Integrity: Chapter 2
So, instead of troubling with a long history of my childhood, I’ll start with a young adult, some five years ago, and thus some five years younger than I am now. And yet the person that I am now was fully formed then, and acted toward himself and others in a way that I would still be proud to act today. Just over five years ago, it was – on the Monday of Memorial Day Weekend.
I and a few friends were celebrating with a picnic at Freedom Park, adjacent to the VFW building downtown. It was and still is a rather large park for being right in the center of town, but it was donated to the city long before the rest of it was built up, under the condition that it be perpetually dedicated to public recreation. The members of the VFW, as part of their civic service, spend many volunteer hours a year keeping the park clean and well tended. So, in general, the park is a wonderful place to spend an afternoon, even on summer holidays, when it tends to be crowded.
We had staked out our picnic table and grill early, and were just getting the coals ready to cook when we noticed a group of about 20 high school kids talking loudly and obviously drinking underage. But that’s their business. We tried to ignore them. Others around the park did much the same. It was a beautiful day, and we were all in good spirits.
But, as our burgers began to get done, the group of kids became more and more unruly. They became louder, and they began to throw trash on the ground. Understand that they had a half-empty trash can 20 feet away from them. Once in a while, they’d throw a bottle at a nearby lamppost to see if they could get it to shatter. But, because the kids kept mainly to themselves, people kept trying to ignore them.
I didn’t see it quite that way. Here it was, Memorial Day, the day when we’re supposed to honor those who have given their lives to maintain the way of life that we value so much. And here we were, in a park maintained by those had fought in these wars, some of them undoubtedly losing very good friends. And here were a bunch of young, ignorant punks, dishonoring the memories of these valiant men, some of whom were personally known to the very people who kept the park nice for them. These kids might as well have been spitting upon their graves as defiling their park.
My friends thought I should just ignore them – and perhaps help clean up later, if I felt bad about it. But I could not let that matter rest. Against my friends’ advice, I approached them, and asked them politely to stop defiling the park, and to put their trash in the trash can. I had already learned that respect gains respect in many situations. So, although I was already very angry by the time I approached them, I was very polite, and told them how I felt about the significance of the day, and of the park, and about the honor of those who died for the country. Now, many would predict that the kids just laughed me off or that a fight ensued.
Nothing of the kind happened. The kids said that they were sorry, and were just trying to have a little fun. They picked up what they had thrown about, including the broken glass, and disposed of it all properly. I thanked them sincerely, and went back to my friends. On the way back, I saw some people smiling at me, and I smiled back. It was a good moment. The kids continued to be loud, and they played rough games with each other, but they did not defile the park again, so it was easy enough to ignore the noise. We, and many others, continued to enjoy the park until well into the evening.
