Tuesday, August 30

There’s an old saying that you can’t judge a book by its cover which we most often use to say that what one looks like on the outside does not necessarily tell you what’s inside. I think most of us would agree that an attractive person could easily be nasty and obnoxious while someone not blessed with good lucks just might be the nicest person you will ever meet.

However appearance also can tell you quite a bit about someone. While I acknowledge young people go through stages, you do see sights that leave you scratching you head wondering just what are they thinking. While it was a long time ago I have come across pictures of myself when I was in my late teens and sporting a natural Afro that was so high I probably could not wear a hat. I mean Link Hayes from the show “Mod Squad” had nothing on me. Of course I realize some of you are too young to remember that show.

I say all this because the other day I came across a group of what I believe to be teen-agers probably in the 16 to 18 year old range. It’s kind of hard for me to be sure based on assorted hairstyles, colors, tattoos and metal that was everywhere. Earrings, nose rings, lip rings, tongue rings and goodness who knows what else. Being an adult I should have not jumped to any conclusions as they might be National Honor Society material who are caring members of the community. As I walked by they were skateboarding, smoking cigarettes and exchanging in small talk. Were they discussing the start of a new school year, Hurricane Earl, or baseball’s pennant races? I can’t tell you because every other word I heard started with the letter “F” and I couldn’t make out the rest of the dialogue. Surely with adults like me in the area they would curtail their obscenity-laced conversation. No, as a matter of fact they increased their volume as I walked by and seemed to smile and enjoy the fact that I and others in the area were repulsed by their language.

I wanted to say something, wanted to tell them what no-good useless pieces of trash they were but paused and remembered that you can’t tell a book by its cover so I simply kept walking. Maybe it was the mature thing to do but now that I think about it I wish I would have grabbed a couple by their nose rings.