Sunday Percolator: Boutonnieres, Burglars, Bad Boys And Firebugs

Lovely weather for the weekend as we slide into post-prom Sunday morning, some local kids floating down to breakfast with stars in their eyes after a night out with classmates and romantic interests. If we squint real hard we can almost remember those nights ourselves. Hope you had as much fun as we did back then.

Enough of those perfume-scented trips down memory lane as we re-enter the present and its adult complications, prowling some old local haunts and gauging local sentiment on any number of issues – local or more widely-flung.

Ponied up for a Scotch to keep the evening chill at bay and wandered, chasing reports of suspicious fires pluming in Pleasant Hill and Cat Convertor Bandits crawling under other folks’ cars and sawing off the bits containing precious metal. Who would have thought Nocturnal Pit Crews would be mining cars for platinum, palladium, and rhodium in 2022? Certainly not on our bingo card.

Also problematic lately has been loose talk of shooting people – uttered either during a careless whimsy or deep in the red mist of rage – with real-world implications resulting as police or the rager’s designated target displaying no sense of humor and reacting vigorously to the threat.

We’ve written about the increasingly surly regard the citizenry appears to have against those who think spattering passersby with paintballs or AirSoft pellets from a passing car is good, wholesome fun. That angst surfaced recently after a homeowner not unfamiliar with war and guns chased and caught an instantly petulant teen who leveled a realistic looking pistol at him as he worked in his front yard.

“I made him give me his gun,” our resident said. “It looked just like a Beretta. Even had the logo on the grip. My hands started to shake…he was maybe 16.”

We’re hoping people re-think the whole carrying realistic looking “play” guns in public thing. There are people out there with real ones.

Real-world implications resulted in an hours-long standoff and eventual arrest for a man suspected of having a gun who allegedly threatened officers in Alamo – and then took refuge in a vacant home. They also came down on the six or seven others (one in the process of being detained as we write, we think) who channeled their best Dirty Harry and threatened to “waste, top, chop, 187 or grease” others for any slight, perceived or otherwise.

We shouldn’t have to say “don’t do that” but don’t do that as, again, other folks including those in law enforcement tend to frown on it and you don’t want to end up micturating yourself as a stack of police officers come down on you like thunder and demand to see your hands. We know things can be inhospitable out there but don’t let the behavior of others destroy your inner peace – and we know the Dalai Lama said that but we liked it.

It’s Sunday. The Weather is the type that makes us glad we live in California. Enjoy it.