Wilkes-Barre's "Fight Club"

In what seems like an eon ago, Wifey threatened our eldest two toddlers with physical violence (spanking) for seriously acting out on an LCTA bus.

And thanks to a nosy neighbor who was also riding that bus that day, the Children & Youth incompetents showed up at our house wielding threats of kiddie foreclosure. Luckily for them, I was right where I always was…at work.

Having lived with a physically-abusive step-father for far too many years, I feel I can easily differentiate between idle threats and real child abuse. To be a bit more insightful, know that my step-dad knew no bounds when he blew yet another fuse. In fact, the guy was all-too-frequently flat-out mean.

Anyway, if you threaten your kids in public you could lose them to Foster Hell. And Allah forbid, if you momentarily lose your temper and backhand a deserving child gone temporarily rogue, you do stand the chance of losing custody of said child for years on end, if not, forever.

Yet, it is apparently not considered inattentive or abusive to allow one’s children to wait for the school bus in bone-chilling cold without hats, gloves or coats.

Must be me.

Very recently, my son and his wingman announced that they were headed down to an uber popular downtown watering hole to play some pool.

Hearing that, I asked my son to go elsewhere. I told him he’d be better off playing pool at a corner bar than at downtown Wilkes-Barre’s official version of Fight Club. I warned him of the pitfalls that await those to partake of Fight Club. I reminded him that the police scanner doesn’t lie.

Undaunted, my concerns borne of Scanner Land provided him with a chuckle. Still though, he did listen as I told him what to expect if the fists got to flying at him and his.

Needless to say, the fists did get to flying at him and his. And as I had foretold, the staff of said establishment pushed those who would dare fight onto the sidewalks out front to be, ahem, dealt with by the Wilkes-Barre police department.

In other words, even though the trouble always starts in the establishment, it gets shoved outside and it usually culminates in mini-brawls and blood-strewn donnybrooks on the nearby sidewalks and streets, or in or adjacent to Central Lock, but always within shouting distance of a residential high-rise. And then it's our problem.

Luckily for my son, he did listen when I told him to hit fast and furious if necessary, but to get the hell out of there lickety split as the police typically respond to Fight Club as quickly as can be expected. And he now knows not to frequent that obvious nuisance bar anymore.

So, no more Hardware Bar for my kid.

I promise, I solemnly swear that the next time I see DPW workers scatter garage all over the street, giggle and then drive away from the mess they alone created, I will take down the vehicle number, make note of the time and place and report them to City Hall.

Count on it.

Which makes me ask all over again, why haven’t we privatized our curbside collections? Why? Because those highly efficient private haulers would not hire our then deservingly displaced unionized DPW workers.

Enough already.

A question about Black Friday is as follows…

Are you people freaking serious?

How’s that Haggerty Rule looking to you so far?

The folks promising transparency in government have avoided transparency while anointing a Haggerty Rule transition team.

Not to worry, though. If Initiative and Referendum doesn’t fix it, there’s always moving vans to be had.

Later