I don't get no respect!

Comedian Rodney Dangerfield was famous for his, "I don't get no respect!" Unfortunately, in today's society, Rodney is far from alone.

We recently had a bit of controversy about skateboarders in our city. They think nothing of riding their boards on private property, doing their destructive acrobatics off porches, stairs, and railings belonging to businesses and homeowners. When complaints are lodged, we're told that we should let them do that, because there's nothing else to do in this little town, and they'll turn to drugs if they can't vandalize your property. One skateboarder said, "If they don't want us to skate on their property, all they have to do is post a 'no skateboarders' sign." That backward mindset disturbs me. Why does this little squirt think he has the right to trespass on someone else's property unless they have specifically told him he can't? Wouldn't the respectful thing be to first ask the property owner if he could skate on his property?

A similar thing is happening in the foreclosure mess. People are squatting in empty homes, and skateboarders have made empty pools into their own private skate parks. "We have more pools than we know what to do with," said Josh Peacock, a 27-year-old skateboarder. Isn't 27 old enough to know better? They even have a website whose name is very telling -- skateandannoy.com.

I'll write another time about the people who are squatting in these homes. But it's the same mentality -- "I can do whatever I like on your property, and if you say anything about it, you're just an out of it old fogey who has nothing better to do than gripe and complain."

"The backyear bailout: Pools become skate playgrounds." The Dallas Morning News; January 1, 2009; p. 10A.