RANT #1: So I was walking home through the park when I saw something that got me all BOILED UP and I will admit up front that this might seem mighty trivial to some. Now you know that I ADORE NATURE! I live in the concrete city so I am Very Protective of anything that is related to nature. What was in front of me but a MOTHER!!!!!!!!!! and her 8-10 year old daughter digging up all the hyacinths and daffodils that people have volunteered their time and money to plant. I was LIVID!!!! I then asked her how she could teach her child that this was ok? That it is okay to not only take what is not yours, but to take that which someone else has worked to create, to take beauty from others, to take food away from bees and butterflies, depriving children of the chance to see these butterflies, etc, just because you want them and are too lazy to plant your own. She told me that she would teach her child whatever she wanted and continued to dig up the plants so....look I am nice here (for the most part - look I have to break the tension with a joke), but I can be a Real Spit Fire (the nice term I will use since we can't curse here ) when I want to be....so I had my camera with me (when don't I have my camera? ) and I started taking her picture and told her that I was going to call the cops. She then stopped digging up the flowers.

Look, I know that technically this is not a big deal, but I really do feel that if you teach your children that something small like this is okay, then they will end up thinking other bad/selfish/destructive things are okay. Maybe I am just old and old fashioned, but I really do believe that.



RANT #2: Again this is a what-is-wrong-with-people rant. Now there was all these people there seeing what she was doing and commenting amongst themselves that she shouldn't be doing that and how angry they were. Why didn't any of them say anything? They were standing there watching her before I walked up on the scene. Why is people DO NOTHING???? This is not the first time that I have been in a situation where people see something and do nothing. There was a time that I had just finished a shift in the Psych Emergency Room and I was walking along the East River which is right by a highway. I was listening to music so I really was not paying attention, but something caught my attention out of the corner of my eye. I turn my head and I see this young man (18-24 years old maybe) in the MIDDLE OF THE HIGHWAY ON THE THIN METAL DIVIDER DOING A TIGHTROPE LIKE WALK AND JUMPING UP AND DOWN!!!!!!!!!!!!! I almost had a heart attack!!! Now this was not a "daredevil" person doing some stunt, this person looked psychotic or high. Again, there was a bunch of people just standing there looking at him and DOING NOTHING!!! I immediately called 911 and sat there and PRAYED that he would not fall and get killed. I stood there waiting and waiting and then a Coast Guard speed boat zoomed by and didn't even stop so I called 911 again and asked if they had sent the Coast Guards that they had missed the spot. The operator asked if I REALLY thought there was a danger. I screamed at her asking her if getting run over by a car on a highway constitutes a "real danger"! Well this time the police showed up with an ambulance and closed the highway down while they got him off of the median. Now fast forward about a year and again I was walking home from work, but this time along the Hudson River (I really need to stop walking home along rivers! LMAO! and I promptly saw a homeless person jump into the river (and the river has very bad undercurrents) and again everyone just stood there and watched and DID NOTHING. Again I called 911 and this time the police came quickly and got him. I really think that 911 must have my cell number on some frequent caller list!

I just don't understand how you can stand around and do nothing???? Is that what you would want someone to do if something was happening to you? AURGH!!!!!!

End of rants.

If you got this far thanks for reading such a long post.

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Lysiane

~~ Beauty Is In The Eye Of The Beholder ~~

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I couldn't agree with you more and THANK YOU for having the "umph" to step up and right a wrong.

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Silly Would love to hear your feed back at My Gallery

I have to agree - I would like to think I would step up - I may not confront someone directly though I admit - it can be too hazardous to be a good samaritan these days however i would certainly notify the authorities where i thought it was warranted.

I hope the child in the first senario heard what you were saying about it being wrong and learnt something from your lesson rather than her moms bad example

Good for you Silly!

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Bless you for being the one to do something. There should be more people like you around in this world. Maybe things would be better.

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I second what Ang said - the world needs more Lysiane's for sure! Good for you - I definitely would have been right beside you - although I probably would have bopped her! I live in a tourist area - and I see people digging up and transporting our wildflowers all the time - and you can bet I don't stand by and do nothing!! but - hubby does run the other way pretty quick and pretends he doesn't know me!! Seriously - what's wrong with people!!

Holly

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My Gallery

Hurrah for the camera and snapping the evidence. The mother was teaching her child to steal--not any different than shoplifting. Good for you for stepping up.

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Ditto to everything.

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Help I've fallen behind and I can't catch up!

Past the 1/2 way point

Your first rant... I don't think it was trivial at all. What that woman was doing was theft, or vandalism at the very least. She really should have had more common sense and decency in what she teaches her daughter. Those were there for everyone to enjoy. Good for you for reacting! I think your camera trick was priceless Would have I done anything? No. I'm one of those people that sit by. Confrontation makes me physically ill, just like public speaking. When someone is in danger though I couldn't sit by. Again kudos to you for calling 911!

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~Nancy