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Post by Trusty on Nov 1, 2008 14:48:53 GMT -5
At the risk of injecting HUMOR into the election process (God forbid!), this article from North Carolina arrived on my desktop. Briefly, here's what happened: 1. McCain supporter puts McCain sign in yard. 2. Sign gets stolen. 3. McCain supporter puts another sign up and electrifies it ... doggie electric fence style. 4. 9-year-old kid comes along to take sign, gets shocked and goes home to tell his parent. What would you do if you were the kid's mother or father?
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Post by booklady on Nov 1, 2008 14:57:28 GMT -5
I'd say, "Don't be touching things in people's yards."
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Post by jspnrvr on Nov 1, 2008 15:26:07 GMT -5
Sounds like a lesson well learned, if the parents follow through with moral reinforcement, not turn him into a victim, but insist that the lad go back and apologize. And the apology will probably sting more than the electric zap.
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Post by jspnrvr on Nov 1, 2008 15:32:45 GMT -5
So I went back and read the article. The boy's father was upset, called the sheriff and they showed up at the homeowner's house. I guess if the precious little man had filched candy from the store Dad would blame the grocer for leaving it out.
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Post by doctork on Nov 1, 2008 19:06:22 GMT -5
Like booky, I'd have told the kid not to mess with other peoples' stuff.
And wasn't the kid trespassing?
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Post by rogesgallery on Nov 1, 2008 19:23:43 GMT -5
Seeing as how the guy must be a card carryin Smith and Wesson wavin Republican to be worried about a missing McCain sign, at this point that is, the kid is lucky he didn't get at least a load of rock salt in his behind.
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Post by jspnrvr on Nov 1, 2008 20:35:37 GMT -5
According to the news report the little trespasser was also carrying an Obama sign. If he got that one out of the wrong yard Dad better hope no one is going through his tax returns. And what do you mean, " at this point"? The election hasn't been held yet, the signs stay up.
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Post by gailkate on Nov 1, 2008 23:57:24 GMT -5
Stealing the other party's signs is reprehensible. After one of mine was stolen, I began cogitating on ways to foil the miscreants. I thought of some sort of indelible ink that would mark the thief for days if not weeks as red-handed. But how could I do that without defacing my sign with red?
Then I thought about the simple application of vaseline - my sign would look fine, and Jerry could be warned to lift from the metal frame when he mowed. Any thief would find his hands slipping on the sign and - if my plot worked to its full potential - he'd involuntarily wipe his hands on his clothes. Ideally an expensive or well-loved jacket, something that would show the grease and not be easily cleaned.
But you know what? It never occurred to me to electrify the sign. I'm pretty surprised that you all seem to think that was a reasonable, even defensible, course of action.
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Post by ozski on Nov 2, 2008 10:21:02 GMT -5
Thank goodness the little feller just tried to remove the sign and not pee on it. Gotta look on the bright side, gk!!!
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Post by gailkate on Nov 2, 2008 10:36:56 GMT -5
You're right, Oz. I'm not terribly exercised over this, but I'm pretty sure grown-ups are barred from booby-trapping even in their own yard. Suppose a kid chased a ball into the yard, hit the sign and then peed in fright? Or suppose someone's beloved pet or a rare bobolink or even a distracted mail-carrier accidentally peed/sat on/tripped over the sign? I wouldn't be surprised if the boy was acting on parental example in some way - maybe even told to go steal signs, though probably just absorbing his family's strong political convictions. If so, when the truth is established, all adults in the case should be fined and subjected to community ridicule. The kid isn't the primary culprit. Geez.
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Post by booklady on Nov 2, 2008 14:08:47 GMT -5
Unlike gk, I can't get exercised over the fact that the property owner electrified his sign. The property owner is not at fault. I think the kid should know better than to mess around with stuff in other people's yards, and that if he decides he needs to steal a sign, he does so at his own risk. That's always been the case for political protest.
I think we excuse too much disrespectful and downright wrong behavior in our youth.
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Post by doctork on Nov 2, 2008 21:33:21 GMT -5
Electrified or not, the kid shouldn't be stealing other people's property. Actually I hadn't given much thought to the fact that the sign was electrified - he could have been caught red-handed even if it were not electrified.
