elrod-tom
Moderator - Prefers "stereo weirdo" to "audiophile"
I live in a suburb of Detroit, in a community known for its friendliness to families with children. We have, among other things, several nice "jungle gym" parks, which provide a nice place to take your kids in the evening to run and play. Most of the kids are pretty young - 6 and under - and in fact there are rules about older kids (12 and older) not playing in the park. In short, it's intended to be a park for young kids.
Occasionally, some older kids come to the park. Frequently, they will be 12-14 year old kids who migrate over from nearby baseball fields. They run around a lot, but for the most part it's not a big deal. I often find myself asking that they settle down before someone gets hurt, and my requests are typically heeded with what sometimes appears to be an unnatural respect for authority and elders.
Last night, some older kids (I'm guessing 16-19 yrs old) came to the park. They were sitting on the roofs of some of the play areas, on the "monkey bars" under which some kids were running, and playing on the swings (even the ones for infants). This was ridiculous, and I was about to go over and say something to some of these kids.
Then I noticed that one of them was wielding a knife...big one too, with about a 4" lock-blade. They were passing it around, waving it in the faces of their friends, throwing it in the dirt...even from 8' in the air with kids running around. Unbelievable...
Well, I wasn't going to screw around with that. I went around to as many parents as I could find until I found one with a cell phone, and had her call the police. They came over pretty quickly, and dealt with the situation quite nicely. The young man with the knife was handcuffed, and last I heard was getting a particularly ugly lecture from the policeman in charge. My understanding from talking to the other policeman was that they were going to take he and his buddies into the station - but not until he'd been given a good scare - to await the arrival of his parents.
I just can't figure out what these idiots were thinking about. Let's forget the notion that this is intended to be a park for young kids, did these idiots think waving a big knife around the same park was OK? Did they think that this sort of behavior in a crowded park filled with infants, toddlers, and very young kids - and parents with cell phones - wouldn't result in the arrival of the police?
Unbelievable....
It's at least nice to know that something like this is dealt with quickly and appropriately.
Occasionally, some older kids come to the park. Frequently, they will be 12-14 year old kids who migrate over from nearby baseball fields. They run around a lot, but for the most part it's not a big deal. I often find myself asking that they settle down before someone gets hurt, and my requests are typically heeded with what sometimes appears to be an unnatural respect for authority and elders.
Last night, some older kids (I'm guessing 16-19 yrs old) came to the park. They were sitting on the roofs of some of the play areas, on the "monkey bars" under which some kids were running, and playing on the swings (even the ones for infants). This was ridiculous, and I was about to go over and say something to some of these kids.
Then I noticed that one of them was wielding a knife...big one too, with about a 4" lock-blade. They were passing it around, waving it in the faces of their friends, throwing it in the dirt...even from 8' in the air with kids running around. Unbelievable...
Well, I wasn't going to screw around with that. I went around to as many parents as I could find until I found one with a cell phone, and had her call the police. They came over pretty quickly, and dealt with the situation quite nicely. The young man with the knife was handcuffed, and last I heard was getting a particularly ugly lecture from the policeman in charge. My understanding from talking to the other policeman was that they were going to take he and his buddies into the station - but not until he'd been given a good scare - to await the arrival of his parents.
I just can't figure out what these idiots were thinking about. Let's forget the notion that this is intended to be a park for young kids, did these idiots think waving a big knife around the same park was OK? Did they think that this sort of behavior in a crowded park filled with infants, toddlers, and very young kids - and parents with cell phones - wouldn't result in the arrival of the police?
Unbelievable....
It's at least nice to know that something like this is dealt with quickly and appropriately.
