"Hey Kids Smoke Weed"

In my in-laws' neighborhood there is a park that has equipment that is kind of suited toward my daughter's age and size. Everything's covered in plastic and the steps are not that steep and so long as I'm right there with her, I'm not worried about her safety. She discovered that she can climb the steps herself, make a quick turn at a pole and slide down a slide headfirst. She would never go sailing off the slide but most times even if she did my wife and I were right there to catch her just in case. Once she discovered this, she was more than content to climb the steps go down the slide, get taken off the slide by me, then go back up the steps and do it all over again.

She really enjoys the park.

There was a also a tube that she climbed through to get to the other half of the little playground where there was a steeper slider and a little catwalk she liked to go on because I would be under it making faces at her through the grate.

Inside the tube was written "HEY KIDS SMOKE WEED."

I brought my notebook out and copied it down, careful to copy it exactly as it's been written because this is important.

Grammar.

I know my posts are probably riddled with grammatical errors, but I like to think that I write like I speak. I think if I were to transcribe what I actually say there would be lots of hyphens, lots of parenthesis, and a WHOLE lot of tangents (and words in all caps). I also like to think that once a reader gets used to this style (and I think it's a fairly unique style) reading FEELS more like a conversation, albeit one that you the reader can't get a word in edgewise until the very end.

But sometimes grammar is important and in this statement a comma is missing and it could change everything in the world.

Imagine:

"Hey kids, smoke weed."

This is what my mind went to immediately as a guess as to what the author was trying to say. I ave to say right now I've never done drugs but I do think that as far as pot goes, the government sure spends a lot of money trying to stop it when they could just as easily sell it through pharmacies and package stores much like alcohol and pocket the profits (it would probably help with the deficit too).

But I digress (and don't want to get into it). Telling kids to smoke weed is obviously wrong, but it's also obviously stupid. Who reads some crap written on a crawling tube and goes out to do it? What kind of trust does tube writing inspire? What idiot is smoking weed now because they read those words?

But imagine if it said this:

"Hey, kids smoke weed."

This is more of a statement of the times, maybe from a frustrated youth because his stash was found by Mom and Pops and it was confiscated and thrown away/destroyed/hidden for the parents own enjoyment.

Maybe the kid (because who else would write this?) doesn't do drugs at all but meant to throw this out there more as a philosophical comment about how kids are not the angels we think they are and yes, they do indeed smoke weed. Maybe that's his experience and he wants parents and adults in general to realize that their kids are human beings and MAYBE you (the parent) should spend more time talking with your youth.

Of course, if you are at the park with your kid you're already better than most of neglectful parents out there.

By the way, I'm not saying you have to go with your kid to the park, but if you do then you're obviously paying a little more attention to their lives than those who don't. And of course it comes down to age as well. It's once thing to take your eight year old to the park, and something completely different to take your sixteen year old to the park.

Anyway, whoever wrote this inspired this blog and my cry to everyone not to give up on public education. It needs to be reformed somehow because if the kid who wrote this is going to eventually go to college, he's going to have a TOUGH time getting through his/her Composition and English classes.

And if we can take a turn here for a second, what's with the need to graffiti parks in the first place? Is this where you want to be heard through your writing? The Internet is RIGHT there, accessible from just about anywhere. The local library is not a five minute walk from this park and the computers (Internet ready) are accessible for free at half hour blocks. You can sit down, write a blog just like this one, publish it and be done. You'd probably get more readers too, those who google crap like "weed kids smoke" etc. Or how about interstate overpasses? Under bridges? I think if you're badass enough to go writing stuff on public property (something I deeply dislike because it really throws off the beauty of a city or town) you should write it somewhere where there's a little bit of danger involved. Have a buddy hang you upside down at the overpass. Brave the bridge's innards at night when the homeless or gangs are occupying it. If you're man enough to belittle a town and community like that, be man enough to do it somewhere that involves a little risk.

My response to the writing at the park is simple, to the point and I didn't write it there (though sometimes I think I should have but honestly it would have just inspired more writing and you know that's what the kid wanted anyway was a reaction):

"Hey kids, don't smoke weed."
"Hey, kids smoke weed but they don't have to."

And of course, I have to say that I am not a drug advocate, I just have one dog in this fight and she's almost 17 months old. I don't really want her growing up in a world where this is written on every playground she goes to but if it is, I'll be there to talk to her about it.