...i'm old. ;_;

[wordinista]

I just totally pulled a "GET OFF MY DAMN LAWN."

About six or eight neighborhood kids were playing on and around the dock in our backyard.  Lots of screaming, lots of generally being little asshats. 

The dogs? Going ballistic.

Me?  TIRED OF THE DOGS OF THE DOGS GOING BALLISTIC.  So I peeked out back and saw the above scene.

Me: "OH, HELL NO."

So I went out back.  "Excuse me!  Is this yours? Any of it?"

"....no."

"Then what are you doing? GO PLAY IN YOUR OWN  YARD."

Then one girl pipes up with, "Well, my uncle said..."

"I. Don't. Care.  Did he ask me?  No."



I totally "get off my damned lawn"d them.

Comments

[coldblossom.livejournal.com]

That is so awesome. Kids don't get yelled at enough these days. Back in my day, we wouldn't have even considered going into someone else's yard without their permission because a) our parents taught us better, and b) we'd get yelled at. Sure, we sometimes did it secretly but never "OMG LET'S BLATANTLY TRESPASS UPON THIS PERSON'S YARD AND GIVE THEM LIP WHEN THEY TELL US TO GTFO." And then when we grew up and our super-awesome and neighborhood-famous rope-swing fell to a new generation, those kids were polite enough to ask us for permission to play on our property.

Don't feel old. Feel accomplished for putting those punks in their place! *shakes cane*

[w0rdinista.livejournal.com]

The part that killed me was the lip the eldest of them all gave me. I was like, "ARE YOU SERIOUS?"

I mean, yes, they were annoying. Yes, they were driving the dogs insane. But they were on the dock, and on the boat tied up to it (not ours -- a neighbor is using it to work on an old speedboat). Standing on a boat.

HI THERE, LIABILITY.

[coldblossom.livejournal.com]

And that's the other side of the coin.

I seriously doubt that their uncle would have let you, the property owner, off the hook if something happened to those kids. I grew up with this rope-swing (very big and climbable to about 25 feet in the air) that I mentioned AND a swimming-pool (screened-in and locked-up, but that didn't stop kids from breaking in) and it was always something that concerned us greatly, especially the swing because our yard wasn't fenced so anyone could access it (very natural/woodsy neighborhood with giant trees--no visible fencing allowed and this was in our side-yard). Nothing ever happened, fortunately, but why take the risk? CYA first.

[w0rdinista.livejournal.com]

It's even more complicated than that -- we rent the property, so it would have actually fallen on our landlord (who is actually quite nice, all things considered).

I swear, the next time this happens? I'm walking them home and having a word with their uncle. I mean, I GET it. We live in Florida, where canal-front property is plentiful, and it's totally a kid-magnet, what with the turtles and frogs and minnows and manatees (and occasional aligator, yes), but for crying out loud, why is it suddenly OKAY for kids to play and scream and carry on (THEY WERE STANDING ON THE FRONT OF THE BOAT. I MEAN. WHAT?) in the yard of a complete stranger? I COULD HAVE BEEN A PEDOPHILE. OR A CANNIBAL. OR SOMETHING.