My wife and I were talking on the couch about our days at work when out the window I saw some neighbor kids walking past on the sidewalk. It's a group of kids that have all the potential in the world to grow up in prison, sadly. One in the group was lagging behind. I heard muffles of him talking to the others ahead of him. Then I saw a butternut squash rolling down the sidewalk...
I leapt up from the couch and ran to the door. My wife was extremely confused and asked what was going on. I went out the front door, down the steps, and around to the side yard where the kid had tossed the beat up squash into the grass. I stopped him there on the sidewalk with "Hey, that's a squash from my garden. You've stolen that, and destroyed it." He stopped but didn't seem to care. I could hear his buddies behind me. I proceeded to tell him that I raise food for my family to eat, that he stole the vegetable and that stealing is a bad thing. I informed him that the destruction of said produce is vandalism. It appeared to me that he was attempting to hold in laughter. I responded by telling him it isn't funny. Stealing and destroying other people's things isn't funny. It's a bad thing.
I then told him I was going to go back in the house because I was REALLY mad and I wanted to cool off. I said I didn't want to leave him in a bloody heap on the sidewalk. He was visibly scared and near ready to cry. I told him that what I thought would happen next is that he would go over to the park with his buddies and laugh about this talk. He shook his head no. I got down to his level and explained how all of our watermelons and cantaloupes were stolen last year, how he did indeed do a bad thing but how that doesn't mean he's a bad kid. I told him I did not believe he was a bad kid and that I didn't want him growing up continuing to do this kind of stuff. I asked him if he understood. He said yes. Then I told him to go on, get along to your buddies.
It's upsetting that this happened. These kids were once beating up on each other in the park across the street from my house and I approached them in order to make sure something wasn't happening to someone whom didn't want that something happening to them. All was fine that day, just horseplay, however one of the kids stubbornly and arrogantly said "Your not my elder." I've seen another kid kick a big ol' rock at a brand new car and put a big ol' dent in the driver door. These kids are 11 or 12. The filth of language that pours from their mouth is over the top. The volume of that language too. They need not be crucified but something needs to change in their lives.
I leapt up from the couch and ran to the door. My wife was extremely confused and asked what was going on. I went out the front door, down the steps, and around to the side yard where the kid had tossed the beat up squash into the grass. I stopped him there on the sidewalk with "Hey, that's a squash from my garden. You've stolen that, and destroyed it." He stopped but didn't seem to care. I could hear his buddies behind me. I proceeded to tell him that I raise food for my family to eat, that he stole the vegetable and that stealing is a bad thing. I informed him that the destruction of said produce is vandalism. It appeared to me that he was attempting to hold in laughter. I responded by telling him it isn't funny. Stealing and destroying other people's things isn't funny. It's a bad thing.
I then told him I was going to go back in the house because I was REALLY mad and I wanted to cool off. I said I didn't want to leave him in a bloody heap on the sidewalk. He was visibly scared and near ready to cry. I told him that what I thought would happen next is that he would go over to the park with his buddies and laugh about this talk. He shook his head no. I got down to his level and explained how all of our watermelons and cantaloupes were stolen last year, how he did indeed do a bad thing but how that doesn't mean he's a bad kid. I told him I did not believe he was a bad kid and that I didn't want him growing up continuing to do this kind of stuff. I asked him if he understood. He said yes. Then I told him to go on, get along to your buddies.
It's upsetting that this happened. These kids were once beating up on each other in the park across the street from my house and I approached them in order to make sure something wasn't happening to someone whom didn't want that something happening to them. All was fine that day, just horseplay, however one of the kids stubbornly and arrogantly said "Your not my elder." I've seen another kid kick a big ol' rock at a brand new car and put a big ol' dent in the driver door. These kids are 11 or 12. The filth of language that pours from their mouth is over the top. The volume of that language too. They need not be crucified but something needs to change in their lives.
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