I need someone to explain to me- in very small words- why vandalism in the name of tradition has become socially acceptable.
This week is homecoming in several area towns and along with that is miles and miles of toilet paper strewn into every tree in sight. I have been told it’s harmless fun. No, it isn’t. Go ask anyone who works in the street or sewer department of your city how they feel about it. I have been told that the kids pick it all up anyway. No, they don’t. There is no way anyone is going to get that paper out of the 40 foot tree across the street from without a boom truck and I am not holding my breath for that to happen. But my personal favorite is when I’m told it’s a tradition so that makes it OK.
If we need to allow toilet papering because it’s such a sacred tradition then we better bring back freshman hazing. That was a tradition long before anyone had even thought of toilet papering!
And that’s my other problem with the “it’s a tradition” argument. At best, kids have been participating in this form of crime for 20 years at best and it wasn’t until maybe 10 years ago at most that it was associated with Homecoming. Before that it was something the “bad kids” did- the ones who smoked out behind the school and didn’t neccessarily graduate with the rest of your class.
I know that I am in a tiny minority with this position. If anyone has any imput- agreeing or disagreeing with me- I’d love to hear it.
We did the toilet papering thing for Homecoming my freshman or sophomore year of high school (I was a cheerleader) so that "tradition" has been going on longer than 10 years.
Slavery was a tradition, hazing was a tradition, initiation was a tradition. Are these "traditions" fine too? "It's just harmless fun" they say… At about $26 per hour, our city staff will clean up this "fun" and get it out of the trees out of the storm sewer system and out of city property. THEN, people wonder why taxes are higher, etc. The isses is vandalism and littering — not the best traditions either.