I went to the Library yesterday. Since I'm not working at the moment and am an avid reader, I check out 3-4 books a week. The last time I went to the library, there were two armed Tulsa Police officers in the library. One was wandering around inside and the other was just inside the door. I watched as a young mother walking up to the door about the same time with a little boy of about 5 and a little girl of about 6, encouraged the two, who had stopped dead in their tracks when they saw the policeman, that he was a nice policeman. They walked on by him, the little girl looking over her shoulder the whole time as if he was going to grab her and take her to jail.
Once inside, there in the children section sat 3 or 4 other small kids, all looking alternately at the books on their laps and the cop standing nearby. I don't think they were necessarily afraid of the officer, but they were definitely keeping their eye on him.
Made me wonder why a library needed armed officers. Was the library unsafe? Not like they keep a of money there. I couldn't imagine someone robbing a library.
When I was a little girl one of my best memories is of the library in Mesquite, Texas. Once a week, during the summer and occasionally on a Saturday, my mom would load me and my siblings up in our Galaxy 500 and take us to the library. Since we only had a window cooler at home, I still remember how luxurious it felt to be inside in the air conditioned air. Especially in the hot summer.
She would drop us off at the door and tell us when she would return. We didn't have cell phones to call when we were ready. We knew to watch the big black clock on the wall and when it was a few minutes before she returned to pick us up to take our books to the counter and give them our library card. I always checked out the maximum amount of books. The Flicka, Ricka, Dicka series of triplet girls and their adventures was my favorite. Snip, Snap and Snur, their male triplet counterparts were a close second. As I got older I read the Nancy Drew series at least twice. The library was a place of happiness for me. Even today, as I walk through the doors, I feel a sense of contentment and peace.
My dad was a drinker when I was a little girl and there was a crawl space under my bedroom. I had a piece of cardboard and a flashlight stored there and when things would get loud, when my parents were arguing or my dad was being obnoxious I would grab a book, make a sugar sandwich (2 pieces of white bread, spread with butter and topped with sugar) and head under the house to escape to a world where there were no problems. This may account for my claustrophobia, diabetes and conflict avoidance today.
Back in those days, I would leave the house as soon as I got up and be gone until I got hungry or thirsty or my mom called us in for supper. After supper, we would go right back outside and stay until it was dark and we had to go in for a bath and bed. I fondly recall many evenings of playing Piggy Piggy give a signal, or Hide and Seek, or chinaberry fights, or Red Rover. There were occasional disagreements between the kids, but they were quickly resolved. There were not threats of physical violence. No one carried knives or guns around in their baggy pants.
Backpacks didn't have to pass through metal detectors to enter the school. Oh, the good old days.
The mothers in the neighborhood knew all the kids, and if you misbehaved, they would yell at you like you were their own and sometimes threaten to call your mother. They all watched out for and cared about all of us. Neighborhood bullies didn't stand a chance back then because the mothers would quickly step in. No one took things that didn't belong to them, or tore up someone elses property because they knew it was wrong. Once my bike got stolen and the kids in the neighborhood all went looking for it and found it on the next block. I remember ringing the doorbell and telling the lady that answered that my bike had been taken and was in the backyard. Next thing I know a boy of about 11 was being hauled out of his room, questioned and made to admit he had "borrowed it" and told to apologize to me and "wait 'til your father gets home." We all knew that was doom.
I sometimes wonder if the reason the kids of my generation had respect for others and adults is because most of us had a parent at home to watch over us and make sure we had manners. Not that I am knocking working mothers. I was one myself when my kids came along, at least part time. Teachers taught history and spelling and science. They weren't expected to teach manners and respect because the kids were for the most part respectful. I loved and feared my teachers. I would not have dared to back talk or cause trouble at school. It never entered my mind.
I called the library. I said, may I ask why you have 2 armed policemen at the library? It doesn't seem like a place where it would be necessary. I have had people suggest that maybe it was because of the homeless who come in to cool off during the summer. His reply was, no the homeless and elderly that come to cool off never cause any trouble. Its the kids. We have had a lot of vandalism in the last few weeks since school is out. Kids are dropped off unsupervised and are often unruly. Books are being torn up. Computer keyboards damaged. The bathrooms have been spray painted with graffiti and the librarians can't control the teenagers. We have had gangs outside the building. Its become a safety issue. Hopefully, once school starts back up we can go back to having a guard only at night to keep the staff safe.
This breaks my heart. What next? Armed guards at playgrounds to make sure a kid doesn't get stabbed over a swing? Where are the parents of these miscreants? Probably, hoping something does happen so they have an opportunity to sue the city, or the policeman who tells little Johnny he has to leave. Parents like the dad of the rapist who are sad that his son doesn't act like himself anymore and eat steak now that he's been convicted. I am sick, sick, sick of it. Where will it end?
Gone are the days of Romper Room and Captain Kangeroo and Mister Rogers. Now we have Keeping up with the Kardashians, drugged out celebrities, role models for teens like Miley Cyrus and Justin Beiber, entitled little brats. And it's not just the kids. Look at the political campaign. Name calling, cheap shots, candidates who lie and cheat and steal and still get elected. What happened to good old fashioned decency? Goodwill rejected a perfectly good 55" tv that I took to them because "we only take flat screens now". Really? I would think that someone who is struggling would be thrilled to have a tv even it does weigh as much as a dinosaur. What next? Only designer clothes can be donated?
Today at the dog park a lady was complaining that her pool boy hadn't shown up yesterday and she had to dump the chemicals into the pool herself. Another was knocking a friends son who had moved into a mobile home because he had lost his job and his big fancy house. As if that one factor made him trash. I wanted to tell her that she was the white trash but I was afraid she's sic her $5000 designer dog on me.
Now that I've got myself all worked up, I think I'll escape into a book where fictional murder and mayhem await me. Safer than a trip to the library apparently.
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