WWYD, and...keep an eye on your kids

"Nothing" (nothingatalluseful) 07/20/2020 at 15:00 • Filed to: None

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I ran into one of my neighbors this weekend, and he told me a little story about how his week had gone. He received a knock on the door, and had a person ask if he had a child named -redacted-. Obviously, he was concerned when an adult was asking about his 7 year old, but then he became dumbfounded when he found out why. The child and a friend decided it would be fun, after they found a sharp rock, to go up and down their block and write their names on more than a dozen cars. On multiple body panels, on each car. Most, if not all of them, are newer vintage vehicles.

It sounds like everyone involved is being fairly reasonable. I know my initial reaction definitely would’ve spiked my blood pressure.

Picture of my old Miata in my old neighborhood for no real reason other than to have a picture in the post.

CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever > Nothing 07/20/2020 at 15:02

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There would have been some....harsh words...if that happened to me.

shop-teacher > Nothing 07/20/2020 at 15:08

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Wow.  I’d have a hard time not going nuclear if one of my kids did that.

HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles > Nothing 07/20/2020 at 15:10

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Oh man. My kids has done some dumb stuff, but that’s worse.

He did once spill a bunch of paint on my car and then try to “wash” with a brush that was full of dirt... I was not happy about that. I got the paint off. The scratches are still there.   

MKULTRA1982(ConCrustyBrick) > Nothing 07/20/2020 at 15:10

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I would be....apoplectic 

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > Nothing 07/20/2020 at 15:10

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That sounds, well, genuinely awful for everyone involved. There are perfectly good trees around, you know!

Nothing > shop-teacher 07/20/2020 at 15:19

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I know this much, I don’t think I’ll be inviting them or their kids over anytime soon.

Nothing > HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles 07/20/2020 at 15:20

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My kid has accidentally done stuff, bike fell over in the garage type of thing, but man...I couldn’t imagine dealing with the fallout this guy has to deal with.

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > Nothing 07/20/2020 at 15:21

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Oh... shit. Those kids are going to learn a hard lesson (hopefully). I see lots of manual labor in their future to make up for a few minutes of foolishness.

Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing. > Nothing 07/20/2020 at 15:22

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Kids are dumb. When I was younger, when tagging things we wouldn’t use our names but the name of the neighborhood bully...

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > Nothing 07/20/2020 at 15:22

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WOW....how are they going to afford the costs of fixing all those cars??? 0_o

Nibby > Nothing 07/20/2020 at 15:24

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wow smh didn’t even write their names in blood

Snuze: Needs another Swede > Nothing 07/20/2020 at 15:24

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Wow... just wow!

Did he give you any idea what kind of damage he was looking at?

onlytwowheels > Nothing 07/20/2020 at 15:25

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Many years ago, I caught a co- workers son etching something into my tailgate with a stone from his gravel driveway. I yelled at the 8 or 9 year old to get the hell away from my truck. The boy’s d ad comes running over and wants to know why I am shouting at his precious son . I showed him the damage, and didn, ’t get even a hint of apology, instead he just points towards the house and tells his son to “ play over there”. To which I added, “and maybe do the same to your mom’s car and dad’s truck”.

Fast forward a decade. I look out the shop d oor to where my truck is parked. There is a young boy walking along side my truck, his hand is on my truck moving in an up and down wave like motion. He is the son of a shop owner on the opposite side of the parking lot, who is left unattended w hile mom was inside to see dad. When I go over to see what was happen ing, the boy walks away from my truck and goes inside dad’s shop. I can see a Matchbox car in his hand. The full leng th of my truck has a scratch matching the motion of the boys hand that I had observed............... Again no apologies.

To add insult to injury, months later, this same shop owner backed into my truck with his forklift. He never admitted to it.

Nothing > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com 07/20/2020 at 15:26

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I sure hope so, too. I won’t hold my breath, though, unfortunately.

Deal Killer - Powered by Focus > Nothing 07/20/2020 at 15:26

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I’d be given my kid a shovel, and directions on how to dig his own grave.

