You do NOT have *that* right

I'm filled with passion about many subjects. Not to the least of which is our wonderful country, the glorious United State of America. We are all blessed with rights, freedoms, and privileges that those from other countries can't even fathom. We are blessed to a degree that other countries are jealous of what we have -- jealous to a degree that they desire to hurt and kill us. I believe that our disregard for that which we have is one of the most disgusting things on the planet. While some walk miles for mildly clean water and may make a dollar a day, several times a day we go into the next room and piss into clean water and spend hundreds of dollars per MONTH on bottled water-- which is really no better than that which comes out of that silly faucet. We take for granted minutiae that others would die for the right to enjoy.

A few days ago was Halloween. Another right of passage for the American childhood. The under thirteen crowd walk around with Mom and Dad to all the neighbor's houses for goodies and sweet to rot away their teeth. The over thirteen to eighteen crowd is, of course, too cool and too old to trick or treat, but they want to enjoy the atmosphere. They want to be out and about on Ghoul's Night. They do what we all did -- toilet paper and/or egg friend's houses.

This time, however, one of these little bastards went too far. I was on my way home from work. It was about 4pm on Monday 11/1/2010 (A binary day!). Cold but still a bit a daylight left. I was making my way through my little town's Memorial Park -- all towns have them these days. A quaint little square for public use. There may be a little bit of playground equipment. Trees. A sidewalk path next to a dirty pond, perhaps. But, the hallmark of the Memorial Park is the source of it's name -- the memorial. This is usually in the form of a retired fighter jet, a huge tank, or in my town's case, both. I live in a small town -- actually, I live miles outside of it. It's like Mayberry. The population is about 5-600. There's not a lot of business -- just a gas station where the old men hang out and drink coffee from 4am until they hit the fields, a hair stylist place, a daycare, and a mechanic. The closest big town (population of 13-14,000) is 15 minutes away. That's the nearest grocery store / Wal-Mart.

So, you get the picture. It's a town full of pride. Everybody knows everybody. Everyone would give their neighbor the shirt off their back. I'm new to the town as we moved here about 5-6 months ago. I'm probably still known as the "snotty pharmacist" as I haven't gone out and made a huge effort to inculcate and meet lots of people. They have a Mason temple -- maybe I'll join that and meet some friends.

Anyway, as I drove through the Memorial Park that day, I saw that the entire park had been "rolled," if you will. It was hanging from all the trees. There must have been a hundred rolls used. The town only has one cop and the sidewalks roll up after 9pm, so if these punkass kids did this after midnight, there's a good chance that no one knew/saw except them and God himself. Now, what burned my ass up was the face that they covered the park's tank in toilet paper. Secondary to that -- why was this not cleaned up by the townspeople sooner as it's now 4pm. I screeched to a stop and parked next to the tank -- I snapped a picture with my cell phone planning on sending it to the newspaper with some commentary. Parents should be ashamed if their children were responsible for this. Perhaps a rant on patriotism. And definitely a photo of the tank cleared of all disrespect (while adjacent trees still bear the evidence) -- showing that I still have a shred of passion for this country and respect for the icons that made it what it is.

As I climbed on top of the tank, I wondered how could kids do this? I only have a dog, but she knows better. I guess the fact that these kids have the privilege to walk down the street at midnight on October 31st was lost upon them as they desicrated one of our relics.

Honestly, I think I blame everyone else more than the children. I blame their parents for not showing them proper respect for our country -- probably by talking on their cell phone during the national anthem or taking their own freedoms for granted. I think I blame our school system by not instilling that fire in them. Sure, they may say the Pledge of Allegiance every morning, but did we teach them what the words mean? You can read Shakespeare all day but if you don't learn what the words mean, it's useless.

So, parents out there. Instead of raising little bastards like the people in this town. Please teach your children to be respectful off all that we enjoy.