Right this minute; RIGHT NOW, I don’t think I could be any more digusted with the nature of young people today. :wally = kids today
As I was driving home from dropping my son off @ pre-school, I noticed for the first time some pretty serious grafitti tagging on a new mini-mall (4? units) in the process of being built near my home. We were pretty jazzed about having something built on the lot; it was previously weed infested with visible beercans and varied bottles; sometimes a type of shelter would be erected for a day or so. So, having something actually built there would be an improvement.
Not for this shit though. I’ve watched countless businesses fight a never-ending battle with tagging. I [sub]consciously don’t visit stores with tagging. I figure if their owner doesn’t care enough to keep their premises gang-free then shame on them.
I do not want to watch it so close to home.
How can these idiot kids think that they “own” anything? I’ve not seen any open dealing (lately) so what exactly is it that they “own” by tagging a public/private building? I also noticed recently that the PG & E pole in front of my house had tagging on it. I looked around to see if there were any other poles with tagging, and I didn’t see any. Then I got paranoid. Then I got pissed. I got my spray can of black paint out and covered it all up. How DARE they? Was this tagging a “mark” for MY house? You little shit-stain fuckers had best stay the hell away from my house. My first love sigh is a member of the local police. If I call to gripe about an ugly abandoned car in the neighborhood, it’s tagged within hours. Really. This in a city where gangs must be prevalent. I don’t know now, verbalizing it like that, if the quick service is a good thing. (?)
DAMN those little goat-felching bastards. I bet they’re mommas’ making welfare off their asses. shitheads. dick-wads. twats (for teh girls). stupid uneducated continuing perpetuousity of this idiotic destructive self-mutilating behavior.
So tagging something means they “own” it? Kinda like animals pissing to mark their territory, I guess. Interesting. Hadn’t thought of it before in those terms.
Nope. I don’t mind tagging or graffiti. It does not offend me. It doesn’t anger me. I barely notice it, unless I find it attractive (not usual, since tags aren’t designed to be artistic a lot of the time like full graffiti is). I can’t imagine getting upset about it. But I actually wasn’t being “snarky”, no. I’m sure some shit upsets me that wouldn’t bother you either. In a way I was thanking you for starting this thread so I can see where people who feel the same way are coming from better, maybe.
Before somebody comes back at me like “well if you owned damaged property it would offend you” or whatever, believe me…no, it wouldn’t. It might annoy me if I had to pay for it, but it wouldn’t make me mad. I’m aware that’s unusual. shrug I just don’t get worked up over property. It’s just stuff, it’s just money. It’s not, to me, what matters in life*.
And tagging can mean all kinds of things, and it’s not just gang-related, btw, though in your area it might be predominately.
*not implying anything about what matters in life to anybody else. for once I’m seriously trying not to be confrontative.
This is an interesting observation indeed. As a minor, you can’t own any property of your own. Even if you buy an iPod with your allowance money, it’s still your parents’ money. Even if you have your own job, minors can’t technically enter contracts (we’ve discussed this here) so the sale is technically illegal, or at least if it is called into question (such as in the case of a return).
You don’t own anything, you don’t have authority over anything. You also don’t have responsibility for anything. This is a tough situation to be in, and it can easily create a destructive mindset. I say this based on my own frustrated experience as a teenager. I never did graffitti, but I can understand why a teen in such a situation would feel this need to “mark his/her territory”.
Perhaps if you bought them all iPods, they won’t tag your house?
well I can tell you as an Architect I don’t care for it. It isn’t like I design a building with the intent–well you know a big oversprayed KYC or some bullshit like that would love hot right here! I fucking hate taggers.
I equate it to someone writing in the marigns of a book I read (another practice I detest)–it impacts the intent of the designer or author. Not sure what you do for a living–if I recall from other posts aren’t you a student or something? How would you feel if I tagged your next report with a big coffee stain
I’m not a student, no. But really, “how would you feel if” scenarios aren’t going to suddenly make me hate tagging. I don’t not hate it because I have a lack of empathy. I’m sorry it bothers you and RSSchen and others. It just doesn’t bother me or even rise to the level of being something I notice. It wasn’t my intention to start an argument about it, like I said. I just find it interesting when something I don’t normally notice is something that drives someone else totally batty.
I’m sorry there’s been some vandalism near your home.
Those responsible should be caught and be made to clean up not only their own mess, but some more too.
However I wish to defend the vast majority of young people. I’m a teacher and just got back from a School trip. Our pupils were great and a credit to themselves and the School.
