What the Hell Is Wrong With Some People?

Okay, yeah, I live in Gloucester and I love it. And, yes, I was very upset by the pregnancy scandal here for a variety of reasons --- the main one being that, despite what the media would have you believe, Gloucester did not invent teen pregnancy. As I said in a previous blog my main rant is that girls today have been sold out by much of the culture and they are suffering for it. The sexualization of girls may have been going on since the beginning of time but its broad acceptance and promotion in the media is way out of control. Little girls, toddlers, are dressed like little streetwalkers by mothers who say, “ooooo, but they are so cu-u-u-u-ute”. Somebody swat those mothers upside the head please.

And then there is the “kids! what can you do?” crowd who want to promote the idea that 14 year olds having sex is normal and there's nothing that can be done about it. Oh, yes there can --- it begins with education and the message that it is perfectly all right and acceptable to choose to NOT have sex, too. I'm not sufficiently clueless to believe that will stop it --- I absolutely believe that sex ed is necessary and needs to begin early BUT there is no reason that, along with sex education, society can't promote the idea that it is just fine and, in fact, admirable, to choose to NOT have sex until you are ready for it.

We teach kids about saying “no” to drugs and alcohol and smoking, we can just as easily teach them that it is okay to say “no” to sex before they are mature enough to handle it. There are a lot of kids who will ignore that but there are a lot of kids who want to be able to say “no” and need the support of their families and communities in doing that.

There is also the entirely twisted opinion by too many that it is a woman's responsibility to be a mother. As a woman who consciously chose not to bear children I cannot tell you how many people have given me a hard time about that --- it happens all the time. When adults put forth the message that a woman is not fulfilling her “womanhood” by not breeding, why are they surprised when insecure, unloved little girls decide to get pregnant?

All that being said, I'm utterly horrified by what happened in Beverly Farms last Friday night. Yes, it has been done to death in the media but I still am going to have my say about it. “Horribles” parades, by their very nature, have a reputation for mocking and lampooning aspects of society. That is a given and not unexpected. A number of floats in various horribles parades around the area mocked the Gloucester pregnancy scandal. I can't say anyone was happy about that but it was probably to be expected. Even some of our Greasy Pole Walkers did it during Fiesta. However, the “float” that crossed the line was the one pulled by a truck supplied by McInnis Paving Inc. of Beverly (978-921-1608). It featured a giant squirting penis on its roof, a number of disgusting and offensive signs, and kids tossing condoms into the crowd (the crowd of families with small children). Now, I ask you, what in the hell were these people thinking??? Have we become so accustomed to trash that we think this sort of behavior is acceptable? Everybody is rushing to deny responsibility. The parade officials “didn't know”, the sponsors “didn't know”, McInnis Paving (978-921-1608) “didn't know” --- apparently they were so oblivious they didn't even notice when a giant, squirting penis was mounted on the top of their truck! I called McInnis Paving (978-921-1608) to register my disgust and a man who identified himself as the owner claimed he didn't know what they put on his truck. His truck got driven all through downtown Beverly farms and his driver never noticed he was driving a truck with a giant, squirting penis on top of it. Well, who would?

And then --- then, to add insult to injury --- the Parade Award committee awarded this disgraceful and disgusting float a $400 SECOND PRIZE AWARD! What the hell were they thinking???

So there you have it, dear readers, if you live in Gloucester, the town that invented teen pregnancy, be prepared to be mocked by your neighbors --- especially shi-shi-la-la Beverly Farms which awards prizes to a Fourth of July float bedecked with crass, vulgar, disgusting signs, condoms tossed to little kids, and a giant, squirting penis. Nice folks.

Thanks for reading.