A Rare Friday Rant

Warm summer sun, shine kindly here; Warm southern wind, blow softly here; Green sod above, lie light, lie light - Good night, dear heart, good night, good night.
- Robert Richardson's "Annette" adapted by Mark Twain

OMG!!!  It's brutal out there today.  Only 8 am, and it has already reached the normal high temperature of the day.  I don't know about you, but this heat wave beginning to get me down.  I love the flowers and the freshness of the beginning of summer, but by the time we hit the August heat, which seems to have come early this year, I'm ready to be finished with summer and move onward to the fall.   I know that  many of you have it a lot worse than us, so I feel kind of guilty for complaining, but city heat is awful heat.  It literally stinks.  The subway stations reek of urine and, in the area where I work, there just happens to be a few places that deal with seafood.  The smell can become atrocious.   

This morning I am pretty annoyed or should I say...bewildered.  I really don't like ending the week with negative thoughts, but some things cannot remain unsaid.  Some things fester away at you, and  you have to let them out.   As you know, last week a little boy in my neighborhood was found brutally murdered.  Sources  now say  he was given a deadly drug cocktail that may have been sprinkled in a tuna sandwich, before dismembering him--a mix of Tylenol and three prescription drugs.... a painkiller, a muscle relaxer and anti-psychotic medicine.  In addition to the drugs, police sources said a towel was used to smother the boy.  It brings tears to my eyes just thinking about that poor child.  Now police have found a box of children's clothing in the man's house, clothing that is no match for little Leiby, and they are looking into whether or not there have been other children, and is he a serial killer. No one likes to believe that such animals reside their own neighborhood, but sadly, they do.  So....

...you would think that after such a tragic incident parents would be leery and begin keeping a tighter watch on their children.  I know I would.  In fact, when my boys were little, they were not allowed to play outdoors until I had time to go out and watch them.  We live in a city where bad things happen to good people every day so we have to be aware.  One sicko may be behind bars, but that doesn't mean there's not another one out there lurking in the background.  So, you can imagine my disbelief when I went home last night.

Thursday is one of my late nights at work,  and it is usually after 8pm when I arrive home.  Last night, I turned the corner to my block, and there were two little girls playing out in front of their home.  They couldn't have been no more than three or four years old, and they were out there totally ALONE.   There wasn't an adult in sight. Even the front door to the house was shut.  Forgive me, but where are these people's brains.  I really have to wonder, do they even care about their children?  It was barely a week ago that little Leiby was brutally murdered, and you are allowing your  little toddlers to play outdoors, at night, with no supervision.  I just can't understand the way some people think.  And, my hands are tied on this whole thing because, suffice it to say, I live in a separate world than they do.

Whew!!!  Thanks for letting me get that off my chest.  Things like this eat away at me.  Didn't mean to bring any of you down with me, and it I did, please accept my apologies.  

In closing, I would like to say it's going to be a rough one this weekend.  Please, everyone stay safe.  Drink lots of liquids and don't get overheated. Stay under the AC if possible.  This is dangerous weather.  Have a great weekend.  See you Monday.