I Gave My Brain To GoodwillTuesday, November 08, 2005  I live in a neighborhood where many of the parents of young children have given their brains to Goodwill. I have never encountered such a band of completely brainless people. I do not mean to be nasty, but I have no other way to describe it. Most of them have kids who are between the ages of 2 and 6. Most of them have actually taught their kids that playing in the middle of the street is completely normal. Last night I was driving up the hill towards my house looking out for one of these ""street" kids. Two boys were playing, one at the left side of the street, the other on the right. I slowed down to 10 mph - watching them carefully. Are they going to get off the street? I get closer to them and they get closer to me. I slow down more. Then the kid on the left decides to take his battle out with the kid on the right out into the middle of the street directly in front of my van! He is running pel mel towards the front of my van totally obliviously. I am sure it never occurred to him that I could be a motorized vehicle driving on their playground. SLAM! I slam on my brakes. If I did not come to a complete stop, I would have killed the kid. I was clearly out of line. What was I doing driving my van on the street? Maybe I should try the sidewalk. Where is my brain? Better yet where are the brains of their parents? I was taught not to play in the street. When I was 4, the street was for cars and trucks. Today, the street is for “Barbie motorized cars”, drawing with chalk, doing projects, and just about anything you can imagine. Next time I drive my car in my neighborhood, I will just park it at the entrance and walk home. I will be sure to walk in the middle of the street where everyone else does. Jill has called the police. Jill has emailed the police. I talked to the chief of police on the phone. Our neighborhood association manager has visited the police personally. The police talked to the parents and told them to get their stupid green men that say “slow” out of the street and to tell their kids not to play in the street. Nothing like talking to a brick wall. So how does the Blogging Boss deal with conflict in this situation? Well, honestly not well. Starting tomorrow I am going to get our of my car when I see a kid in the street. I will park my car in the middle of the street and ask the kid to take me to their mother or father. I am going to tell the parent that I have their house number and I am going to call the police chief to report that their kid was in the street. Then I will walk away and say nothing else. I will call the police and repeat the exercise a hundred times if necessary until these kids are out of the streets. In the corporate world, the Blogging Boss does not consider conflict to be a negative thing. Out on the street it is completely a different story. Someone needs to deal with this conflict constructively or some parent in our neighborhood is going to have to live with killing a kid on our street because some parents gave their brains to Goodwill. The signs on my street should be changed from “Watch For Children” to “Where Are The Parents?” I am fed up. Eric Boehme The Blogging Boss posted at 11/08/2005 12:00:00 AM |
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Copyright © 2006 Beat Your Own Drum
14 Comments:
Bravo. I think your idea is perfectly reasonable. I hope you are successful. Good luck.
I hear you! When I was little, the biggest rule at our house was "DO NOT LEAVE THE YARD." The only time we were allowed to leave the yard was to walk to a neighbor's house ON THE SIDEWALK. If my mother had caught me in the street playing, I probably wouldn't be able to sit comfortably today. The parenting skills (or lack thereof) of some people never cease to amaze me. It's almost as if they decided to have children just to see if it was possible. They didn't have a clue what to do with them afterwards. And of course, the rules only apply to everyone except their little darlings! Grrr! Good luck to you. Hopefully someone will finally sit up and take notice of the problem.
Why not go out in the middle of the night and put up your own sign:
"Parentless kids at play, please drive slow"
or
"The products of brainless parents at play, drive slow"
Something to get their attention.
I dare you to yell at the kids ;) If they are anything like they are here, the kids can yell back louder, WITH their parents support. :::sigh:::
Here are the high points so far:
Homer says: My idea is perfectly reasonable (even though it defies all conflict management training I have mastered) - I agree Homer!
Anake says:
"It's almost as if they decided to have children just to see if it was possible. They didn't have a clue what to do with them afterwards."
Ananke, can I please have permission to use that quote. I will give you all the credit. It is wonderful. Made Jill and me really belly laugh.
Walking In His Steps, I vote for your blog all the time. I am a Christian. Love your persistence.
