OCR Text |
Show ' ; JUST STUFF sfv? BY j3N viv Sometimes I wonder just whom we are to believe! What we're supposed to do. We hear the pleas to "get Involved," "Be a concerned citizen," "Do your share," and yet, when people do become involved, out of concern, they are often kicked In the teeth and made to feel like idiots. Last weekend I was with part of the family at a hamburger Joint in Lehi, Utah. We had just ordered when a lady came running in yelling "Write this down," and then rattled off a license plate number. She ran behind the counter, asked for the phone, and called the local police station. I looked out the window and saw what had caused her consternation. Two men in a small car were pulling out of the parking spot with two young boys in the back seat frantically struggling to get out of the car, "Kidnap!" I immediately thought. The car door was being pulled shut on one child's leg and head, as he yelled "Help me! Help me." I watched helplessly as the car disappeared down the road. ' The lady who called the cops had been sitting at her table when the two men came in and started knocking the two little boys around. When the men grabbed the kids and started to haul them out to their car, the lady asked if they were related. No, the men weren't related. "You can't take those boys," she cried. "They spit on my kid," one of the men hollared. "I'm calling the .WW.. U IajIii ...11 J me taujr yciicu, as sue iuuk down the license plate number. "You do what ever the hell you want," came the reply. Now, I'm all for reprimanding children when they do something wrong. However, I also feel that adults should act like adults and offer some form of example. If these "gentlemen," (Note the quotations!!!) had demanded the boys' names and addresses, or taken their parents' names, and then contacted them, and let the parents give the kids the proper posterior paddling, that would have sufficed. But these men felt it was within their right to knock these kids around and shove them into their car against their will. Just before the police arrived the small car pulled up and the two boys jumped out and ran for their bikes. It would be nice if that was where the story ended. The boys wer O.K., and went on their bikes "safe and sound." Unfortunately, there's more to it. The two men from the car came into the drive-in trying to defend their actions. A gentleman who was eating lunch kept the two at the door in conversation until the policeman arrived. The officer then listened to both sides of the story. The lady told hers a concerned citizen witnessing two young boys being hauled off, against their will, in a vehicle by people they didn't know. The man told his side the two boys had spit on his kid and he wanted to find out where they lived. The policeman at this time did not thank the lady for her interest, nor did he inform the man that this was not the proper thing to do. Rather, he said, "I've known Mr. Brown for several years and he's a good citizen, I'm sure whatever his actions were, they were justifiable." As I said, I'm all for reprimanding children when they do something wrong, but apparently children come in all ages, and I don't think by telling someone that "he's a good citizen" constitutes reproof. The man did admit that he was wrong and that he had overstepped his bounds and then he left. The cop, not once, rebuked the man for his action and defended himself by saying that if someone had spit on his kids face he would have been angry too. He did finally thank the lady for her concern, but his actions and his intonations reeked of a slap in the face. Granted, criminal charges weren't warranted, a trip "downtown," wasn't necessary, but a little reproof by the officer of the law would have been nice! A slap in the face. That was the lady's reward for being a concerned citizen and for getting Involved. Thank heavens there are few people like this. If you were faced with a similar situation, would you sit back and gobble your lunch before it got cold, or would you be willing to perhaps get a slap in the face too? |