Re: Kids or Criminals?
Not really comparable to your situation, JD, because the kids I dealt with were younger and on skateboards but it reminds me a bit of how you handled it. No criminal activity but just general neighborhood annoyance.
About four months ago during the afternoon there were three boys, ages about 14-16, ripping up the street with their skateboards. They seemed to be challenging the passing cars and I heard more than one car come to a screeching halt. A few drivers yelled---the kids yelled back. I envisioned major trauma. I really wanted to yell at those boys myself but realized that it would probably do no good and put me in the middle of an embarrassing screaming match. Might even result in a bit of retaliation when I wasn't looking, too.
It seemed that their re-grouping area was right in front of my house. Whoopee.
Here's what I did. I put a leash on my then-three-month-old puppy and walked out to my mailbox and got my mail. By then the boys had moved into the street and were doing some fancy moves on their skateboards. Okay, they were giving me stink eye too. I expected that.
I said "Guys---can I talk to you for a minute?" That was met with intensified stink eye. One swaggered over, the other two stayed in the street.
"Can I ask you to come over and say hello to my puppy? She's really shy with people and I'm trying to get her used to them. You look like nice kids so I thought I'd ask you to help with her."
All three came over. Two sat on the ground with her. She jumped and licked and loved them to smithereens. They asked questions about her, hugged her, laughed about her "dreadlock" hair. All stink eye and swaggering disappeared. They were just kids.
After a while I carefully said that I had been watching and I was worried about them getting hurt on this street, which was the honest truth. I said that they might be safer on a less-busy street or down the road at the skate park.
I thanked them for helping with the puppy and went back inside. Within two minutes of my going back in the house they were gone.
Maybe they were headed somewhere else anyway but I like to think that maybe I helped save them from getting flattened by a truck.
Originally posted by jdub
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About four months ago during the afternoon there were three boys, ages about 14-16, ripping up the street with their skateboards. They seemed to be challenging the passing cars and I heard more than one car come to a screeching halt. A few drivers yelled---the kids yelled back. I envisioned major trauma. I really wanted to yell at those boys myself but realized that it would probably do no good and put me in the middle of an embarrassing screaming match. Might even result in a bit of retaliation when I wasn't looking, too.
It seemed that their re-grouping area was right in front of my house. Whoopee.
Here's what I did. I put a leash on my then-three-month-old puppy and walked out to my mailbox and got my mail. By then the boys had moved into the street and were doing some fancy moves on their skateboards. Okay, they were giving me stink eye too. I expected that.
I said "Guys---can I talk to you for a minute?" That was met with intensified stink eye. One swaggered over, the other two stayed in the street.
"Can I ask you to come over and say hello to my puppy? She's really shy with people and I'm trying to get her used to them. You look like nice kids so I thought I'd ask you to help with her."
All three came over. Two sat on the ground with her. She jumped and licked and loved them to smithereens. They asked questions about her, hugged her, laughed about her "dreadlock" hair. All stink eye and swaggering disappeared. They were just kids.
After a while I carefully said that I had been watching and I was worried about them getting hurt on this street, which was the honest truth. I said that they might be safer on a less-busy street or down the road at the skate park.
I thanked them for helping with the puppy and went back inside. Within two minutes of my going back in the house they were gone.
Maybe they were headed somewhere else anyway but I like to think that maybe I helped save them from getting flattened by a truck.
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