Damn, things are getting strange out there.

[LuckyCharms]

There's a story in GD about a grown man pushing an 11 year old off their bike. If you watch the video about this incident, I *think* (not paying full attention to the video, trying to do 3 things at once here) that the mother of the boy mentioned that her children have also been shot at with pellet guns.

That has been happening in my neighborhood recently. Drive by assaults on people working in their yards...getting shot with a pellet gun.

Another popular thing on my street is people speeding by my house, a 30 MPH zone, while doing about 90 miles an hour and launching full large cup of a McDonalds milkshake straight up out of their sunroof so it splatters in the road. Then, I have to clean it up, because it usually happens right in front of my house.

If someone ever shoots me with a pellet gun like that, then someone is going to get a pellet gun shoved up their ass.

Crazy shit these days.

[onecaliberal]

1. Be careful Lucky. We need you.

[LuckyCharms]

2. Thank you, I'm always careful though.

I've been in a million altercations. Some of them got slightly physical, but nothing over the top. I guess I was speaking more figuratively than literally.

It's just infuriating. Woman down the street we are friends with. She got shot with a pellet gun on 3 separate occasions.

I can't wrap my head around why people do stuff like that.

And the milkshakes? Why!!!!!??? Always in front of my house too! Probably because it's on a straight-away where they get the most acceleration? I don't know...

[woodsprite]

5. Do they know the milkshake thing pushes your buttons?

That is (I think) what drove the neighborhood gang to target us - they knew what would push our buttons and how far they could go without getting in trouble with the cops. We helped other people, cared for our home, put up various holiday decorations, attended a community church (although we weren't old family Italian or Catholic like 95% of our neighborhood). We supported our community and small businesses.

[LuckyCharms]

6. No, I don't believe so.

Doesn't seem to be directed at me personally, it more seems to be the location of my home. Sometimes it lands more towards my neighbor's, but I clean it up anyway.

There's also all kinds of weird things going on in the entire neighborhood, and my town in general.

[walkingman]

3. It's been strange for me since Ronald Reagan - just another chapter in the book.

[woodsprite]

4. Before TikTok, FB, and any other real social media (early 80s)

We had a problem in New Castle DE working in our yard because the neighborhood gang would throw good-sized rocks over our privacy fence at us. They also tagged our cars with aluminum paint (only had street parking), egged cars and houses, knifed tires, and firecrackers in our mailboxes/trash cans, kicked driver's side mirrors off. The cops knew who they were but never did anything about them, even when they insisted on taking up residence on our front steps every afternoon. We were there long enough that we saw that it was cyclical. As the old gang would grow out of doing the petty stuff, a new gang would come along and start it all over again.

The one time I had to call for medical transport (impaled my foot on a crochet hook) -- who showed up? A kid who had been one of the worst offenders! Apparently he grew up and became a Paramedic. We acknowledged we knew each other, and he took care of me, but neither one of us ever mentioned what a horrid kid he was.

[Midnight Writer]

7. I once saw some kittens in the road get hit while licking up discarded milk shake.

Made me sick. I will never throw out fast food wrappers or cups again.