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| Holiday Lane- Fort Thomas Ky |
Well, once again a lively discussion has ensued on our
Facebook page which I love to see!
The only downside is that this time, it was started by an event that
caused my son to burst into tears: the theft and subsequent smashing of the
pumpkins he had searched so hard for at Benton Farms (see Mama on a Budget
story for this, coming tomorrow).
I posted the picture of Holiday Ln. where dozens of pumpkins were
smashed in the road and asked “How do we stop this Fort Thomas tradition?”
As of this morning, there are 34 comments on this topic
ranging from “That’s hilarious” to suggestions to put tacks on the bottoms of
the pumpkins or “doggie doo doo” and the creation of new traditions such as one
reader who suggested Ft. Thomas celebrate a “pumpkin smashing day” after Halloween
and make it a fun and controlled event. There were also discussions about the need for
increased police patrol in October, knowing this is an issue and, quite
possibly most pointedly, cries for people to know where there kids were and
what they are doing.
It was a mix between some real rage and some who found
comedy in the situation.
Personally, I take issue with the fact that it is the theft and
destruction of property even if it is only intended by the thieves to be a
harmless prank. Additionally, it
does not make me feel safe to know that people are coming on to my porch and
stealing things from me.
This “tradition”, which we called “Cabbage Day” when we were
in high school, has been going on for more than a decade at least and I have
never seen any attempts at curbing this.
I enjoyed reading the suggestions about how to redirect the behavior in
a positive manner. To me, what was
most germane, was the question posed by several readers to the parents of those
who were doing the destruction (I am assuming it was bored teenagers): do you
know what your kids are doing?
As a society, it seems a lot of us have deviated from
parenting our children instead choosing to befriend and accommodate and indulge
them but as a community, I was hoping we were better than that. To me, “it takes a village” is not just
a turn of phrase but a call to action for a community to educate our young
people and raise them to make good decisions, not “harmless pranks” and “victimless
crimes” which actually reduce our even younger kids to tears.
A pumpkin costs only $4.00 but at what true
cost was it smashed?