Today I witnessed something I'd like to share with you [SORRY].
The last thing you expect to see is people disrespecting a memorial for someone that meant a lot to an entire community.
I watched some asshole pull on a deflated red balloon hanging from a flag pole at Righetti. When I saw him pull it, watch it snap back, and laugh, I got angry. What made me sick to my stomach/furious/pushed me over the edge however was when he came back to the pole a minute later, ripped the balloon off entirely and dropped it to the floor. I wish I could go back in time and confront that kid- ask him why the fuck he would do something so disrespectful. I didn't have the balls to do so and he walked away- I'll never get to call him out for being a piece of shit. And then I stood there where I usually stand talking with my friends and watched the balloon until a second opportunity to call out some assholes presented itself.
I probably wouldn't have even gone and talked to them if Aaron hadn't started moving first, so thanks for that Aaron. We talked to a second group of douchebags who took the balloon from the ground and played with it, stretching it, taking turns karate-chopping it, and eventually popping it. I assume they were underclassmen, because they weren't seniors and I don't personally know any juniors who would do something like this, though I'm sure they're out there.
The first thing we asked them was if they knew who these balloons were for- what they represented. This was ten feet away from the large memorial- I found it hard to believe that these kids didn't at least have a clue that those balloons signified something, meant something to people.
Still, one of the kids in the balloon-popping circle said he didn't know what the balloon was for. Another one said she was his friend. Why would you watch a group of your friends disrespect the memory of another friend you had just lost? This guy sat there playing guitar the whole time. I totally believe that she was his friend, because she was everyone's friend, which makes him even more of a prick for watching his friends turn a piece of her memorial into a garbage toy.
Their excuse- what they kept telling us- was that it was already on the ground. I know that's true because I saw the other guy rip it off the fucking pole. But that excuse doesn't cover shit. Because they still pulled, stretched, tore, and popped a balloon that was meant to represent a celebration of a human being's life. Righetti's a large school- most of the kids in this group probably didn't know Bree. But they had to have known that she passed away. Announcements, rallies, posters everywhere... They had to have known the significance of the balloons- they just didn't care because they didn't know her (well except for that shit who sat around and said "she was my friend"). How fucked up is that? To destroy, to mock a memorial of someone who passed away is a shitty thing to do, whether you knew the person or not.
The whole situation was extremely insensitive and just fucked up. They were just kids being stupid says part of me, while another part says they are complete pieces of shit. Both of these are true to some degree, but I realized after I had cooled down that the first option (stupid kids) was probably the truest.
I didn't want to write this to talk about our confrontation with these kids- which is why I included only one short quote. I wanted to write this to try in some form to express how disrespectful and shitty human beings are. I was kind of overcome that people would fuck around with balloons obviously placed to signify and celebrate a person's life.
I'm sure this shit goes on all the time- popping balloons, ripping posters, defacing memorials and all that- but to actually see it is offensive and shocking. If you see anyone like this, confront them. You don't have to be a dick about it, just honestly tell them how you feel and why what they did was insensitive. If they don't show any signs of regret after that or if they're just plain assholes about it, that's when you get to be a dick. Be a huge fucking dick: because people like that deserve to be shat on. Basically, I think people need to know how to have some fucking respect.
Regardless, it would still give me an insurmountable amount of pleasure to hunt down the fuckhead who ripped that balloon from the pole and stomp his face in. (But not really though, I'd rather just verbally smash him). That's a thought anyway.
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