I'm thinking of all the holiday decorations that will be coming up, in fact, many people began their seasonal decorating with Halloween lights, and then will slide right into turkeys & Thanksgiving, then Christmas. There are always complaints of these decorations being stolen. Many of these are already supplied with electricity for the lights. I wonder if people will start electrifying them to prevent theft?
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Post by sailor on Nov 2, 2008 22:05:14 GMT -5
The other sign for the front yard.
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Post by Trusty on Nov 3, 2008 14:26:51 GMT -5
I wouldn't be surprised if the boy was acting on parental example in some way - maybe even told to go steal signs, though probably just absorbing his family's strong political convictions. If so, when the truth is established, all adults in the case should be fined and subjected to community ridicule. The kid isn't the primary culprit. Geez. Woah. Wait a minute. This is too interesting to pass up and raises two questions: 1. Just who (or what) is going to force the parents to pay a fine and subject them to community ridicule? 2. Who is going to force the child's classmates to NOT ridicule the child after his parents have been ridiculed? 3. Who will want to voluntarily pay, or want to be taxed, for the expense of the enforcement process? (OK. Three questions.) PS: How can a mail-carrier accidentally pee on the sign? (Excuse me for my imagination.)
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Post by jspnrvr on Nov 3, 2008 14:50:37 GMT -5
If folks can look at the video that accompanies Trusty's news link, you'll see that actually the sign wasn't electrified, it was indeed a pet fence or wire of some type around the sign. The same type of arrangement people put up to keep their old buddy Bodger from chasing squirrels out of the yard and into traffic. Our little scamp got his finger tweaked and ran off, not unlike touching a hot stove; he wasn't locked to the fence, writhing in agony with smoke and flames coming out of the top of his head. But this is legalistic parsing; again, look at what his Dad did. Complained to the sheriff and took a deputy to the homeowner's house, thus reinforcing his offspring's sense of injustice and victimhood. Where will we see this young civics student next, wanted poster or campaign poster?
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Post by gailkate on Nov 3, 2008 15:18:50 GMT -5
1&2 plenty of ridicule to go around. Both men look like jerks and at least one of them is raising his boy to be a jerk. He's just a small boy, though, so maybe he's not a hardened criminal. 3. since the sheriff was called, someone's already paid for this adolescent confrontation. PS. pardon my syntax. The peeing was Oz's addition to the scenario and I liked it enough to throw it in somewhere. As one whose sign was stolen and who then discovered a raft of other Obama supporters whose signs were stolen, I understand the indignation of the guy who set the booby-trap. But I canNOT see how all of you think this is an appropriate response. Nor can I see why you didn't stop to think of some possible innocent victims when I listed my humorous examples. Substitute "toddler" for any of them and maybe that will put the excessive punishment in perspective. Or maybe not. Kids should learn early to stay out of other people's yards, right? a little buzz would do 'em good. *Somebody somewhere is now facing charges for stealing his opponent's signs - Colorado maybe? the victim had video but didn't stoop to zappers. *A guy in MN rigged up a great Rube Goldberg-ian contraption that culminated in a ringing cowbell. But he was for Obama, and we tend to be a less contentious lot. However, I have straighted signs that had been knocked around by wind. I sure as hell won't do that again, just in case there are some Obama jerks out there, too. I appreciate learning about Breitbart TV. Whew.
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Post by joew on Nov 3, 2008 19:13:37 GMT -5
Sad, isn't it?
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Post by jspnrvr on Nov 3, 2008 21:04:41 GMT -5
I wouldn't be surprised if the boy was acting on parental example in some way - maybe even told to go steal signs, though probably just absorbing his family's strong political convictions. If so, when the truth is established, all adults in the case should be fined and subjected to community ridicule. The kid isn't the primary culprit. Geez. Woah. Wait a minute. This is too interesting to pass up and raises two questions: 1. Just who (or what) is going to force the parents to pay a fine and subject them to community ridicule? 2. Who is going to force the child's classmates to NOT ridicule the child after his parents have been ridiculed? 3. Who will want to voluntarily pay, or want to be taxed, for the expense of the enforcement process? (OK. Three questions.) PS: How can a mail-carrier accidentally pee on the sign? (Excuse me for my imagination.) Lifting his heavy bag?
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