dagblog - Comments for "Scofflaws in the Park!"

I get what you're saying; I

nothere — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 02:45:07 +0000

I get what you're saying; I do. But still.... when I see a peckerwood from some southern state on workfare in Chinatown harassing Asians, and then start on me because I have purple hair and look gay - I really think a battery of intelligence tests (cognitive, social, and emotional) should be administered to all people at all entrances to the city. A kind of "you must be this smart to ride..." can't hurt.

It's like: there is a difference between random grit that comes into the apartment on my shoes; but opening my window when there is a truck just below it, burning the cheapest posssible diesel fuel?

And don't get me started on the crusties (AKA travelers) that spit on, then fractured the eye socket of, an acquaintance because he would not give them any change.

Yup, that root's startin to

jollyroger — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 20:06:08 +0000

In reply to You really oughta try some,

Yup, that root's startin to kick in real good now

You really oughta try some,

Qnonymous — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 00:22:24 +0000

In reply to Nice to hear the medication

You really oughta try some, Trope.

No, really. ;-)

Nice to hear the medication

Elusive Trope — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 23:16:10 +0000

In reply to Don't worry, I'm doing

Nice to hear the medication is finally kicking in.

Don't worry, I'm doing

Qnonymous — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 23:11:33 +0000

In reply to No matter how liberal in

Don't worry, I'm doing fine.

Nice pool.

The thanks are mutual. I

arc400 — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 23:08:07 +0000

In reply to Thank you, arc! I take a lot

The thanks are mutual. I hope you'll write more about the politics of parenthood. I really enjoyed your piece.

Thank you, arc! I take a lot

Michael Maiello — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 21:02:08 +0000

In reply to No matter how liberal in

Thank you, arc! I take a lot of comfort from your post. We don't all have to conform, even when we have kids. In fact, we shouldn't.

No matter how liberal in

arc400 — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 20:21:11 +0000

In reply to Scofflaws in the Park!

No matter how liberal in their other politics, my personal experience suggests that North Americans adhere to more conservative models as parents, often to the detriment of their children.

When I lived in Brooklyn, my downstairs neighbor was an artist and a junkie. He used our bathroom to shoot up so his wife wouldn't know. I have yet to meet a man as good with kids as he was.

A year after I moved away, he and his wife had a baby girl. On a subsequent visit, he told me what it was like to go to the park with his daughter (he was the primary caregiver, working as a tattoo artist by that time). The child had drawn extensive tattoos on all of her dolls which, when she took them to the park, made her into as much of a pariah as her dad.

I wish people would loosen up.

I've never sheltered my kid, who gets exposed to a lot of adult reality in the park near our house. The other day when a guy suffered a psychotic breakdown, shouting and chanting, while figuratively nailed half-naked in a lotus position to the middle of the wading pool, her impulse was not to gawk from a safe distance, but to ask how we could help him. (She's 11.)

Congratulations, btw, on becoming a parent! So little time, so many models to explode....

Sad. I'm afraid that's the

Ramona — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 02:47:32 +0000

In reply to Scofflaws in the Park!

Sad. I'm afraid that's the temperament these days -- persecute and prosecute the lesser and the poor because, well, they make some people uncomfortable. Better to believe those pathetic losers deserve anything that comes their way. Makes for easier sleeping at night.