, and her mother took her home.

Instead of being bitter, Bahr expressed concern for the girl and sympathy for the girl's parents.

..."I feel sorry for her," Paul said. "My heart goes out to her parents. As a father of six, this is a phone call you never want to receive."

Paul prayed that this experience will help turn the girl in the right direction, though she seemed to take the arrest so casually.

...To anyone else who gets an idea to raid Paul's tips, keep this in mind: He donates all the money he makes at the mall to church and school causes.

"That's probably why I took off after the girl," he said. "It's not my money, it's God's money."

I think that girl was so lucky to have stolen Paul Bahr's tip jar.

It may be one of the best things that could have happened to her.

Hopefully, what Bahr did for her will change her life.