Back when I was a kid (1980's-early 90's) there were no privacy fences, neighbors knew each other and it was a sense of community. So it was no big deal if us kids used three yards to play wiffle ball on. One of the yards wasn't even the yard of one of the kids playing with us. But the homeowners didn't care and didn't have to worry about lawsuits being filed on them if a kid rolled an ankle or broke a leg in their yard.
But today things are different. Privacy fences are everywhere signifying the desire for ....."privacy", neighbors aren't quite as close as they used to be and the sense of community is nowhere near what it used to be either.
There are some kids who's parents aren't real "social" in the neighborhood. They go work, come home from work go inside and rarely come outside or speak. They are not rude by any means. They just keep to themselves and I really do not know them.
However, recently their kids have gotten big enough to where playing wiffle ball in one lot isn't sufficient. It's too small. So they have broadened their "white lines" to include multiple lots and one of those is mine. I think my yard is the "outfield" when they play wiffle ball. I walked outside the other day and there were three kids I didn't know standing in my front yard playing ball. I was kind of taken back but look and saw the set up and what was going on. I didn't get on to them. They weren't doing anything wrong and was having a blast. If I was younger I'd asked if I could play. :biggrin2:
But when I got back in I got to thinking about "what if". "What if" one of those kids got hurt in my yard or some freak accident happened? In this day and age is it "bad business" to allow kids to play in your yard without me being out there and giving my explicit permission? I don't want to be the "mean old fart" that rains on the kids wiffle ball game because I remember how much fun we used to have. But this is a different day and age we're living in.
But today things are different. Privacy fences are everywhere signifying the desire for ....."privacy", neighbors aren't quite as close as they used to be and the sense of community is nowhere near what it used to be either.
There are some kids who's parents aren't real "social" in the neighborhood. They go work, come home from work go inside and rarely come outside or speak. They are not rude by any means. They just keep to themselves and I really do not know them.
However, recently their kids have gotten big enough to where playing wiffle ball in one lot isn't sufficient. It's too small. So they have broadened their "white lines" to include multiple lots and one of those is mine. I think my yard is the "outfield" when they play wiffle ball. I walked outside the other day and there were three kids I didn't know standing in my front yard playing ball. I was kind of taken back but look and saw the set up and what was going on. I didn't get on to them. They weren't doing anything wrong and was having a blast. If I was younger I'd asked if I could play. :biggrin2:
But when I got back in I got to thinking about "what if". "What if" one of those kids got hurt in my yard or some freak accident happened? In this day and age is it "bad business" to allow kids to play in your yard without me being out there and giving my explicit permission? I don't want to be the "mean old fart" that rains on the kids wiffle ball game because I remember how much fun we used to have. But this is a different day and age we're living in.
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