You have two quotes that I also want to use. Jill and I laughed really hard at them as well.
"Parentless kids at play, please drive slow"
or
"The products of brainless parents at play, drive slow"
I am working on the signs already. ;) Look for the signs soon on a post!
Bless you all. Love you guys!
Eric
Mhm - thought that was only a problem in our small street in AZ. We don't understand what's wrong. All houses in our street have a good size back-yard. My parents would've been pretty mad at me if I would have played in the street. Especially since my dad was a police officer. Hope you get this resolved soon...
I have the same problem in my subdivision. and then they look at you like you are in the wrong. I often see very young children playing in front yard along So young their brains are not developed enough to tell them to stop if they need to before running out in the middle of the road. They think because its a gated community we don't have morons living here that drive too fast? I Gave My Brain to Goodwill...well said.
Ephesians 2810
It is a problem across the nation!
Eph2810 says: "thought that was only a problem in our small street in AZ. We don't understand what's wrong. All houses in our street have a good size back-yard. My parents would've been pretty mad at me if I would have played in the street. Especially since my dad was a police officer. Hope you get this resolved soon..."
A_M_E_N!!!!!!!!!!!!!\
Susan welcome to the club where parents have decided to be parents.
Susan said "I have the same problem in my subdivision. and then they look at you like you are in the wrong. I often see very young children playing in front yard along So young their brains are not developed enough to tell them to stop if they need to before running out in the middle of the road. They think because its a gated community we don't have morons living here that drive too fast? I Gave My Brain to Goodwill...well said. "
Susan, morons do not consider consequences...
Even a gate that might protect them from their parents.
sheeeeeshhhh
I am not sure that some of the parents actually have a brain...let alone donated it. It is amazing to me that some of these people were raised at the same time as I was (for the most part) I am pretty sure that their parents probably spend some time teaching them...so what the heck has happened. I live in an apartment complex, where I have been informed by the parents (it was not a polite conversation) that they were fine with their children (between 5 and 12) using profanity and they also play in the street. I hope that you have better luck than I did.
Dawn,
Yep, yep you have the disease at your place. Gated or non-gated -moot point.
Brainless pervades......
I do not think much of mnay neighbors.
We comiserate.
Eric, glad you liked that bit. By all means, use it. :-D
Here's an example of what I was talking about: I worked in a grocery store for three years when I was younger and there was a regular customer who came in several times per week. She almost always came in with her son and let him have the run of the store while she shopped. When she was finished checking out, she would stand at the front of the store and scream his name until he showed up. Ugh!!! She made it so easy for someone to snatch her child, she's lucky it never happened. I agree with Dawn, some parents don't even have a brain to donate.
I just ran across this local article and remembered your post
http://www.local6.com/news/5285092/detail.html
Wouldn't it be nice to have the same done in your city?
I know the feeling. I live on the corner of two streets and everyone's kids play right outside my house, right in the middle of the street. On the weekend, I came home to find several of my flowers to be ripped out of my garden. I cleaned up and replanted some, only to come out later to find more ripped out and throw across my yard. I know it was those kids, but without catching them in the act I can't go after them for it. How disrespectful of those kids and the parents that refuse to watch them each day. I've had problems with them before harassing my dog at the window and the parents did nothing as I stood outside yelling at them. Parents need to watch their kids and teach them to respect others and the rules.
Be persistant in this. You may save a child's life. My son was run over by a truck, driven by my father. A bizarre accident that happened in our yard, not the street. Having to go through what we did, It enrages me when I see this negligence in the neighborhood. My son will show the kids or the parents his scars, yet they remain clueless. God forbid they have to go through what our family did.
If you honestly do what you describe, and do it consistently, perhaps the street/neighborhood will be marked a nuissance, and perhaps they might dedicate a special patrolman to come by periodically to ensure safety of the kids (and drivers!) as well as take the negligent parents to task for not teaching their children to have a RESPECT for the street and a REGARD for their safety.
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