Story & Photo – Joseph Boyle
The other day… That’s right, I was at Starbucks, which is a happy place for most patrons.
I was highly disappointed to see that a lowlife had destroyed four of the beautiful exterior wood panels on the Starbucks building with their stupid gangbanger or skate board tagger illiterate markings. It looked like $3,000 worth of damage to me.
Society calls them graffiti artists, but a more apt term might be graffiti criminals, jerks, scofflaws, mutants, human rejects, losers or parental failures.
While the rest of us dream positive dreams, go to work, and build businesses so others can have jobs, graffiti vandals spend their waking hours tearing down our communities with their ridiculous vandalism.
Graffiti criminals are cowards about their pursuit based on their practice of frequently using lookouts or painting late at night under the cover of darkness when they think no one will catch them.
I say to you parental failures, climb aboard a leaky ship bound for a 3rd world country. I can talk like this since graffiti artists are not yet a protected class.
If you do not like our USA pursuit of excellence life-style, you might love what a 3rd world country slum has to offer. You will enjoy sewer running in the streets, buildings falling down, cardboard shacks, rampant crime and graffiti everywhere.
Stop trying to pull our country down to slum conditions.
For any readers who agree with me, call the cops when you see one of these cowards sneaking around vandalizing our neighborhoods.
Parents, remember it is against the law to take your little failure down to the river in a gunnysack filled with rocks, but if you really must do so to solve the problem, I will provide you with a free gunnysack.
I have spoken with some of these folks (not the gang ones) and they have asked for places where the can paint. I suggest in an area where this frequently occurs to businesses someone try to put up some panels and mark them as a place graffiti IS allowed. You might be surprised.
I feel that it should be open season for any armed citizen to use graffiti artists with a can of spray paint in their hand as target practice. No head shots. Shoot ’em in the knees so they can crawl back and spread the message to their friends.
This is Joes best article yet! I’ll sponsor the gunny sack initiative.
Right on. Joe! We’ve had had more than one experience (always costly) with the gang bangers and their graffiti tagging rituals in connection with our business here in Lakewood! What irks me is that the city council doesn’t take a firm stand against these criminal types by passing a severe penalty law against such vandalism given the fact they know who the perps are by their very tagging ID…but instead, insist the property owner bear the expense of removing or covering the grafitti. If I was to spray paint my name all over a neighbor’s property you can believe I’d be dragged there by the ear (after some jail time and a heavy fine) to repair the damage I’d done! Typical of the liberal government in the state of Washington. As my better half would say, “Hang ’em….hang ’em high!”
Ken Upton
Joe, I too, am very disappointed to see that lowlifes defaced four of the beautiful exterior wood panels on the Starbucks building with their stupid illiterate markings. And yes, I also consider them to be parental failures.
I hope that there’s a way to remove the graffiti from these panels, without more damage to the panels.
But, Joe, you went WAY TOO FAR when you, effectively, suggested killing these people by providing a gunnysack: “Parents, remember it is against the law to take your little failure down to the river in a gunnysack filled with rocks, but if you really must do so to solve the problem, I will provide you with a free gunnysack.”
NOT OK. And Suburban Times, not OK for publishing this.
I know Mr. Boyle is capable of more effective prose and commentary than is evident in his emotion-laced tyrade over the Starbucks grafitti. Commentary over such offensive activities can have either informative, teaching or healing effects, but lashing out with such damaging statements serves no purpose whatsoever, except possibly to please the offenders by rewarding them with exactly what they hoped for – to irritate the community and bring exposure and credit to their work within their own circle of cohorts.
Does he not realize that the best of homes and the most dedicated parents can bear children that may head off along their own twisted path of anti-social behavior? Not everything a youngster does can be laid at the feet of the parents – who, by the way, may already be tortured by the actions of the children. Most of us can be thankful that our offspring stepped off onto a productive path, even if we were not the best of parents. Not all are so fortunate.
Go ahead and comment, but try to demonstrate a level of maturity and understanding and, when possible, offer possible solutions. I’m sure parents would love the insight.
Agree Ed. Joe, as usual, went overboard. Tagging is a problem and the city laying the burden on the property/store owners does get annoying; especially if they know the taggers but are too afraid to go after them (which is most likely the case). Grow some Andy.
I am a native North Carolinian who loves the North West and who visits as often as possible. Starbuck’s and Steeped In Comfort (with Margie presiding!) are daily stops when I am there. In North Carolina VANDALISM (such as unsolicited and illiterate markings) on the first offense we excuse with a stern warning and very strong encouragement to deface their own Momma’s and Poppa’s homes and garages, The second offense is dealt with more severely by using an ax handle properly applied to the skull of the savage and then feeding the alligators with the sad sack of “fertilizer” remaining!
I am truly saddened that vandals (graffiti artists?) persist in defacing our community, however, I am even more saddened and shocked at the commentary and some of the follow up comments. Violence is NOT the way to solve ANY problem, especially community problems. This is a community newspaper; where is your sense of ‘community’ folks, i.e., caring for one another. This ‘trash-talk’ about violence to vandals is no better (actually worse) than the vandalism itself. Get a grip people.
Ordinarily I enjoy your insights into local stories and points of interest, Joe. By your labeling this piece a “Graffiti Rant” I suppose I should have been warned that it would, well, rant. But your closing proposal about gunny sacks seems to have brought out the worst in several respondents. Their further escalation, even to gun violence, does a lot to inflame but absolutely nothing to address the issue of helping kids behave responsibly. We have built a great community here; let’s work together to address problems, not make them worse. Let’s build some of those graffiti walls one respondent suggested!