Stupid is as stupid does

[yendi]

A family put up a sign targeting a neighbor's kid.

The sign is incredibly offensive, and the reporter (and everyone interviewed other than Mr. and Mrs. Hicky McHick) rightly takes the family to task.

But he clearly didn't read the sign closely enough. Go on. Look at it.

Yeah. Maybe they shouldn't have dropped out of school after the second grade.

Comments

[terracinque.livejournal.com]

Maybe it was a contraction.

[yendi]

If that's the case, they're short an article.

[terracinque.livejournal.com]

It's understood.

[kungfoogirl.livejournal.com]

I guess spray paint cans don't come with a spell checker.

[angryvixen.livejournal.com]

Isn't it sad that the boy with the developmental delays is on the same level as a three year old and he's still far more mature then the adults in the other family?

[angryvixen.livejournal.com]

And then right as I hit "Post Comment", I notice I used the wrong then/than. Oops. Let's try that again...

Isn't it sad that the boy with the developmental delays is on the same level as a three year old and he's still far more mature THAN the adults in the other family?

[yendi]

Agreed.

Oh, and I love the icon!

[dindin.livejournal.com]

Irony's a bitch.

[sempereadem.livejournal.com]

I think the person who wrote the article itself should have finished their journalism degree.

[crystalrowan.livejournal.com]

I was thinking the same thing - very poorly written which is rather apropos considering the subject of the article. :)

[xforge.livejournal.com]

I think the article is a transcription of an on-air report; in other words I think it was produced extemporaneously by the reporter onsite. Can make for some seriously bad composition and grammar, which you don't notice as much when the puppethead is talking oncamera, for sure.

[shellefly.livejournal.com]

Self-referential, eh?

[brujah.livejournal.com]

You *know* he was the valedictorian of his class and that's just a free range apostrophe.

[popfiend.livejournal.com]

ROTFLMAO!!!

[hotcoffeems.livejournal.com]

I was far too appalled by these assholes to have looked until I re-read your post.

“Our daughter was assaulted by him and we have pictures and everything but they won’t press charge’s ‘cause he’s a retard.”
Yeeeeaah, right.

[digriz.livejournal.com]

Actually, according to a followup news story, this is probably true. Along with a bunch of other things the kid is allowed to do because his mother is an idiot.

Followup (http://www.sltrib.com/utah/ci_4083657)

I agree, btw, that the sign was in bad taste (in addition to bad grammar). However, this is obviously a case where there is no innocent party.

[muse0fire.livejournal.com]

That does suck, and there's no way my sister would ever let my nephew (same age) wander around because he'd probably do the same thing. Sounds like social services need to get involved because if he IS that autistic, he needs careful supervision, which clearly he's not getting.

But yeah, the sign was a redneck way of dealing with the situation. Not helpful, not appropriate, not acceptable.

[hotcoffeems.livejournal.com]

Oh, I have no doubt he threw a rock at her. That's not really the point -- claiming it as some kind of violent assault is kind of ridiculous (and why do I wonder if the guy equates his sign with warning people that there are sexual predators living on the block?) I'd also have to wonder if anything precipitated the rock-throwing, although it's possible nothing did). I have no doubt he wanders.

I used to be neighbors with a developmentally-disabled adult who did the exact same thing -- wandered the road, poking into people's houses if she could. In her case, the family she lived with actually encouraged her to steal (she was banned from local stores). It was vexing and worrisome, and on more than one occasion I found her poking around on my porch, but if anyone in the neighborhood had put up a sign like that, I would have been as disgusted as I am now (actually, I think the same would have held true of my neighbors -- the collective response was to discuss it, and the next time she wandered, for the first neighbor to see it to call DFCS. We were a helluva lot more concerned for her welfare than hostile -- despite her family's behavior. This SOB is angry at the kid, he's ridiculing a disabled child, and *that* I have a problem with.)

OTOH...I'd caution against rushing to judge the woman. She has other children, right? And there seems to be no mention of the dad. Even if there is, I imagine keeping up with him is pretty hard, unless she has fulltime help. So what did these angry neighbors do to help -- or resolve the situation reasonably -- before cheering on the fool with the sign?

[muse0fire.livejournal.com]

My sister is raising her 13 year old severely autistic kid on her own - so not having a dad in the picture is not an excuse for poor parenting.

But yes - I completely agree with your assessment that taking out their anger on the disabled child is TOTALLY wrong.

[hotcoffeems.livejournal.com]

My sister is raising her 13 year old severely autistic kid on her own - so not having a dad in the picture is not an excuse for poor parenting.


Being a single mother, I agree. However I don't think anyone here knows enough to judge this woman as a poor parent or not -- It’s impossible for any parent to be on guard at *all* times. Even more so if you have no support system (i.e., family, helpful friends or neighbors, enough money to hire help) and you have more than one child to keep up with.
For all we know, the “constant wandering” could have been one or two incidents, given how shittyass her neighbors seem to be about the whole thing.

I'm not assuming she's Mom of the Year, I just find it interesting how quick people are to assume she's a crappy parent based solely on the reactions of obivously hostile and unsupportive neighbors.

[muse0fire.livejournal.com]

No, you're right, we don't necessarily know all of the details.

Anyway, I think we can all agree that regardless of the kid's behaviour, the neighbors are redneck assholes.

[hotcoffeems.livejournal.com]

Yeah. They're definitely assholes. Sadly, I don't think being "redneck" is much of an excuse, since in the incident I mentioned, the road I lived on has more cows than people, and the people are definitely redder of neck than the average (I live in a rural Georgia county). Yet they'd *never* have thought putting up a sign like that was acceptable.

Not taking you to task, just pointing out that being a hick doesn't excuse it either. They're just flaming assholes.

[muse0fire.livejournal.com]

As the aunt of a severely autistic boy all I can say is, fuckin' rednecks. I hope one of them gets brain trauma.

[smibbo.livejournal.com]

the boy is Developmentally Delayed. The neighbors are just fucking stupid and asinine. Notice who is smiling in those photos.

[voltbang.livejournal.com]

I think it's a conspiracy. The kid probably is related to a senator, and that's why the police won't press charges against him. He's used his retard powers to gain control of a roadside bar in a small town, and now he is terrorizing the whole tri-county area, by throwing rocks at teenage girls and picking the locks on the neighbors doors to steal their twinkies. There's only one thing to do in a situation like this, I mean if the sign thing doesn't work out. It's a long shot. It's expensive. But really, there's no other way out. They have to find... the A-team. Cue the theme music. Get Mr T on camera, lets go people, we got a show to do!

[katfireblade.livejournal.com]

One has to wonder--was that REALLY a mistake? Or was it an insult aimed at the entire family? After all, "retard" is both a physical condition and an insult, and in that family's opinion, the entire family of that boy had been acting pretty retarded.

And with that in mind, I cant say who I feel more like snickering at, the retards whohung the sign, or the many more who might have missed the point. *snicker*

(As for me, I cant spell and make no apologies for it.)

[katfireblade.livejournal.com]

*sigh* *rolls eyes*

Remind me to never, never, never "look closely" at anything without my glasses on.

Apostrophe.
Duh.