• Minor Rant (Bad Pun Intended)

It can be dismaying to see vandalism in any form, and additionally upsetting when it's more broadly aimed at the community as a whole. (Even if that's not what the perp was considering at the time)

At least one book that was destroyed near Windsong park. This photo was contributed by a local resident, and I was told that the image doesn't adequately portray the extent of the debris field.

Yesterday I was near Windsong park and saw several children's books that had been removed from the Free Little Library and thrown to the ground on the sidewalk down the street.

These two books weren't torn up, just thrown on the sidewalk near Gierson and Prairie. I rehomed them to the Free Little Library at DeJong's about half an hour after I picked them up. 

Who probably did this? 

Well, your guess is as good as mine, but if this was an office betting pool, I'd be laying my wager on a middle schooler (or someone a couple of years older that still has the cognitive acumen of a middle schooler), also one that doesn't get proper supervision at home.

Disrespect doesn't have to be taught, but it can flourish where proper parenting is lacking.

It's not necessarily an omen that this person will turn out bad (100% likely that it's a local teenage boy) because many responsible adults had periods of time of being a nuisance too. 

Everything has to be spelled out for some kids (I was one of those).

Back in the day I was in the category of being a thoughtless teenager too. 

My apologies to Pony League Baseball in Fontana, where in 1979 I removed all the light bulbs from the scoreboard... because, well, it was there and didn't have a screen to keep such numbskulls at bay.

Raising a child is a full time job, and even those doing their best can run into problems. Then add being a single parent into the mix, with three boys (Hi Mom), and the odds go up that the kids will get a little out of hand now and then.

Is this blog getting a bit preachy? 

Probably, but the rest of the community suffers when parenting is lacking... and I don't apologize for calling it out when it's as evident as this.

In a world where we hear accounts that parents of bullies are often found defending the indefensible, there is little that the rest of us can do without running the risk of being shouted down on social media for even bringing it up. Much less actually bringing such things to their attention, face to face. 

Yeah, no thanks. Though I'd rather you corral your little reprobate, far be it from me to put my nose on your bucket list of things to punch.

The days of Leave It To Beaver and Father Knows Best are long gone, where local kids respected their neighbors as much —or more— than their own parents. These days it's hard to even get eye contact and a "hello" out of kids. Obviously not ALL kids, but the majority to be sure. 

Oh well, we'll survive even if you allow your progeny to raise themselves... but will they? (Better keep SWAG's number handy, you'll probably be needing it the next 10 to 15 years)

To the good parents out there (which are most) I salute you for the work/time/effort you put into your kids... to the the ones that didn't fit into that category... thanks for nothing.

I will be interested in seeing if anyone will bother refuting some of my general points above. Being an apologist for antisocial behavior seems like such a waste of time... but is easier than doing the actual work necessary to produce well rounded community members. 

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A series of minor incidents, mounting to a minor climax; the process of life. And yet, which one of us knows, or can suspect, how the smallest of happenstance may shape the pattern of our fate?

– EG Marshall (CBSRMT)

Wildomar Rap is most definitely the product of years' worth of minor incidents that serendipitously culminated into this digitized frenzy that you're looking at now. 

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