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I know it is normal for us more “seasoned” folks to point out how different our childhoods were.  I hated it when I was young (a lifetime ago) and the old folks talked about how young people just aren’t taught the way they were.  Today, however, I experienced a glaring example of how differently we were taught when we were children, compared to some of the children of today.

As I was getting into my truck in my carport this morning to run some errands, I noticed a young neighbor boy heading directly toward me.  I paused, thinking he wanted to talk to me or to recover his baseball from my back yard, or something.  I was wrong (imagine that!).  He simply walked through my carport, passed within 3 feet of my truck with me sitting in it…and never acknowledged my existence in any way.  After my initial suprise, I opened my door and called to him:  “Young man, you can walk through my yard, but not through my carport.”  He did not seem the least bit phased by it…just went on his way, his little sister following in his footsteps.

My brother Sam and I talked about this incident.  “Back in our day”, we NEVER would have thought about entering someone’s carport without permission.  We certainly would NOT have walked right by a neighbor without acknowledging or greeting them in some way.  We were taught NOT to walk in other people’s yards, and if we had to, we stayed as far away from the house as we possibly could.  If we broke those rules, our neighbors probably would have said something, and then told our parents.  Once Mom and Dad heard about it, we would get our behinds warmed but good!

Somehow, even in small rural communities like where I live, our society has forgotten common rules of courtesy.  Parents rarely teach their children manners or to be considerate of others.  A prime example is the proliferation of “boomers”, young people with powerful stereos in their vehicles, who couldn’t care less that their “music” can be heard a half mile away…or that they play their loud “boomers” way past midnight.  The parents of the mid-60’s would have put a halt to that before it even got started.  Just yesterday, a car with a couple of young me stopped at the stop sign in front of my house, with their music playing loudly.  When they saw me looking at them, they cranked UP the volume on their stereo and then drove completely around the town, involuntarily entertaining all of us for at least an hour before they left town.  Here is another example:  I own five other lots in front of and behind my house.  They are littered with all sorts of trash, put there by the neighborhood kids.  They come to me wanting me to PAY them to clean up those lots.

Unfortunately there is no solution, at least not on an individual basis.  All we can do is what I did:  I “educated” the little boy about what my expectations were regarding my property.  There is no guarantee that when I am out on a run that he, and every other kid in the neighborhood, won’t traipse through my carport without anyone ever challenging them.