Thursday, May 12, 2005

"Good Humor, Gone Bad"?

I recently noticed something on the Fox news website that sort of struck me the other day. (No pun intended!)
The eye-catching title went something like this: "Ice cream vendor loses Good Humor and punches kid who mouthed off".

The gist of the story is that a thirteen-year-old kid started complaining about the price of the ice cream (I don't know, maybe, higher gas prices equals higher consumer costs--just a thought.)
This then triggers the vendor who retorts that the kid is fat and doesn't need ice cream anyway. You can just imagine that the conversation starts going right on down the ol' hill.
The kid, who evidently has vocabulary issues, starts hurling obscene expletives at the man, who then proceeds to lose his "good humor". This delightful exchange comes to a swift end as the man supposedly grabs the kid and slabs him into a wall. (Ice cream sandwich, anyone?)
Consequently, the vendor loses his job (and the $20 it takes to repair the kid's bike), wins a day in court, and is awarded an eighteen month probation sentence. Oh, I almost forgot, he also gets to make new friends at Anger-Management Class.
Meanwhile, what does this darling child, giggling in the courtroom, receive? Nothing. No, not even a bar of soap to lather out the nasties which poured from his mouth.

Folks, I don't like anything about this unfortunate circumstance. I am a firm believer that two wrongs do not make a right. But, I believe that this whole thing could very easily have been avoided. What ever happened with discipline at home and the careful instruction of children to respect your elders? Another thing, what about parent supervision? Personally, if that was my kid, he wouldn't be going near a strange man selling ice cream without his father or mother, and a can of mace.
This ice cream vendor was in the wrong too, but the greatest fault I believe lies with the moral bankruptcy of our great nation. Take away any kind of moral restraint and responsibility and what to you get? Eighteen months' worth of taxpayer-funded babysitting, anger-management class, and rude kid's with no respect.
More later...

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

you are hilarious but you are right on. i am starting to see why we have such a problem though. parenting is not for wimps. it takes major perservenance and consistency. if you don't truly care about your kids and their future the easy thing to do is ignore the problem, let them get away with things they shouldn't get away with because it avoids conflict. wow, i kinda got on a soap box. anyway, good job