Some readers of Robin Shepherd's 'Blame their teachers' letter of December 11, if they missed the bit where he warned that his response to that editorial was to be cynical, would not have detected the irony and will indeed blame inept school-teaching for society's woes. Truth is, as Mr Shepherd so cleverly infers, it's far too late by the time the kids get to school.
In some families, the 'what's yours is mine' and 'anything goes' attitudes are being passed on down the generations, fuelled by easy access to questionable media and 'games', and causing many of the woes that are reported in In Brief columns of the Age.
But anyway, I'm back, if you'll have me, sir? Could be a swan-song piece. No, I'm not anticipating an imminent departure of any sort, but age will have its way, and the urge to change the world fades.
The car that replaced the one written off by the unknown driver who rear-ended us a few years back has survived the continuing efforts of tailgaters and those who ignore yellow no-passing lines. Few close ones, though.
Bad driving is one manifestation of bad attitudes. It will get worse.
Didn't quite get skittled by the skateboarder in Pak'nSave, who is probably one of those pupils who has not yet been rehabilitated by the "inept" teachers Robin Shepherd identifies, although I was effectively admonished by the glare of the 'caregiver' when I suggested to the child that a shopping area was not the ideal venue for skateboard slaloms.
Visits to town have become a bit depressing. Too many drivers trying to 'save' those vital two or three minutes on the 14-kilometre trip between Ahipara and town. I've often wondered what they do with the saved minutes.
Skateboards again, loud, offensive language, people discarding their trash under the outdoor tables, hoons and their wheelies ... recently in town, shortly after nightfall, I left an end-of-year function that included some well-behaved, properly nurtured young children and their parents, to check our mail box. Outside the Post Office a boy aged about 7 or 8 approached me with a "You got any money?" demand. When I told him I had none, and that he and his younger companion should be at home, I was told to mind my own business.
What might we have been reading in the paper if these kids had approached, or been approached by, a man who was kindly offering them a ride in his car rather than one picking up his mail?
I could rant on as I used to, and as some correspondents still do, good on 'em. But I've done my dash. I suppose we really should not be astonished by local trends when we look at the social decline that has beset us nationally, and the puzzling antics and policies of our smiley-faced politicians trying to address it.
Fewer cops when we need more. Prisons that allow criminals to run a business from the cells. Judges who allow them bail so they can flee to Brazil or wherever.
Nothing should surprise us though, in a country where the electoral system allows a person awaiting extradition for alleged serious criminal offences overseas to form a political party and seek votes.
I consider myself fortunate to be in the last 20 years of my time on Earth, rather than my first 20.
As the old song is entitled, Things Ain't What They Used To Be.
BRIAN FARRANT
Ahipara
