Editor,
Dear Oak Street neighbor,
Sorry my son and his friends annoy you. Teen-agers are annoying, and very often annoy me, too. However, if like you, I complained to the police every time I was annoyed by them, I would need a full-time officer assigned to me. Maybe you are unaware that there is a lovely retirement community just over the hill that is devoid of annoying teenagers. In fact, the only annoying sound you’ll have to endure on any given night is the cry of the man calling bingo.
On New Year’s Eve afternoon, you felt compelled to call the police because my son and 10 or so other teens (girls, as well as boys) were assembled in front of my driveway. These menaces to society are the same teens that, during the recent flood devastation downtown, took an intermission from their self-absorption to help local business owners clean their stores and prepare to reopen during the critical pre-Christmas season.
I guess you prefer groups of teens to be squirreled away in un-chaperoned locations. Well, I prefer them in plain sight, where I can enjoy their ridiculous behavior firsthand. So next time your fingers are eagerly poised over your phone’s keypad to speed dial the police, please consider the Laguna Beach Police Department has more pressing issues with which to deal than your annoyance, especially on New Year’s Eve.
Cheers to 2011! Let’s all chill out a bit, shall we?
Jennifer Gibbs, Laguna Beach