I surmise from this barely coherent rant that you’re an easily disgusted person. The part about your house was funny though. I can imagine you screaming in angst to the wind “It’s MY house and nothing you do is going to change that you little rat bastards! Even tagging the light post in front of it!!!”
“Keeping the premises gang-free” was also good for a few laughs. “Hey Papa, pick up the trash in front of the store please, it’s unseemly. And this time don’t forget to shoo away those gangsta busters while your at it!”
Too bad I couldn’t follow the rambling about your “first love”.
Human nature isn’t all that changeable. Kids today are exactly like kids have always been. Like we were. Call them “kids” or “teenagers” or “young adults” or what have you, adults have been threatened by them since the dawn of time. They have no respect!!! They corrupt and bastardize our culture, dammit!!!
They remind us that we are not humanity’s final word. We, like those before us, shall die and fall into obscurity, preferably in that order. We shall become… Uncool.
You really are overreacting. First, tagging usually has nothing to do with Gangs, at least not the traditional multicolred artistic types, but are traditionally more like a contest with other taggers. As for not patronizing stores with tags, I’m not sure as a small business owner that I’d want to spend significant time and money white washing the outside of my business for something that constitutes a minor annoyance at best. Even more so if I only lease space in said building.
It’s not a mark of ownership, but more of a “Hey I got here first”
Just out of curiousity, are you positive it’s a gang tag? Not trying to stir anything up, I’m just really curious, since I am still learning about grafitti and tagging myself. I come from a tiny town in the country, and since moving here, I’ve noticed all sorts of different grafitti tags. My husband, who has lived here all his life and went to some rough schools (he’s lived all around Seattle growing up, not just Ballard - Ballard isn’t exactly known for it’s violence). Anyway, he has shown me that only certain ones are gang tags, and others are just kids with paint cans, trying to look cool. There’s all kinds of tags around Ballard, and we’re not exactly known for our gang violence. If I had to avoid all the places with tags on them, I’d never get my grocery shopping done.
Anyway, just trying to give another perspective. It’s not pretty, and I’m not fond of it, by any means, and it would be nice if the store owners could keep that stuff cleaned up, but I imagine after it’s happened for the umpteenth time, they just give up.
I used to think that all tagging was somehow gang related, but apparently it’s not. It helps if you know the actual names of some of the local gangs, so you can recognise whether it’s gang tags or not. But good luck with that.
fair enough.
I don’t lose a lot of sleep over it either. Doesn’t drive me batty either–but then it isn’t my property (I just designed it!). Now if it was my house–well that would probably put me in the deranged range
But when I design a new project that costs $80 million and it gets tagged with a $2 can of spray—just seems a sad waste. A project like that represents hundreds of thousands of man hours by hundred of people, who take pride in their work and to have it defiled is just sad. Sorry that doesn’t bother you.
Most of the owners I work with though immediately clean it up–stay on top of it and it doesn’t take over. Leave it and it just invites more tagging. I used to live in DC and if I recall correctly the Metro system there had the same philosphy about it–clean it up as soon as it happens.
Bite me smartass…anybody defending this criminal and destructive behavior is clearly not a homeowner with it in their neighborhood, or, on the other hand, one of the perpetuating fools…
My post was quite succint and well thought-out. Forgive me for not living up to your standard of pitting. mutteringbarely coherent my asswell, you knew how to get a rise
And…you want it in your neighborhood? I’m afraid I’m gonna have to do some searching on the not so earnest posters here.
No overreaction at all. I didn’t go screaming into the streets wielding a knife. I have no right to be dismayed or digusted? I really don’t care about the age of the vandals, they could be forty year olds, I don’t know. Guess I used a broad brush painting “kids”. For that I’ll apologize. I certainly never want my children to be catagorized such as that either. But I would certainly teach them to not deface property that’s not theirs. I got here first…so what, actually, I got here first. My tag is on my house. It’s called an address plaque.
I don’t know about Oakland but around here the law says any sort of tag has to be covered up by the property owner if the tag is reported to the local anti-gang unit.
I also would be outraged, and I can’t get my head around the fact that anyone wouldn’t . I agree, kids have been doing that kind of stuff forever and I assume most of them will grow out of it, but that doesn’t make it any less infuriating. Also, as far as whether it’s gang related or not; what the hell difference does that make? It’s ugly, disrespectful and diminishes the neighborhood, regardless.
So, those of you who aren’t bothered by that sort of thing (I’m looking at you, Ensign Edison ), why not? Or rather, “how not”. I’m honestly curious cause I could use a little bit of your levelheadedness in this matter.
