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October 22, 2008
Only in Ohio
I open up my newspaper the other day, and what do I see but a story about an elderly woman in Ohio who may as well have stepped out of a young adult novel. It seems some neighborhood kids were playing football, and the ball went into her yard. As this had happened before, she refused to return the ball, the cops got involved, and everyone learned a lesson. Especially the 89 year old woman, who ended up in the slammer.
It is the age-old battle; the retiree who wants nothing more than to be left alone, and the neighborhood kids who want to enjoy the outdoors. The neighbor is obviously being unreasonable in refusing to return the ball, and the kids are also at fault for not keeping the ball out of her yard despite knowing she doesn't want it there. The parents of the children involved overreacted by calling the police, but then it's also entirely possible the lady was simply impossible to deal with otherwise. She could have made her point by keeping the ball for a few hours, but that didn't happen.
This reminds me of when I was in high school. I played on the soccer team, and our field during my sophomore year faced a row of houses across the street. We played in the outfield of a baseball diamond, Miami Dolphin style, and the fence was only about 12 feet high. The goal was right in front of these fences, and errant shots would often go over the goal, over the fence, across the street, and into the yards of one of the neighbors. This neighbor was a retiree, and he had obviously grown tired of the balls thudding against his garage door, because he began to sit outside during our games and take all the balls that went into his yard.
This went on for a few weeks, as we carried on a battle of wits. He would hide so we didn't know he was watching for the balls, and parents would stand on the street and intercept balls before they made it to his yard. Finally the school erected a big orange fence on top of the baseball fence, which blocked most wayward balls.
And that was the end of that. Notice nobody went to jail.
entry no. 1229
Posted at October 22, 2008 04:36 PM