The Kids are at it Outside Again

[Scott Liggett]

Amazing how stuffy, stick up the butt, old farts forget how they played as kids. They did the exact same thing. If they say they didn't and all they played quietly without all this running around and screaming, they are damned liars. Kids will be kids.

[pdub]

Amazing how stuffy, stick up the butt, old farts forget how they played as kids. They did the exact same thing. If they say they didn't and all they played quietly without all this running around and screaming, they are damned liars. Kids will be kids.

I love you too, Scott. You're always the voice of calm reason. You are, and I admire that. And you are totally correct about me to a point. Good lick, you're on it. I'll say you have me nailed. To a certain point.

I go to work dark and early so I get home earlier in the afternoon than most folks. When I get home the neighborhood is for the most part deserted. Until the school bus dumps all the kids out and then it's on. The parents are literally not here, not for a couple or few more hours. So the kids do a fantastic job of entertaining themselves. Not bad stuuf, just uncontrolled kid stuff.

And some of it (until Bad Kid gets involved) is pretty entertaining. Like Mikey - the next door absent parents have a kid that looks so much like Mikey, it's uncanny. Does anybody remember the old Life cereal commercials, where, "Let's let Mikey try it - he'll eat ANYTHING!" Mikey. Cute little feller with long blonde bangs. Maybe 6 or 7 years old. That kid next door is HIM. Exactly the same looking kid, all of it.

So Mikey's out there this afternoon, no parents home, he's wandering across the street, or playing slow on his electric ride-it car, one thing to the next, visibly bored. The kid on the 50 mph dirt bike (that's what it is - a real low cc dirt bike) has finally learned to steer good enough to bank the bike and swerve to miss Mikey standing in the middle of the street. Yep, he's making hot laps again today - why can't I run Red so fast around the neighborhood without getting cuffed? Well, I'd be hitting mailboxes, as fast as he's going.

So next thing, Mikey's out in the yard, he's got a big white laundry basket full of white plastic clothes hangers. He's launching them into the tree in the other next door yard, trying to make them hang on the limbs. Some of them did. He got even more bored and threw the rest of them in a wad into their own front yard. Boy, will Mom ever be pissed when she gets back home. But she's not, and neither is Dad.

[JOES66FURY]

Hmm, I think maybe we got the "grumpy old man" pegged wrong. I am starting to suspect that ol' PW might care a little too much about these kids and their well being. Otherwise why would he know they are alone and why would he worry about their safety. He might be frustrated because he really cannot do anything about it, cant help these kids and is disappointed that the parents who should be taking care of these kids; arent.

[pdub]

Hmm, I think maybe we got the "grumpy old man" pegged wrong. I am starting to suspect that ol' PW might care a little too much about these kids and their well being. Otherwise why would he know they are alone and why would he worry about their safety. He might be frustrated because he really cannot do anything about it, cant help these kids and is disappointed that the parents who should be taking care of these kids; arent.

You are wise between your ears Joe. Thank you Sir.

[38P]

If the kids are really in danger or breaking the law . . . call the proper authorities (or maybe better yet, have a friendly word with their parents). Otherwise, I still say . . . .

[pdub]

If the kids are really in danger or breaking the law . . . call the proper authorities (or maybe better yet, have a friendly word with their parents). Otherwise, I still say . . . .

.....Well, I finally called the police on the little individual that's been going 60 mph through our neighborhood on a dirt bike for two days. He's gonna kill himself or somebody else.

Blue and white dirt bike. Turns out, the little individual belongs to a police lieutenant who lives on top of the hill at the stop sign in our neighborhood. So what does the responding rookie cop do? "Talk to them."

It's on record. A callout. Superman and I both "talked to" the rookie cop. This should be interesting. Rookie said call them again if the kid gets out raising hell on the dirt bike again. Yeah, right.

But Evel quit running hot laps suddenly this evening.

Am I bad? Probably. May have saved a life or two. Superman was timid to make the 911 call himself, for his own reasons, connections, don't rock the boat., I did it. We were one in agreeing it should have been, the call.

[Deaf Bob]

You did the "right" thing.. Kid could get hurt or hurt someone else.. What if he sideswiped Red? Kid needs taught respect.. I was always in sight of my kid (being deaf, cant hear him crash) He always asked to ride and told me when he was done.. How a parent thinks it is ok to tear around on public streets is beyond me.. Setting sun blinds a little old lady/man, (you or Sue) and runs over the kid.. Bad juju right there!

[Karberator]

We don't have any young kids in our neighborhood. They're all teenagers now,and all of them are sports nuts. I have 3 different coaches as neighbors. Couldn't give two craps about anything automotive. One coach did say he liked my wife's G8.


One kid comes in late at night bumping his stereo. They all come in after I've gone to bed during the week,and slam car doors. If the slam doesn't wake me up my dog barking about it does. They bounce a basketball and have slam dunk contests pretty late from time to time also.

Stereo boy and his family have a Razr that they run up the street,and two other boys in the neighborhood have scooters now. It doesn't bother me,but I don't think some of the other neighbors care for it. We don't have anything like the apocalyptic swordfight in peewee's neighborhood

These days parents kid bent out of shape if you say anything about how their kids act to them or the kid. It wasn't like that when I was a kid! If I was in the wrong,I was in the wrong.