Ranting

As long as I'm angry with the world today, I'm gonna rant a little (ok, maybe not just a little).

There is this group of people who live in the townhouse caddy-corner (kitty-corner?) to Jeff. I refer to them as a group (rather than a family) because it's an ever-changing assortment of characters. There have been domestic disputes, cops have come out, and it's a never-ending drama.

Now, here's the part that pisses me off: there are two children living there - a boy around 5 years old, and a girl, about 9. They are adorable - bubbly, bright, friendly. These two kids can always be found outside playing by themselves, with no adult supervision of any kind. Oh sure, every once in a while their Aunt will come outside to smoke a cigarette, and she'll nod an acknowlegement to whomever is outside talking to the kids, then shrug and walk back inside. But other than that, they'll be out there for hours at a time without so much as a peep out of anyone in the house.

What baffles me is that I know if they were MY kids, and I walked outside to find them chatting with two adults that I was unfamiliar with, I'd certainly GET familiar with them. I mean, these people don't know that Jeff and I aren't pedophiles or something! What the hell? We could easily take off with these kids and no one would notice until it was too late.

To make matters worse, no one has apparently informed the little girl that she IS developing, and shouldn't be rolling around in the grass in a skirt. A couple of times I had to quietly mention to her, "Um, sweetie? You need to keep your skirt down past your knees...." or "Psst... close your legs." If some sicko child-rapist were walking around the neighborhood, and happened upon this little girl, climbing trees, doing somersaults on the lawn, etc.. I'm sure she'd be a prime target. And it scares me.

Jeff has said on several occasions that if he's home in the afternoon, they are at his side anytime he steps outside the door. It's as if they hang around waiting for us, because they know we'll stop and chat with them, or play ball with them, or pet their new puppy.

There's really nothing I can do about it. There's no signs of abuse, just neglect. The kids are relatively clean, are well-clothed and appear to be well-fed, so it's not BLATANT neglect, but they are obviously starved for attention. I don't want to interfere, and I'm certain that if I said anything to the parents (whoever they are), they would take it as an intrusion of their privacy, and would not react kindly. But what can we do?

Now playing: "Ice, Ice Baby" - Vanilla Ice

I always look forward to the 5:00 O'Clock Power Jam on one of the local radio stations.. it's the ultimate in cheesy 80's/early 90's dance music. I swear, I can get more work done in this hour than I do all week.