Just another Thursday in this CrAzY world...

Check out this news story forwarded to me by my wonderful wife:

Town Considers Ban on Teens at Mall
AP
Posted: 2007-07-26 12:39:22
Filed Under: Law, Nation

FRESNO, Calif. (July 26) - A shopping mall's plan to ban teenagers from entering shops and restaurants unless accompanied by an adult has been put on hold after the city attorney questioned its constitutionality. The Shops at River Park had planned to limit evening access for minors on weekends beginning Aug. 3 in an attempt to rid the center of its reputation as a teen hangout. The rule required that anyone under the age of 18 be accompanied by someone over the age of 21 after 6 p.m. on Friday and Saturday nights.But the new policy concerned City Attorney James Sanchez, who warned police not to enforce the ban, saying it could violate state or federal civil rights laws regarding free speech and the right to assemble. On Wednesday, the mall's developer announced the ban would be delayed at least a month to allow for public input at community meetings."What we're trying to accomplish is to protect everyone's rights - the young people and the old people," said developer Ed Kashian.

A concerned parent later commented on the story, and for your sake I won't include the entire quote, but check out what this guy did!

As it is now, we have stopped trying to go to a local mall on Fri or Sat because of the number of do nothing kids. Several have tried to grab my wife's purse, and yet others have plowed into my daughter's stroller with complete disregard to anything remotely close to consideration. The one's with the purse, I grabbed two and knocked them both into a support column. And one who literally knocked my two year old daughter over in her stroller, cussed her outand tried to take a swipe at the stroller like it was our fault. He was picked up and promptly thrown into the fountain and knocked back in every time he tried to get out.

Bravo, Dude! That's hilarious. Man, I tell you what, people better be thinkin' twice before they try to mess with my wife or child(who, yes, is still on the way)! Those of you who know me well understand what I'm talking about. I mean, come on, messing with a man's family, that's just something you don't do if you care for your own safety. Gotta be a moron or something to do that. And you know what, if I was that idiot in the fountain, I'd stay there until the PO'd father walked off.

Now to address the news story. I agree and I disagree. Why, you ask? Well, don't worry, I'll tell you. I think that any city is wrong to censor admittance into a public place based on age, race, sex, hair color, shoe size, or anything. Anybody that we struggle to keep out will just find another place to hang out, and I'd rather see teenagers hanging out at the mall rather than the back alleys behind the mall or around bars. There's another solution to fixing that problem - parents need to do their job as parents and actually give a crap about their kids. If I'm offending you, get over it. If your child is under 18, you should know where they are and what they're doing, and if you don't trust their life to the friends they're hanging out with, you should be with them. If your children are still living at home, YOU are responsible for their safety. How many 12 or 13 year-olds do we hear of that are being abducted from parking lots or movie theatres because they weren't with someone who could protect them? It happens all the time. My children will be safe because my wife and I will be with them, and we will die before anything happens to them. Even better, any ill-minded attacker will die before my children come to harm.

I think if parents do their job, their children will not be hanging out at the mall or movie theater with nothing to do but swap spit and get high. Moving on...

I DO agree with the idea of stopping underaged kids from hanging out in large groups in public places. I hate going to the movies on friday nights at WillowBrook AMC because it's gang night! Saturday night isn't a whole lot better. Yes, I am always armed around there, but I don't want to use it! I'd like to be able to see a movie without wondering if someone's going to steal my car while I'm inside, or if someone's gonna try to jack my wife's purse as we leave. Granted, there are people over the age of 18 who are just as likely to try something, but come on, why do all those kids need to be hanging around outside all night? I remember being 16 (mostly cuz it was only 6 years ago), and we didn't do that. We picked a friend's house to hang out at, and stayed there till midnight or later. Yes we were out late, but at least our parents knew where we were, we were within 30 feet of an adult, and we were in a safe environment. Now that we're older we pick a pool hall or something, but we're older, can take of ourselves, and we're not just hanging around staring at people. Oh well, you're tired of listening to this now, aren't you?

I've got a great quote for you: I'm a nobody, nobody is perfect, therefore, I am perfect!

Ha ha ha... yeah, OK. So anyway, just one work day left this week, and then freedom for two days! Going shooting this weekend (finally!). I'll get to test out my new gun and make sure it works. yeah, you think i'm kidding. (Phew) gotta try to go to bed earlier. I'm tired all the time, and that's just not fun. Only got three and a half hours left today. Later!

"Okay, pull the pin and count to what???"

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