Posted August 4, 2005

By Kevin Devlin

     The last gripe brought to my attention will be the first one written about because it disturbs me and should upset you also. It concerns senseless vandalism that is thought of as a joke by the perpetrators, but seriously impacts the victim.

     Recently, a lifelong resident, who wishes to remain anonymous, had his 2006 rental car   “keyed.” He brought the car to a local vendor who gave him a really good deal. The victim had to pay $500 out of his pocket to have the damage fixed, but otherwise would have had to pay about two grand. And, this incident may also have cost him his job. The victim is bull, angry to the max and I don’t blame him. How mad he truly is can’t be printed in this weekly paper.

     He has heard through the local grapevine that incidents like this have occurred in the past, which they have. It seems that there are youngsters in our midst who feel that anyone owning an expensive car must be a young urban professional, a yuppie as it has been coined, and deserves such treatment.

     Our victim feels that yuppies are okay. As far as he is concerned, Southie people sold their homes for the big bucks to those who could afford them. For those who still live here, don’t blame the yuppies.

     He senses that these vandals are digesting this poison from their parents, (who else?), and it has to stop. Don’t feed your children with this garbage that turns into hatred, and then into acts of unnecessary, hurtful and costly vandalism.

     Bottom line, these types of incidents are unacceptable, disgusting, and must be treated with zero tolerance by the police and the court system.

     Brian O’Hara has a gripe. Last week, he stopped his vehicle at H Street and Broadway, to allow a neighbor to cross at the pedestrian lines. Sure enough, a driver swerved around him. Brian then drove up to the driver down the block, looked over at him and asked him why he did that with a pedestrian crossing the street. The driver merely shrugged his shoulders and Brian drove away in disgust.

     Young Jackie Woods also has a gripe. He feels that the businesses on Broadway must stick together and make sure the homeless aren’t allowed to panhandle on their property. Jackie doesn’t want to portray himself as a heartless, insensitive person who doesn’t have any empathy for the homeless population, but enough is enough. He said that the homeless sneak into the lobbies of the various banks along Broadway to sleep, and nothing is done about it. Jackie feels that elderly men, as well as young and elderly woman should not be subjected to this when they’re shopping, etc.

     Well, as far as we’re concerned, the police kick our kids off the beaches at night because they are loitering, so they should do the same for the homeless, who are panhandling and sleeping in public. 

     Our last gripe this week is about mouthy parents. Local basketball official Kevin Lally isn’t too happy with parents acting like hoop experts at local youth games, and he’s right. Parents should just enjoy the game for what it is. It is not, I repeat, it is not an NBA or Final Four game.

     Let the coach do his job, the referees blow their whistle, and the player’s compete and have fun. Contesting and complaining about every call and making wisecracks  throughout the course of the entire game is irritating. It’s sad that parents actually think they know the rules and could actually officiate themselves.

     Yeah, as we all know, it’s always so easy to ref the game on the sidelines…but step onto the court and it’s a totally different situation altogether.

    (Writer’s note: People do annoying thinks that really bother us, all of us. So, what’s your gripe? Send them to SBOL)