Have you ever woken up...and in the midst of your groggy, half-asleep state in which you aren't quite aware of everything yet, but you know you aren't dreaming, you read something so stupid that it makes you think - "Did I just read that right?"
Maybe you even read it again to make sure it sticks? Or that the shock of caffeine hitting your system for the first time in several hours isn't playing tricks on your mind.
This is one of those days. You see, Joseph Manzanares was fighting with his girlfriend inside a Hollywood Video store in Commerce City, Colorado. His girlfriend worked there, and Manzanares reportedly stormed in while she was working, threatened to kill her, and then proceeded to knock over several displays, videos, and even a computer.
Police were called, and Manzanares was arrested for disorderly conduct, harrassment, and domestic violence.
Now - the kicker:
His girlfriend told police that they had been arguing about the upbringing of their son and which gang he should belong to. The teen mother, who is black, is a member of the Crips. Manzanares is Hispanic and belongs to the Westside Ballers gang, the woman said.
"They have different ideas on how the baby should be raised. Basically, she said they cannot agree on which gang the baby would 'claim,'" Sandoval said.
What...you ask me? Which gang the child will join? Hey...I wouldn't make this shit up!
At any rate, yes, their primary argument was which gang they should encourage their small child to grow into...I'm assuming they'll at least wait until the child's, say, 12 before they give him his first set of "colors"?
Now, I can understand couples arguing over how to bring up their child. Couples that come from different religious backgrounds, for example, might argue over which political beliefs they want to instill in their children...or even whether or not to allow a stranger to dip the child's head in Holy Water. When should we start potty training? What school should we send them to?
It's a common argument...
But which gang your child is going to join? Seriously?
And apparently, I'm the only one who sees a major problem with this, since the harrassment charge on Manzanares was dropped, and he was sentenced to only one year's probation for the disorderly conduct charge. Nothing was reported regarding the domestic violence charge.
My question is - Why the hell is that child still in that home! Isn't this child endangerment?
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That is completely insane! I wonder how old the kid would be before they start teaching him how to do his first drive by, or if they start having him sell heroin in kindergarten.
This is by far the strangest thing I have heard. Why would they want to limit their child's life by involving them in gang activity?
The kid would be in the system looking for a foster home and both parents would be sterilized.
Yet another incident that validates my idea that we should colonize Mars, so we have a place far away from Earth to put these dumbshits. Add several million, twenty-four hour video feeds, and then air them on the web. All the people subscribing to watch would make this venture pay for itself. Entertainment? You bet! Just watching the idiots trying to live with each other, and it would be just like any Los Angeles based reality show. Except they won't be able to breed in my back yard.
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"One of the things that draws writers to writing, is that they can get things right that they got wrong in real life, by writing about them"
~ Tobias Wolffe
That's really sad. I guess that's just a testament to what kind of world we're living in.
Although, I wonder what the parents would do if the child decided NOT to join a gang.
I hope he rebels by becoming an academic! His colors will be argyle.
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/ediblewoman
I think that's brilliant. Reminds me of the show "Gangland" on the History Channel... only in that show, the kids don't usually make the right choice :*(
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You are the Voice of the Childwen of the Revowution! [Toulouse, Moulin Rouge]
...it doesn't seem that weird to me? Evidently in their community, it is expected that everyone joins gangs. It's less, "Which criminal group will my child associate with", and more, "Will my child be influenced by my family, or by their mother/father's family?"
Commerce City, while scary, is not only filled with gangs.
~C
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That I just get the irresistible urge to punch in the face repeatedly...most of them are bad parents.
This reminds me of the time i got kicked out of disney world...
*Start long tangential story*
I was sitting outside the bathroom for my friend to come out, and there was a guy with a little girl waiting too. The dad was sitting on a bench and the girl was hopping on some flat rocks that lined a nearby flower bed. Well the girl slipped and banged her knee, she wasn't hurt, she just scared herself, and started crying. The dad proceeded to pick her up, slap her full force across the face, tell her to shut up and drop her. I lost it. I tackled the guy(he was about twice my size) and got on top of him and just started beating the shit out of him until my friends pulled me off of him. He left with a broken nose, two black eyes, a bloody lip and a couple missing teeth. I was asked never to return to the magical kingdom.
*end of story*
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"Speech is conveniently located midway between thought and action, where it often substitutes for both."
-John Andrew Holmes
You rock! Kick that dad's ass! Yeah!
Although he probably got his share of beatings as a young one and it made him into an asshole... but hey... you're gonna slap a little girl for crying because she hurt herself, then you deserve a broken face.
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You are the Voice of the Childwen of the Revowution! [Toulouse, Moulin Rouge]
Wow, that is completely absurd. I don't even want to imagine how this child will turn out. Unless he is lucky he too will join that world, as it is all he will ever know and then we wonder why there is so much violence in our world? Well, if parents are the ones pushing gangs, along with ones peers, why would someone not join? I hope this kid finds an amazing mentor, teacher or friend who will lead him on a different path.
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/kelliecor