Teenage Dirtbags at the Park

This doesn't have anything to do with housewife-ing, but I'm getting it out anyway. It irks me.

A few times a week, my husband and I take the kids to the playground at a little park about 10 minutes away. It's a nice park where lots of other kids play and is usually really clean and well kept. Lately, there has been a bit of garbage laying around. Just pop cans and chip bags mostly. My husband and I pick them up so the kids don't play with them. (Mine are attracted to shiny objects.) I've commented while cleaning trash up before that I had no idea why some disrepectful jerk couldn't put their garbage in the garbage can, which there are plenty of around the park.

So today, we're at the park and a car pulls up and three younger teenage kids get out while the driver (it looked like an adult) sat in the car and was reading or something. I didn't think too much of a few older kids at a playground. Until they started leaving trash around. They left their empty chip bag on a picnic table, and as they were going over to the swings they dropped a pop can right in the middle of the kid's play area. My husband said "Did you see that?" and I was just mad.

I handed him the baby and walked over to pick up the can. I was initially just going to throw it away so my daughter didn't pick it up (it was shiny) but I saw those little jerks on the swings and decided I had to say something.

I was a lot nicer than I should have been. If I had it to do again I'd be a lot meaner. Or I'd have made my husband go yell at them because he's a lot scarier than me. As it was, I just said, "Hey, this is a public park. You guys need to throw your trash in the garbage can like everyone else. There are little kids around." They all just stared at me. I felt like I needed a follow up comment to end the one sided conversation, and it just popped out. "I'll be watching you."

I turned around and threw the can in the garbage. I heard them giggling. I'd have giggled too. "I'll be watching you." It sounded pretty stupid.

They were only there another thirty seconds or so before they went and got in their car and left. I like to think I scared them off. Haha.

My husband went and cleaned up their chip bags and noticed that they'd poured their soda all over the picnic table so it was all sticky. What little jerks. And the adult, who I can only assume was a parent, was in the car the whole time. Is it more disturbing if they weren't watching these kids while they were making a mess in a park, or if they were watching and didn't do anything about it?

So now I'm one of those old fogies wondering what is wrong with kids today. It makes me feel old. I would never have done anything like that when I was a kid. My parents had the fear of God and discipline instilled in me at an early age for anything resembling disrepect or attitude problems. Not that I never got in trouble. Believe me, I did. But I knew what the concequences were and I always got caught.

If my kids ever act like these little punks at the playground today I'll know I've messed up something along the line and send them off to military school.

So, I'm keeping my eye out for these kids again. And even though I felt dumb doing it, and like an old fogie, I'd go talk to them again if I see them making a mess in the park. It probably won't change anything. They'll probably still leave trash around and be little punks. But next time maybe I'll be meaner and yell at them and at least I'll feel better. I'll start preparing a better speech than today's.