We recently moved into Millcreek, the 'burbs. Everyone on this side agreed it was mostly for the school system. Yes, my mother works for the Erie school district; and yes, I went to Catholic schools all my life but I'm not dumb. I know what is, or more percisely, is not happening in the Erie school district. And, from what I have heard about Jesus Christ, he would not send his kids to a school run by Catholics. Another bonus in our new neighborhood, a park right across the street. A park with trails, a park with a baseball diamond, a park with a BMX track, and, best of all, a park with bucket swings, slides, and those old school rocking animals on industrial sized springs. Oh, and picnic pavilions with grills! Okay, I once saw a guy drinking a fifth of liquor on a park bench in the middle of the afternoon once. Maybe I have also hard to was a good place to score drugs in the public restrooms. But, it's a park with swings.
When I was growing up, I was a latch key kid. I came home, ate close to a whole box of pop-tarts, and then sat two inches away from the TV screen until my mom got home anywhere from three to five hours later. Or I'd hang out with my 78yr old neighbor. I do remember playing with the neighborhood kids a few times. Always watching more than participating... but, I do remember this: kids were out of control then, too. However, they were more likely to harm THEMSELVES, not someone else! They'd jump from garage roofs, scale porches, and blow up bottles of dishwashing liquid with cherry bombs. Or, they'd pet matted, unknown dogs.
So, you'd think I'd be startled when I heard about the little girl who was so severely beaten by a ten and an eleven year old that she needs a hip replacement. I wasn't surprised at all. Apparently, this girl, new to town, walked from 8th and German to 12th and German by herself. Oh, no, wait! She wasn't by herself-- she was with her LITTLE sister! I also have some inside scoop information that would make your stomach twist even a little more... but I can't go into that now. Okay, that area isn't necessarily a total ghetto. But, it isn't anything you'd see in a back issue of Better Homes and Gardens. As the story goes, the littlest sister was being bullied and had water tossed on her. Big sister cuts in to defend little sister and tells the bullies to, "Cut it out." They then proceed to beat her close to unconsciousness. It didn't stop until a passer-by, no relation to either party, ran over and found her. I feel a great deal of sympathy for that little girl. How can you expect an elementary school aged kid to weigh out all her options and any related dangers?
But, again... Mommy? Daddy? 'Ere re ooouuu (I love Waiting for Guffman)?
my husband supposed Mom was at home taking care of the other three to four kids and that Dad was at the bar. Or was Mom working, and there just wasn't anything good on TV like M*A*S*H or Taxi or Barney Miller or Dr. Who? Maybe if those shows were still on, this never would have happened. It kills me to think this Mom and Dad will be all over the media crying about the injustice, the violence, and shuffling some blame. I wonder if anyone will have the backbone to ask, "Where the HELL were you?!?!?!"
Gee, that reminds me of the story my husband recently told me about his co-worker's niece or granddaughter or somethin'. She was at a skating rink on the eastside of town. I guess some group of girls didn't like the way she looked. So, they did the only thing they could. They struck her in the head with a roller skate and knocked her unconscious!
WHHHHHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAATTTT!?!?!
Should I even bother to mention the murder plot organized by third graders? When I was in third grade, I was playing Star Trek, collecting dozens of bags of horse chestnuts, making potions out of chalk and Jean Nate after bath splash in my tiny tea set, collecting EC horror comics, or making beds for Tinkerbell out of shaving cream and Kleenex. Gee, maybe I was just a loser and didn't realize it.
It would take me about three months to truly convey my opinions about the youth of today. And, by youth, I don't mean the whippersnappers hanging on the corner, thinking about burning the rec. center down. I mean the kids who still secretly enjoy Sesame Street, who secretly don't know why they are calling their teacher a motherf*cker nor do they understand why they are asking the little girl next to them in reading and spelling class to give them oral sex, when they meant to ask to borrow her eraser.
Notice how I make no mention of race or socio-economic background here... 'cos TRASH IS TRASH! You can smell it when it is sitting in the schoolyard parking lot, even if it is dressed up in a suit.
A few final words about the guy drinking a fifth in the park across the street. This jive-turkey pulled up in his rickety Mercedes with his purple pants and race jockey-ish satin shirt. And, then he drank a fifth (not even in a paper bag) on a picnic table while we pushed our daughters on the swings... at 3pm in the afternoon... in BROAD daylight... RIGHT next to an elementary school! Pre-babies, I wouldn't have even noticed. Post-babies, I wanted to either call the cops or go over, knock the bottle out of his mouth, drag him back to his barely running diesel, and send him cruising over the cliffs of the lake. But, all I did was huff and puff. I was confused and enraged. Recently, my husband found a couple garbage bags full of clothes next to a used condom off one of the trails, while walking with the girls. Did my highscool friends and I sleep in this park at night during like documented in the movie River's Edge? Yes. Have I read enough of serial killers to think every wooded area with trails is a potential dumping gound? Yes. Do I shut the shutters in our library/office/study room at night for fear a creepy-crawly from the trailer park down by the peninsula might saunder up for some peeping? Yes. Am I glad to have a park right across the street? Hell, yeah! 'Cos I know I will, in a blind rage, protect my kin with tooth and nail. It will be a sorry sight... and I shall be victorious! And, we can still have fun out of doors.
In writing this, I feel I am judging without all the facts. I probably shouldn't do that. I am a small person. But, c'mon! You don't need to read a Dr. Spock book to have a little bit of common sense. I think fish have more protective qualities than some parents today, and they eat their young! I certainly realize one day, my daughters may be involved in a situation which will lead others to judge me and questions just what the hell I was or was not doing. I might be mortified. I will question what the hell I was or was not doing myself. Sure. At least, I can say I tried my BEST... some people don't even bother to try.
I won't even get into the families I see at the bookstore and at the art supply store with severely overweight (abuse) children in filthy clothes, stinking-- unbathed (neglect). Guess what, though? Mom and dad are severely over weight and reeking, too. Ahhh, their future is dim and walking with labored breath and heaving chest, right in front of them.
Time to scramble some eggs and try to figure out the mystery that is Elmo, while the girls go bananas for the squeeky, red rug.
***Here are some side notes I've added to clarify after receiving a few emails about this blog. First, I did not intend for anyone to infer all persons living in trailer parks are creeps. Anyone who knows me, would know better. If you've known me long enough, you'll know I once dropped out of schoool to go work at a donut shop and live in HALF of a trailer by the railroad tracks. Secondly, I am not suggesting you have to pay top dollar to move out of the 'hood to find safe playgrounds or childcare. Teaching your children to do what is right, to have some working morals, ethics, and respect for other living things DOESN'T COST A SINGLE THIN DIME! As a kid, I remember sitting at the kitchen table rolling pennies to buy a loaf of bread and I never ended up in Juvie (almost but not quite). Good people can come from bad places.
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