Stop the Madness

  Times do change. I would not want to return to the 1950s, 1970s or even the 1990s, but there are a few things, long gone, that I would like to bring back. For one, how about sanity. The kind that comes from good old common sense.
   Take for example, obesity. The papers and the electronic media are full of stories about how fat our American Children are. Kids in my neighborhood are fat because EVERY child is transported to and from school, individually, by a parent in a car. I write individually, because every morning and afternoon, the two lane street in front of our neighborhood school is lined with parental school buses, for 3 blocks in either direction of the school's entrance. And, the key phrase is neighborhood school. The attendance area is about a square mile or two. All of the kids live within walking distance, for Pete's sake. Walking is a good thing.
   Oh, I know, we are told that it's just not safe anymore. Well, I say, let the little chubbies walk....or run, if they need to get away from a predator. Teach the little porkers how to defend themselves and scream like bloody murder if they are accosted.
    Who is going to abduct a screaming kid? Rrumor has it that I have even tried to push a few screaming kids OUT of my car!
    And, how about bringing back honest Trick or Treating. Today we drive the kids to a mall or better yet a church parking lot, where good meaning church folk give out candy from their trunks. Egad. What is that teaching the next generation?
    Where do you think the expression "dealing from your trunk" comes from? It's about drugs, folks. We knew about trunks way back in the 50s. But, now our kids associate trunks with candy. Wow. That is so wrong.
   Stop the madness.


Okay God, your children's actions sometimes border on the ridiculous. Teach us common sense. Teach us right from wrong. Show us how to improve our lives and the lives of those we know and those we don't know. Be our guide. Strengthen us to do your will.