July 02, 2001

 

QUEEN FOR A DAY

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Every time I see a group of little kids, the same thought goes through my head: Look at these sweet children. How in the world do so many of them turn out to be miserable adults? The cynical answer is peer pressure.

Of course, sometimes it's a sweet teenager that gets squeezed by her peers. A few years ago, the homecoming queen at a local high school was pressured by her older boyfriend to spend graduation night in Las Vegas. After arranging the appropriate lies and alibis, they set off, speeding in the night for Vegas. From all accounts, just before they left, the girl was having serious second thoughts about their plans. Tragically, she was right. About halfway between LA and Vegas, the car spun out of control, flipped several times, and killed both occupants.

While we're on the subject, halfway between Los Angeles and Las Vegas lies the town of Barstow, California, which is known for that, and for having some factory outlet stores. It is also the home of Emily Arnold, recent graduate of Barstow High School. Emily was a cheerleader, honor student, and winner of the 2001 Miss Barstow beauty pageant. Seems like a great kid to me.

Hold on to your hats for how she got treated by her desert town of 23,050...

A few weeks ago, she participated in the annual Senior scavenger hunt, followed up by some friendly toilet-papering of a rival's house. The rival's name is Hayley Clair, and she too was a cheerleader and honor student.

Some demon must have got to young Emily that night, because she also took out chalk and wrote the words "NOT NICE" and "MEAN" on the windshield of Hayley's car. Graffiti in chalk--now there's a dastardly crime!!

Laugh all you want. The only problem is that Hayley's father is a world-class martinet killjoy, who also happens to be a cop and school board member. Big bad Stan Clair caught the kids in the act, called for backup, arrested these vile perps, and insists on pressing charges of vandalism, that could bring a $1,000 fine, and a year in jail. Emily was forced to give up her title as Miss Barstow, even though she offered to make cleaning up graffiti the mission of her reign.

As her mother pointed out, Emily is so sweet that the worst thing she could think of writing on Hayley's car was "MEAN". And, by the way, Hayley herself was involved in an incident of her own just a few hours before Emily's. She was accused of shooting a neighbor's house and car with a paint gun. Somehow, Hayley's little prank was resolved without the need for law enforcement.

Emily is headed for college in Arizona, and will visit Paris this summer. You want to bet that she's thrilled to be leaving Barstow?

How ironic that a small town, with so little to offer its youth, would work overtime to drive away the best of them. Ironic, perhaps, but so illustrative of human nature. Hopefully, Emily will "chalk it up" to experience.

No, we can't expect a perfect world, and we needn't lament every time that a good person is treated so poorly. But we are saddened to be reminded that there are people who delight in hurting others--just because they can.


 

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