A Frightening Event

Something sad and scary happened on Friday.

I was driving home from a funeral and was in an area of town that I normally would not be in. As I turned the corner, I saw four Hispanic girls walking down the street -- in baggy jeans and long white T-shirts. They were laughing and trying to kick each other. But what got me was that one of them held a good-sized American flag, which she used to poke the others with, while dragging the flag on the ground.

I stopped my car, rolled my window down and said: "You girls really need to have a little more respect for our flag."

One girl apologized, two laughed and one cussed me out, flipped me off and then made some disgusting hand gestures at me -- I am not sure what it meant, but it didn't look nice.

I was mad but I Just waved goodbye and put my window up and as I did, I noticed from the corner of my eye, some movement to the right of the car. I turned and suddenly, there was a crowd of about 20 to 25 rebellious looking teenagers -- all wearing the same white T-shirts and baggy jeans, some of them clearly exposing their boxers.

It scared me. I was relieved to know that all doors were locked and my first thought was "If they bang on your car, just maneuver to the left and drive or speed away.

They glared at me. I looked at them and started inching my car forward. Then one of them held up two fingers "Peace" and I smiled and "Peaced" them back. They nodded and stepped away. I gave them a slight smile and waved goodbye. Several waved back.

To be honest, it scared me half to death. I've never been a confrontational person and I am one of those people who locks everything. I keep a lock on my fence gate - no one can even come into my yard.

I have a lot more to say about these protests - but I'll save that for another entry.