End Of Story

One evening last September, a horde of teenagers, walked down the public access path, adjacent to our home, toward the beach. It was dark and the air was filled with loud, young voices. Looking out the window, we saw rows of blinking flashlights from the many I-Phones as they traversed the route like an army of ants. Would put you in mind of 1970s concerts with the Bic lighters flicking in the air or fireflies in the woods on a hot summer’s night.

They were not quiet and voices carry by the water. My husband was not happy. I said, “Ah, it’s a last Friday night hurrah before school. Probably just having a few beers.”

He said, “Mary, we don’t want to normalize this. And it’s after 10:00pm.”

Umm, okay, Dad. lol

They were there nearly an hour. I did call the police (under spousal pressure lol) and clearly stated, “NOT an emergency but a bunch of young folks carrying on by the water.”

The police never came. The kids left after an hour. End of story.

Apparently, not the end of story. The police didn’t come to us because the youthful band was wreaking havoc all over the nearby neighborhoods. They received calls from many residents as the miscreants navigated their way around town. Breaking into cars and causing mischief.

But I did not know this when I went to bed. And I didn’t know it first thing in the morning.

The truth is I didn’t much care about the teenaged nonsense when I actually did find out later in the day-figured the middle class white kids would get a “stern talking to” by the concerned parental units as well as law enforcement. Probably get saddled with some community service and/or reduction in weekly allowance as restitution. I had no doubt that they’d be found and held accountable in some small way. It didn’t effect me in any way and I wasn’t outraged. I was apathetic. End of that story.

Back to the start of my day.

When I woke up, I gathered a trash bag and gloves. Walked down to the beach. I was expecting to clean up the previous evening’s detritus.

I was pleasantly surprised. No red Solo cups anywhere! Spied a couple of discarded cardboard coffee cups. I left the beach with the almost empty trash bag slung over my shoulder and followed the public access path away from the shore. Retracing steps of the- unbeknownst to me at the time -wild and wanton youth! STILL no big loads of trash! Yay, young people! Hip. Hip. Hooray!

I continued up past my house and across the bike path to another trail in the woods. The kids most likely chose this route to get back to the neighborhoods. I had cleaned up this area on a few occasions in the past. Because it was a popular resting place for alcohol bottles. That’s where they all went to die. I once filled up a whole bag of vodka and beer empties. Not a one of them mine! Anyway, the next practical step in good citizenry was to continue collecting trash.

Ambled into the woods with eyes roaming-here and there-mostly at the ground. But I do scan the area. I like to be aware of my surroundings. To my right, among the trees, there was a glint. Something reflecting in the sun-dappled woods caught my eye. I looked closer and saw a bicycle lying on its side. Maybe a small rucksack near the bike.

Ahhh. So the kids did leave a little something in their wake!!

That was my first thought.

I then glanced around the woods. And noticed a figure some distance beyond the bike. It looked like a person hunched over near a tree. You’d have to be looking intently to see it. If you were trotting up the path straightaway you’d have passed both unknowingly-the bike and the bent-over person.

My second thought? After thinking it was a teen’s bike?

I wasn’t alone in the woods!

I’ve hiked in a lot of surrounding woods and was totally aware that people sometimes lived in them. Men.

I felt a touch of anxiety set in at that moment. I might be an older woman but I was still a lone female in a wooded area with no one else in the immediate area. Except possibly a strange man.

I continued looking, firmly rooted in my spot, as it didn’t appear the man was moving. And then I saw a thick rope hanging from a limb.

I ran across the bike path to my house in less than sixty seconds. I opened the front door and shouted up to my husband, “Come, now!”

He was on a conference call. He also knew if I was calling for him then something wasn’t right.

“Leave the dog in the house!”

He came tearing out of the house in his bare feet.

I said, “I think there is a body hanging from that tree.”

He said, “It’s probably the kids from last night with early Halloween pranks.”

I replied, “I don’t think so.”

The cops were called and this time they arrived.

It was not a Halloween prank.

Made the marauding high schoolers seem like really small potatoes.

This the end of the story.

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Local News

I do get a kick out of reading the local police blotter. It usually provides me with a few moments of levity and a respite from the crazy, big world out there. Of course, I don’t always read things the way others do.

I chuckled when reading about the guy yelling at pedestrians. #WWJD. I also thought maybe it was Jesus who flagged down the six people on the patio area in the first blurb.

Visions of this ethereal figure waving a staff. Breaking up the gathering of partiers. That’s God’s work right there. 🙂

That line though. They didn’t locate him. Comedy gold. Because if it was Jesus? You do the math. #disappeared #catchmeifyoucan

The last bit about the resident having an “issue with a squirrel” made me laugh out loud. I love it when the local newspaper italicizes phrases. I imagine the officer doing “air quotes” when relaying this information. Do we really need the police as mediators for your issue with a squirrel? That truly sounds like a job for social services or a counselor. Or, honestly? Just do your darned best to work it out with the squirrel. I’m sure a compromise can be met if both parties are willing.

Enjoy the day. Give yourself a break from the serious news for a few minutes.

It’s all how you read it.

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All Lives Matter

My fingers kept typing like it was a Ouija board so forgive the ramblings. Hope you can follow the thread of this.

I keep seeing these postings on Facebook.

The ones that state, “Where’s the outrage now? A white policeman is dead and there will be no looting and rioting in the streets. Because everyone knows that a deranged shooter alone is responsible for it and no one is blaming his race.”

