My brother Phil and I use to go roaming around the neighborhood on our own or with some friends all the time growing up. We’d head down to the local lake for a pickup game of hockey during the winter or goof-off at the local beach or on the docks during the summer. We would roam about un-tethered by the parental shackles so prevalent in today’s world.
But there on the street of a very sparsely populated little town on the rocky coast of Maine, were a few children playing; they were just out horsing around on their own. None of them could have been more than 7 or 8 years old and they were out enjoying a summer day without any adults in sight; just some pals roaming about.
It made me think of how terribly twisted our communities have become in the larger population centers like Los Angeles or New York. Many of us would never let our children out to just roam around the neighborhood for fear some sick bastard would try to molest or worse, abduct them.
Just look at what happened to Leiby Kletzky, the Brooklyn boy who was walking home alone from school for the first time and was found dead, his remains found in separate locations. His parents had even done a dry run with the child the week before, believing that they lived in a safe neighborhood.
It’s sad that in today’s day and age we can’t let our children out of our sight. We have to watch them as they head down to the street to a friends house for a supervised “play-date” or drive them to and from a friend’s house or organized activity. Letting them walk on their own is unthinkable; we can’t risk it because our society has mutated into a shadow of what it once was.
Don’t get me wrong; I don’t want to live in the past but there is a sense that we, our collective American culture, has allowed this to happen. It seems to have happened very slowly over time as punishments for wrong-doing have broken-down; as personal responsibility has seemingly evaporated along with the basic decorum in everyday life. One only needs to go out in their car and drive around town or on the freeways for a little while to experience the lack of courtesy; the shear bad behavior.
In Maine, there is road courtesy everyday; there is a somewhat slower pace in which people give each other a break; when you are trying to turn out onto a busy road a person will slow or stop and let you go. How often have you experienced a person speeding up once you put your directional on to change lanes?
That’s why it struck me so profoundly when I saw those kids out running around heading down the street. The few cars that drove by gave them a wide berth and there was no sense of fear, or horns blowing for that matter, rather they continued their horsing around; the carefree playing of childhood.
Unfortunately we can’t turn back the clock and let our children play, roam and explore unless we were to move to some of the out of the way small towns where there still is an abundance of decorum and decency. We have to be vigilant and watch our own children like a hawk.
It may be hard especially in the fake-it-to-make-it Santa Clarita Valley where many people are living above their means and are out to prove it! But maybe we can all make a little difference each day by showing some courtesy when you’re out and about. Let the other person go in front of you; don’t speed up when someone wants to change lanes, give a wide berth to bicyclists and generally just have a little more decorum in your life towards others.
Who knows? You just may remember how nice it is!!
Dave Bossert- Commentary
Dave Bossert is a community volunteer who serves on a number of boards and councils. His commentaries represent his own opinions and not necessarily the views of any organization he may be affiliated with or those of the West Ranch Beacon.
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