EDITORIAL:
Costa Mesa police run the risk of becoming the butt of many jokes if they continue to ...
Sorry, we couldn’t resist.
But c’mon, did Costa Mesa’s finest really stake out Estancia High School and Fairview Park early Tuesday to stymie the senior class’ annual tradition of toilet papering?
Hey, we love our guys in blue for taking their jobs so seriously. And we’re grateful they took it easy on the rascals — the cops only cited them for curfew violations.
But isn’t this just a bit of overkill?
We suppose it depends on who you’re asking.
“Every year, this generates other calls for service,” said Sgt. Bryan Glass, the department’s spokesman. “There are already problems with vandalism in the area.”
We can understand that. But wouldn’t it make sense to let the kids just have their fun and then make them pick up after themselves?
“We can clean it up if we have to,” said Ryan Tartre, a junior who hopes to continue the tradition next year.
And while it is technically vandalism, it’s not that serious.
“It’s toilet paper. It disintegrates in, like, seven days,” senior Cody Thornton wisely pointed out.
Plus, let the kids do it once, and they’ll likely get it out of their system. This year’s crackdown seems to have provoked the pranksters to strike again.
“They think they’ll stop it, but they won’t,” Estancia senior Natalie Plascentcia vowed.
We’re sorry, but this all just makes us smile. They’re kids having fun. Good for them. This is likely to be one of the best years of their lives, and they should enjoy it. Soon enough the responsibilities of adulthood will devour the time they can devote to such frivolity.
Besides, few things in life are more rewarding than just harmlessly goofing around with your friends.
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