20 January 2009

Child or Adult?

I'm not much of a sports fan. As the bio reads "I'd rather be doing anything than watching others play a game". Watching football falls somewhere on the same tier as curling and badmitton, That's below Baseball and Soccer but above ice fishing and gymnastics.

With the local team playing for the championship, I wasn't about to waste an afternoon getting fat in front of the 'tube. Instead I went about the activities of the day. But with the local teams in the Championship game, I will tune the radio over and listen while on the road. Caught the latter half of the second quarter. Sounded like all offense, no defense on both sides But while the Cards scored TDs, the Eagles could only post FGs. Ok, Cards are up 24 -6 at the half (Who are you an what have you done with the local team?) Returning an hour or so later, "WTF Happened in the third?" I dunno 'cause I was DOING STUFF!

Still now we have this story.
The two men ... were arrested Saturday around 6 p.m., for using the fuel to kill the grass in the Philadelphia quarterback's lawn and leave the messages., "Go Cards," "Go Kurt," and "I (heart) AZ."

No Class.

Practical jokes are one thing. But there is a wide fat line between "practical joke" and "vandalism". And that is where physical damage is involved. So long as the "damage" is limited to nothing more than yanking the offending item and dropping it into the garbage, it's a "Ha Ha, you just wish you were me". But using diesel fuel to selectively kill the grass and leave messages in the lawn is waaaay over the line.

Good sportsmanship is all about winning the game on the field, not rubbing their noses in it off the field. At least that's what we teach here at the SandCastle. The SCSon started the SBD races with lots of advice, first and foremost though was good sportsmanship. As the starter asked if each participant if they were ready, he'd offer "Good Race!" to the competitor, and shake their hand at the far end.

In reality I'll bet these guys will probably get off pretty easy. A couple grand in court costs and restitution plus a year's probation. They're lucky this isn't CA where state would declare the contaminated soil HAZMAT and require mega expensive disposal and rehab. That $2k figure would go up by at least 10x.

Oh, and these guys look familiar... I don't recognize the names, but it's possible I've seen them at the DayJob(tm). Companies don't like convicts working for them. This "prank" could easily put them at the top of the list should layoffs become necessary (or when given the current economic situation). I'll check the company email tomorrow, but it's also possible they've already been "abducted by aliens"*.

Pretty expensive prank. Hope it was worth it.

What is the difference between a child and an adult? Adults consider the consequences of their actions, children do not. These guys are still children.

* The DayJob(tm) likes to do dismissals quietly. People are here one day and gone the next. They disappear in the middle of the night, as if "abducted by aliens". A friend on the sour end of the deal reported it was about 10 minutes between "Can I talk to you for a minute" and "standing in the parking lot without a badge". And walk from our end of the complex to HR takes about 5 of those.

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