..........of Ipods and urinals.

I admit, that's a pretty strange title for a post. I heard someone say once that, "When you get to the point that you're fussing about the youth of America and how they have lost respect for all things good; you're getting old." Well, I guess I'm old. I went into one of the restrooms at school this morning to see a urinal laying on the floor (it looked just like the one pictured here). I asked the maintenance guy what was wrong. He said someone had kicked the thing so hard that it broke and they had to replace it. Was this an accident? What a stupid question! He also told me that another one on the second floor had the same damage and they would have to replace it too. I have had two students complain to me that their Ipods were stolen this week (one was my daughter). I addressed that situation by telling my daughter that she can't expect to leave it laying around and not expect it to be stolen. I left school yesterday with a kid in a Toyota truck about six inches from my bumper. I put on my brakes to let him know he was too close. I immediately got "the bird" - several times from this kid. He passed me later (in a four lane situation); gave me another bird and told me what an asshole I was. I didn't respond. You see, I never have bought that crap about "nobody is better than the other guy". I am better than this kid. He has no standards and probably would kick a urinal and steal an Ipod without thinking twice. Now, I'm not going to talk about all the "good kids" we have at our school. They are obviously part of the problem too; because, they allow these things to happen without coming forward to right the wrong. That is almost as bad, if not worse, than doing the damage and being the thief. One of our assistant principals told me that his brick home was sprayed with paintball gun fire the other night while he was at church! Brick acts like a sponge. He will either have to paint all his brick or endure stains for the life of the home. Our problems in America go far beyond that of Islamic terrorists. A culture that accepts vandalism, disrespect, and theft is not the America I want for myself and my family. Yes, I am getting old.