What are they really saying? Are they saying that white people are more civilized and discerning? That it’s just bad odds that black men are the ones being shot or hurt by white police?

Ironically, these are usually the same people that want to blame every single Muslim (not a race but a religion) in the world when someone with an Islamic sounding and/or Arabic surname commits a murder or an act of terrorism. And wants you to get worked up about Sharia Law that could possibly be embraced by our very own Muslim president. 

Or blame every Mexican (a race) immigrant for crimes committed in Texas and California by those who share their heritage. Let’s send them all back and build a wall. 

Here’s another posting. “Thank you, police officers. There are still people out there that support you.”

The insinuation is that the police does not have the support of the people. Or that folks aren’t allowed to be angry at past injustice. You’re considered almost un-American if you question this authority. And especially in the wake of a recent crime committed against a police officer. Somehow, you’re made to feel as if you are somehow disrespecting the dead.

It’s so manipulative.

Most people do and/or want to support and respect their police. They want to trust them. And tell their children, “If you’re in trouble just go and find a policeman.” That’s why there has been the anger.

No one policeman or anyone with authority is above the law. I believe this and it doesn’t make me non supportive of the brave, hard working men in blue that go out there every single day to protect us.

A horrible, despicable crime recently took place in Houston. A black man unloaded his gun on a white police officer who was just filling up his car with gasoline. Execution style. Absolutely heinous. I cannot imagine what his family must be feeling.

Was the policeman targeted because of his occupation? Maybe. He was in uniform.

But a fact of this matter, in this particular case, is that the murderer was declared mentally incompetent in 2012 and committed to a mental hospital. 

He was a man who had mental problems who had access to a gun. So he could fire multiple bullets (possible 15) into an innocent police officer. A husband and father.

These same people that keep posting are the ones that will spout out with their dying breath that there should be no gun control.

Yes, and this is just after another black man, a disgruntled employee, killed two people on live television. With a gun.

These are the same people that are posting about a black Sheriff quoting, “Stop trying to fix the police. Go fix the ghetto.” So, it’s now totally okay and it totally affirms their beliefs because we have one black man telling us the problem is with the ghetto. See, it’s not just the white people. Black people are saying it, too. So, it’s got to be true. They’re saying it, too!

Do we really want to trust just one mouth piece speaking for an entire race?

Bill Cosby comes to mind. A black celebrity and one of America’s beloved.

But then he started ranting about black folks (poor black folks) not taking responsibility for themselves, not getting educated, the dangers of drinking, drugging, sex and crime.

Lots of people loved this. See, Bill Cosby, a black man saying the same things we’ve been thinking! He’s right. Pick yourselves up from the bootstraps and get on with it. Use Bill as your example! You can do it!

Only to find out this highly educated, black man has raped countless women, after slipping them drugs. And then did not take responsibility for his crimes. If that is not the pot calling the kettle BLACK, I don’t know what is.

Thanks for the role modeling, Bill.

You do not speak for an entire race.

I have never been afraid of the police. Some of my friends are police officers. They are the first ones I would run to or call if I felt unsafe. They’d be the first ones I’d call if Bill Cosby invited me out for drinks.

But that’s me. I can’t speak for everyone.

A few things bother me. Let’s see if I can suss it out of this diatribe.

We have a huge problem with guns. These horrible examples cited were all crimes committed with guns. Domestic violence, mental illness, racism, etc. will always exist. It always has. Early intervention could bring the numbers down but these issues will always be there. In some form or fashion.

We can, however, reduce the number of murders in the United States with stricter gun control.

I cannot, right hand to God, even remember the names of all of the men who went on mass shooting sprees in the last five years. There are that many. Worse, there were over seventy one mass shootings since I graduated high school in the early 1980s. Most obtained the guns legally.

I can recall, however, the feeling I had, upon hearing that my niece had to hide in a cubby and my nephew was under his desk while their entire school was in lockdown mode. Because in the next town over, at Sandy Hook Elementary, twenty little angels-the same ages as my niece and nephew-were being systematically slaughtered by a man with a gun. I remember this killer’s name but I find it unnecessary to type it. Yeah, he had mental problems also. Obviously.

Another issue is the vitriol spewed out by these Kool-Aid drinking followers of a certain news channel and questionable politicians. They are so dogged and unyielding in their beliefs. Hmmm. They remind me of someone. Oh yes, that’s right. Bill Cosby had that same “holier than thou” attitude.

The third thing that bothers me is this. The reason for the uproar about the police shooting black males is/was because the police are the authority. We need the police. They, in my opinion, are the only ones who should have guns. As long as they are not shooting innocent folks.

But just google, when you have time, “Police shoot unarmed….” and see how many hits you will get. Is there an issue?

Do we have problems in the poor neighborhoods? Oh, yes. Especially in the poor, black neighborhoods. The black sheriff is 100% correct. We certainly need to fix the ghettoes. Address the poverty, unemployment, and education.

But we also need to address cases of injustice. And if some of the police forces need fixing then lets take care of that also. Ensure diversity training is available. Hire and increase the percentage of black officers.

Most of those who protect and serve are there because they want to make the surroundings a better, safer place. For us.

Police lives matter. Of course they do.

Black lives matter.

All lives matter.

But you actually have to believe that. For it to actually matter.

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