Ditchin'...Again

They struck around 8pm, little hoodlums sneaked up the front steps and rapidly ran our doorbell over and over.

Then they split.

Ah, a favorite activity of bored youths...

The crime has come and gone at our house. Years ago, a group of street toughs, roaming the neighborhood, hit the house. What fun! The dog we buried in the yard last month, she hated that doorbell and barked and barked whenever the ditchers hit. What fun! The dog would calm down, and they'd hit us again. Even more fun!

Then, it stopped.

Until, the next generation (or younger siblings of the original ditchers...) grew and took their place. Same result, kids sneak, they ring, they run, dog freaks out, kids get their jollies. What fun!

Then, it stopped again.

But, in the past couple of months, they've returned. Tonight they hit us again. Our old dog stopped caring about the shenanigans because she was deaf. She stopped barking when the kids got their kicks. But, we got a new dog--a dog that hates the doorbell as much as our first dog did. Tonight, they sneaked, they rang, they ran, dog howled, kids laughed.

What amazing fun!

As a kid, I really can't remember doorbell ditching. I probably did it so maybe I'm receiving my just rewards. I DO know, if I ever did doorbell ditch, I didn't do it as much as it was done to us. Maybe just rewards come with compound interest. You would think that with all the things kids can do nowadays, tormenting a poor dog and a family would be low on the list.

One day, it'll stop, maybe for good, but as history has shown, probably not. I guess we'll see if the upcoming generation can think of better things to do.