When P and I were in Olympia last year we saw something very interesting leading up to the stadium.

Cheater’s Row.

Cheaters Row was a whole entire line of statues of Olympians which- as you guessed it- were found to be cheating. They created a statue of these cheaters and on it displayed the person’s name, family’s name, and where they were from.

Everyone that was on their way to the stadium passed by these status and saw the shame these people brought to their towns.

What a disgrace for the cheater. Even today, hundreds of years later, remnants of Cheaters Row remain as a testament of those before us.

Cheater’s Row wasn’t placed outside of the stadium “just because it seemed like a good place to put these statues.” They were there on purpose. As a reminder. As a way to humiliate those who cheated. As a way for their name to be remembered- forever set in stone, both literal and figurative.

I know- YAWN. I’m killing you guys, right?

Sorry. I’ve just been thinking about Cheater’s Row a lot the last couple of days. It was not that long ago in which having your name tarnished was disgraceful and painful. It wasn’t long ago in which a person’s name meant something. When deals were made on handshakes, and when a honorable man said something and followed through.

Perhaps I’m romancing the days of old, but it just seems as though we don’t make people like we used to.

Nowadays we ("we" being used collectively as a societal whole) let TV teach our kids about God and right and wrong, school teach them about sex and politics, and their older friends about love, relationships, and doing the right (or wrong) thing.

What happened to our responsibility in society to um- do it ourselves as parents?

Yes, I realize I don’t have kids- but it doesn’t matter. I see a trend that is quite alarming and I feel it’s only going to get worse.

We raise kids to expect things- to feel as though they are owed everything and don’t have to work for things. We don’t punish criminals, which teaches our kids that really? there aren’t things such as consequences, and even if there are there’s always a loophole.

I know- you guys are totally rolling your eyes now and want to ship your kids off to my house so I can really try this parenting thing out since I sound so self righteous.

I know- I’m talking all crazy. The truth is that I’m just blowing off some steam.

Okay-

a LOT of steam.

Long story short Will and I were innocently driving home Friday night, minding our own business, and some moronic kids nailed a rock right into our truck. No reason. No justification. “They’re just kids.”

Ha- kids old enough to know better.

It’s a whole long story, but basically the father came off as this nice guy- and a “man of his word” and was going to take care of the problem, only he has conveniently been unreachable since the incident happened. We finally got a hold of him today and “it wasn’t my kid- it’s not my problem.”

Like I said- it’s a long story.

The jist of the story is- what are you teaching your kids? I’m thinking that you’re teaching them it’s okay to violate someone’s property and not have to pay any consequences. 

We did absolutely nothing wrong. We were just at the wrong place at the wrong time, and somehow the kid comes out as totally innocent and the father- a grown man-refuses to take responsibility for what happened on his property. In fact, he even changed his story and said that it wasn’t a rock- it was a hackey sack. Um, the dent and chipped paint on our truck suggests otherwise. Where is the accountability?

What happened to manning up? It’s sounds more like Will and I have a parent problem on our hands instead of a kid problem.

Can we please start making people take moron tests before we allow them to breed?

Please?

Sorry to vent. I just needed to unload somewhere- and this seems to be the lucky venue. I don’t feel like getting into the details of the story- I just needed to run my mouth about ridiculous things I have no business sharing.

I know you guys love that too (ha).

I guess I just come from a different school of thought than this guy. I probably would have fit in with society just fine a hundred years ago, and I’m sure you would too.

Only- could we please make sure we brought lip gloss, cheesecake, and iPods with us? That’s not too much to ask, right?