Nothing > Snuze: Needs another Swede 07/20/2020 at 15:30

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About $40k. Apparently, he fought insurance and won, so insurance will be covering it.

Nothing > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars 07/20/2020 at 15:31

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I was surprised that insurance would cover it, but apparently it is.

Sovande > Nothing 07/20/2020 at 15:35

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Does he at least have a cool name? Like Steve? Or Flash? 

Snuze: Needs another Swede > Nothing 07/20/2020 at 15:39

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Wow.  I wasn’t sure what to expect, but now that I think about it, that sounds about right.  

Nothing > Sovande 07/20/2020 at 15:40

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No “he” involved, two little girls are responsible for the artwork.

Nothing > onlytwowheels 07/20/2020 at 15:43

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Oh geez. We had some old neighbors over one time, and their 8 year old was throwing rocks at my truck. My son came in to tell me, and told me that he had told him to stop. I went out, and the kid’s response was “I’m not throwing them hard”.  Of course, his parents don’t care one itoa about cars, their vehicles are scratched to hell from their kids.

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > Nothing 07/20/2020 at 15:48

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They are just 7, but my 7-year-old sure knows better...

onlytwowheels > Nothing 07/20/2020 at 15:50

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To many, r esponsibility for your actions and your child’s actions have become nearly extinct.

Damage is damage and someone needs to be made accountable for it.

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > Nothing 07/20/2020 at 15:52

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They gun be grounded for a LONNNNGGGG time...and I imagine doing community service to the neighbours in the form of manual labour...

Sovande > Nothing 07/20/2020 at 15:59

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Boys rule, girls drool. 

Nothing > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com 07/20/2020 at 16:05

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Oh, my son knows as well. He’s nearly never broken a toy, he’s so careful with everything. He is very respectful of property.

MKULTRA1982(ConCrustyBrick) > onlytwowheels 07/20/2020 at 16:08

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Also the idea of “don’t touch other people’s stuff without permission”

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > Nothing 07/20/2020 at 16:11

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I wouldn’t say my little guy is “so careful with everything” LOL! - but he understands when something doesn’t belong to him and how to respect other’s stuff (he has two older sibs).

BaconSandwich is tasty. > Nothing 07/20/2020 at 16:15

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The sad thing is: I could almost picture one of my girls (ages 5, 3, and 1.5) doing something like that.  I’ve already gotten after them for using side-walk chalk on the side of the van. :(  My 5 year old is so easily influenced by her friends - it’s scary.

onlytwowheels > MKULTRA1982(ConCrustyBrick) 07/20/2020 at 16:16

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Yes, that too!

nermal > Nothing 07/20/2020 at 16:21

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Definitely disown them. 

HoustonRunner > Nothing 07/20/2020 at 16:36

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I wish I could say my kids would never, but while we try to instill a sense of respect they don’t always exhibit the behavior we show or would expect.

That said, the first thing would be verbal and written apologies, followed by groveling for forgiveness and lots of reparations (probably manual labor for all impacted parties).

Longtime Lurker > Nothing 07/20/2020 at 21:48

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We had this happen to us when I was a kid. We came home one day to find the name of our neighbors 3 yo carved into th e trunklid of the grand marquis, black paint with pink primer so it was real visible too . We didn’t have any proof but we suspected the older brother (8yo) and his cousin (7) were the culprits. Nothing ever came of it.

Also it’s worth noting these are the same kids that we suspected of kicking a soccer ball into the rear window of the Grand Marquis (round gritty scratch), smeared shit on the side of our house, broke into and attempted to hotwire the Grand Marquis, and operated a burglary and insurance fraud ring.

hillrat > onlytwowheels 07/21/2020 at 08:16

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Did people stop telling their kids not to touch other people’s cars? WTF?

onlytwowheels > hillrat 07/21/2020 at 13:21

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Usually kids who do this sort of st uff have parents that zero respect for the property of o thers and no pride in their own.

Ask people who attend car shows regularly how many times a stroller has hit their car, a dog has scratched their paint, or an adult has put their beverage on the hood or roof. I have even seen where they open the door to a vehicle and let their child sit in it, without permission from the owner.