Contrary to popular belief, there are still good kids around.

[Curmudgeoness]

And I can attest to this. Feels good to have my belief that things are not as bad as people make them out to be.

Here's the story: I get home from work yesterday and start dinner. There is a knock on the door. When I answer it, there are four kids there (about 12 years old). My first thought is "what are they selling now". Shame on me. They are standing there with a note in one of their hands, he says he is so sorry, but they were playing soccer in the empty lot next door and the ball broke a window in my garage (I had not pulled into the garage so I had not seen it). They had knocked when it happened but I wasn't home, so they went home to get paper for the note and came back to leave it for me with their name and phone number.

The note says "I accidentally broke your window, I am REALLY sorry! We will be glad to pay for it. Call xxx-xxx-xxxx. Sorry, John Doe. PS. it is on the side of the garage."

Not even a spelling error! And I could read it! Call me impressed. I thanked them to telling me, and told them that the most important thing to me was that I knew it was an accident and didn't have to worry that someone was trying to break into my house. I told them not to worry about it.

This wasn't the end of it. After I ate, I went to clean up the glass and measure for a piece of cardboard until I can get to the hardware store for them to cut a pane. The kid and his mother come up, apologize again, and the mother insists that she will pay for the damage. I told her that it will be less than $5 to replace and it was just an accident, that I was not concerned. (Really, I was more concerned about having to deal with the spiders living there.) Mom did not believe how cheap it would be, but I know since I had another pane broken a year or two ago. She was relieved, since when she heard "window", she was thinking hundreds of dollars. She tried to give me $10, I said really it was not necessary, and she just put it on a shelf in the garage. Nice kids.

So.....I take back all the nasty things I have ever said about kids these days.

[Lucinda]

1. That is nice to hear...

Nice change from all of the negative stories we hear all the time!

[Curmudgeoness]

4. That was just what I thought. I love those kids! nt

[TygrBright]

2. Kids give me hope. Yeah, there's the usual percentage of bullies and buttheads among them...

...but I see so many beautiful, hopeful, determined youngsters planning to make the world a BETTER place that it's a great comfort to me.

Depressed? Go down and volunteer to help with the local Boys & Girls Club.

Kids are awesome.

appreciatively,
Bright

[Curmudgeoness]

5. That is a good suggestion. I have no doubt that would be uplifting.

These kids DO exist!

[femmocrat]

3. Great story!

Now those are boys who are being brought up correctly. Their parents deserve an :applause:

[Curmudgeoness]

7. And I did let the mom know I was impressed.

And I really hope that the kids didn't have to pay for the money mom left. Even if it was just $10. You can tell that they did not mean to do damage, and it really was no big deal.

[freshwest]

6. Yes, I run into them all the time. Nicer even than some I grew up around. Young hearts are good ones

[Curmudgeoness]

8. These were definitely good ones. It would have been so easy

to take off without letting anyone know. And they even went all the way home just to get paper for a note. How cool.

[freshwest]

9. Good feeling of community there.

[kimi]

10. Ya know, this is heartwarming

and yet, that you comment on it at all says a lot about our culture. I'm glad that you did, really, it is a crucial counter-point to all of those stories about how kids these days have gone all to hell and don't give a s&*t. It says something about the fact that yes, there ARE parents out there who care about raising their kids with a healthy dose of honesty and respect, and very likely, their education in a public school somewhere has reinforced those teachings.

We all need to be reminded of the things that matter. Thanks for sharing. :)

[Curmudgeoness]

11. I am glad that this post lightened up the day for a few people.

It is true that this is a sad commentary on our society. But then again, I think every older generation has looked at the younger generation as less than fit for the world. I am not looking at it that way now.

[kimi]

13. Posts that lighten up our days

are valuable indeed. I'm very impressed that you let the mom and kids know how great it was that they took responsibility for what happened.

Rewarding good behavior is such a simple thing, so easy to do, and so easy to throw away in our culture where it's all too easy to pay attention to the bad behavior, and publicize THAT.

Trust me, those kids and that mom will remember what you did and how you reacted well into their golden years. It'll be something that they will tell THEIR grandkids. Nice visual, yeah? :)

[Odin2005]

12. Awesome kids!

[bluesbassman]

14. Yeah ok, but what I'd like to know is...

were they on your lawn when they knocked on the door? :P

Seriously, sounds like a good group of kids being raised by thoughtful parents. :applause:

[Curmudgeoness]

15. They really were good kids. And I do give some credit to the parents,

but I gotta say that it is all about the kids. Good parents can tell kids what they should do, and they can model behavior, but they cannot make the kids actually do the right thing. These kids are just plain good. No one ever had to know about this. They really did feel so bad over a minor accident that it broke my heart. (Minor because I have such old windows, so they are just metal frame with clips to hold a pane of glass. Easy peasy.)