I had to go out last night to get some gas and some milk. Problem was that someone had parked their truck across the end of our driveway in the alley and there was no way for me to get the van out of the garage. I knew the truck belonged to a guest of the house right behind us. I’ve meant for some time to let the neighbours know that they can have a guest park to the one side of our driveway if they want to [because they often just park in the alley blocking off through access].
I walked over there with my youngest boy to speak with the young 20-somethings that live there. I wasn’t aggressive or mean. I politely asked if they could move the truck and that, if they wanted, they could park in the driveway along the one side and they could do that whenever they came to visit. The young men were extremely apologetic and the friends of the driver gave him a hard time about completely blocking in the driveway.
I mentioned that we had an old dishwasher at the end of the driveway that needed to be taken to the dump but we hadn’t had time yet to do that, so I wanted them to be careful, not because I was worried about damage to the dishwasher, but I didn’t want them to damage any of their vehicles.
The young men asked “Do you want us to take it to the dump for you?”
I stood there kind of dumbfounded for a moment.
They continued “We have to make a run to the dump in the morning anyway, so if you want, we can throw it in the back of the truck and take it with us.”
I said that would be wonderful and thanked them profusely.
So they threw the dishwasher in the truck, pulled off to the side of the driveway and off I went to do my errands.
A simple event. But after the week I’ve had, it was so nice to have practical strangers [young people at that] who were so polite and considerate and downright helpful.
Thursday, July 13, 2006
Storms
My husband and I went out on Saturday night leaving oldest son at home alone. Instructions were given to “don’t go anywhere; don’t have anyone over.” Well, the next morning, my husband and I discover that both of those rules were broken. Oldest son not only went out and met a few friends, he also invited them back to the house for about an hour. How did we discover this fact? Several smaller electronic items were missing from our house. So one or more of these kids helped themselves to two iPods and a digital camera [to name a few of the items stolen].
I called the police and filed a report. The constable that was here filled me in on the fact that one of these kids is a suspected drug dealer [dealing marijuana, cocaine, crystal meth] and chances are very good that our items are long gone in that chain of criminal activity.
You can all imagine my emotional state. Not only was I dealing with a theft, but also the sick realization that my son had associations with a drug dealer and I was completely oblivious to that fact.
I started thinking that if I didn’t know this kid was a dealer, perhaps other parents didn’t know as well. So I got on the phone and called the parents of every teenager I knew and told them what had happened to us and what I had learned about one of the kids.
I am angry, still. I’m also concerned about my oldest son. His girlfriend broke up with him a month ago [he was VERY attached to her – she’s a nice girl], he had been living with his father but that household was given an eviction notice and very abruptly [in a matter of days] he had to move everything out of there and back into my home [everyone had to move out of that residence], and now this situation happened where my son realizes that one or more of who he thought were his “friends” has screwed him over without a second thought. So oldest is feeling *betrayed* by the world at large. He’s spent the last few days holed up in his room and not wanting to talk to anyone [he doesn’t want anyone to call him on the phone nor does he want to see anyone face to face]. He doesn’t want to leave the house. Consequences can be a bitch of a teacher.
So if you’re a parent of an older child, talk to them. Find out not only who their friends are, but who the friends are friends with [this drug dealer isn’t directly a friend of my son, he’s a friend of a friend]. Network with other parents in your community. Many parents I spoke to had no idea, and then went and talked to their children and were shocked to hear the stories of things that have gone on. Also an eye-opener is the rationalizations that some have had. An example, one child stated that they “felt safe hanging around these drug dealers because they are the bad-asses in town.” Many children are afraid of this kid [his influence and the fact that he seems to know *everyone*] and didn’t/don’t know exactly what to do to get away from him entirely.
Storms can help relieve the muggy tension that hangs in the air. I'm hoping the rain will wash away that fine layer of filth that has been building up.
I called the police and filed a report. The constable that was here filled me in on the fact that one of these kids is a suspected drug dealer [dealing marijuana, cocaine, crystal meth] and chances are very good that our items are long gone in that chain of criminal activity.
You can all imagine my emotional state. Not only was I dealing with a theft, but also the sick realization that my son had associations with a drug dealer and I was completely oblivious to that fact.
I started thinking that if I didn’t know this kid was a dealer, perhaps other parents didn’t know as well. So I got on the phone and called the parents of every teenager I knew and told them what had happened to us and what I had learned about one of the kids.
I am angry, still. I’m also concerned about my oldest son. His girlfriend broke up with him a month ago [he was VERY attached to her – she’s a nice girl], he had been living with his father but that household was given an eviction notice and very abruptly [in a matter of days] he had to move everything out of there and back into my home [everyone had to move out of that residence], and now this situation happened where my son realizes that one or more of who he thought were his “friends” has screwed him over without a second thought. So oldest is feeling *betrayed* by the world at large. He’s spent the last few days holed up in his room and not wanting to talk to anyone [he doesn’t want anyone to call him on the phone nor does he want to see anyone face to face]. He doesn’t want to leave the house. Consequences can be a bitch of a teacher.
So if you’re a parent of an older child, talk to them. Find out not only who their friends are, but who the friends are friends with [this drug dealer isn’t directly a friend of my son, he’s a friend of a friend]. Network with other parents in your community. Many parents I spoke to had no idea, and then went and talked to their children and were shocked to hear the stories of things that have gone on. Also an eye-opener is the rationalizations that some have had. An example, one child stated that they “felt safe hanging around these drug dealers because they are the bad-asses in town.” Many children are afraid of this kid [his influence and the fact that he seems to know *everyone*] and didn’t/don’t know exactly what to do to get away from him entirely.
Storms can help relieve the muggy tension that hangs in the air. I'm hoping the rain will wash away that fine layer of filth that has been building up.
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