| Author | Message | ||
     cookiecutter Citizen Username: Cookiecutter Post Number: 117 Registered: 5-2004 |
The CHS Senior's returned from Midnight Madness this morning at 5:00 a.m. to find nearly every car in the senior parking lot covered with eggs, flour, tomatoe sauce, tuna fish, etc., etc... some cars were even keyed. Apparently this is a quaint rite of passage perpetrated by the previous year's graduates. A little known right of passage that must have taken a very long time. The parking lot was full to capacity. Since the Maplewood Police gave the CHS Seniors the permission to park at the lot overnight it would be presumed they would offer the same protection they offer through the school year. Police patrol the parking lot so cars are not stolen or vandalized. Take note class of 2007. | ||
| Pippi Supporter Username: Pippi Post Number: 2461 Registered: 8-2003  |
Eggs are one thing, keying is downright malicious vandalism. | ||
| Paper Bag Bandit Citizen Username: Glock17 Post Number: 1241 Registered: 7-2005  |
hahaha that never happened to our class. ('05) That's rich!  Ok so maybe the keying kind of sucks but other than that... | ||
| HOMMELL Citizen Username: Hommell Post Number: 240 Registered: 11-2005 |
Never assume that because someone allows you to park somewhere your car will be guarded. | ||
| cookiecutter Citizen Username: Cookiecutter Post Number: 118 Registered: 5-2004 |
The Police had an obligation to the kids. This is not a case of assumptions. | ||
| Paper Bag Bandit Citizen Username: Glock17 Post Number: 1244 Registered: 7-2005 |
No they didn't. "it would be presumed that they would offer" They had the obligation to let them use the lot...not to protect their cars. Regardless...I'm glad I was smarter than that just got dropped off and picked up like many kids. | ||
| Bajou Citizen Username: Bajou Post Number: 747 Registered: 2-2006  |
Hey PBB: I thought you are a college student now? What you doing at midnight madness? Plus eggs are no joke (yolk) they damage the finish on a car. | ||
| Paper Bag Bandit Citizen Username: Glock17 Post Number: 1247 Registered: 7-2005 |
I was talking about last year | ||
| Matt Foley Citizen Username: Mattfoley Post Number: 709 Registered: 6-2004  |
Is anyone else not shocked by this? | ||
| red Citizen Username: Redy67 Post Number: 5996 Registered: 2-2003  |
I am shocked and saddened... btw foley like the old avatar better.. | ||
| Soparents Citizen Username: Soparents Post Number: 1446 Registered: 5-2005  |
red took the words right out of my mouth - this may be a prank to some, but this is personal property in some instances being mucked up, and in others physically being vandalised. A joke is a joke, but I seriously doubt anyone in their right mind is laughing about this.. I liked the old avatar too.. | ||
| ess Citizen Username: Ess Post Number: 2382 Registered: 11-2001  |
It's not even a funny prank. There is nothing at all funny about vandalizing a car. It packs the additional whammy of being very costly to repair, in the case of keying. Bastards. | ||
| Just The Aunt Supporter Username: Auntof13 Post Number: 5449 Registered: 1-2004  |
Cookie- Sorry, I'm having a hard time believing this. How many cars were in the lot? You said nearly every car in the senior parking lot covered with eggs, flour, tomatoe sauce, tuna fish, etc...' I'm guessing there are at least 100 parking spaces in that lot. If this has actually happened before, and is as you claim a 'a quaint rite of passage perpetrated by the previous year's graduates,' don't you think the police would have heard about it by now? I can't believe this has happened before and not one parent went to the police to complain. If it had happened before, don't you think parents would have been yelling at the school administrators? And don't you think someone would be watching the parking lot? I have a very hard time believing this. Maybe a few cars out of 100 plus -sure, but not 'nearly every car' as you state. Sorry. | ||
| crabby Citizen Username: Crabbyappleton Post Number: 679 Registered: 1-2004 |
get over it jta- Nearly every car. And kids went to the police when they found their cars in this hideous condition. It sucks all around. My neighbor's kid got wind of the prank and got dropped off. Too bad for the others. | ||
| Cynicalgirl Citizen Username: Cynicalgirl Post Number: 2893 Registered: 9-2003  |
If I were a parent who'd let my sr drive my car there I'd be WAY po'ed. At the same time, pretty lame and wussy that last year's grads would find this prank worth doing. You'd think they'd have moved on to something more fun or gainful than coming back to their high school to make a mess. At the same time, you'd kinda liked to think that some surrounding business/homeowners or cruising cops would've notice. | ||
| Just The Aunt Supporter Username: Auntof13 Post Number: 5457 Registered: 1-2004 |
Crabby- So I ask again. How many cars can park there? I'm guessing at least 100, no? I can't believe the Maplewood Police would 'give permission' for the students to use this lot, knowing the cars have been vandalized in the past, without having someone watching the lots. Since you have stated the police are aware this has happened in the past ("kids went to the police when they found their cars in this hideous condition") I would think the Project Graduation Organizers would have had to know as well. Considering this is supposed to be a fun drug and alcohol free event to keep the students safe, one would think the students who caught win of this would, in addition to being dropped off, brought it to the attention of one of the adults planning the event. If this turns out to be true, those responsible should be held accountable. Cyn- I'm thinking the same thing as you. If there were that many cars damaged you would think someone would have noticed while it was happening... | ||
| ess Citizen Username: Ess Post Number: 2389 Registered: 11-2001 |
Just because 100 cars CAN fit in the lot does not mean that there were 100 cars there. This does not let anyone off the hook for not monitoring the lot somehow; just an observation. | ||
| crabby Citizen Username: Crabbyappleton Post Number: 682 Registered: 1-2004 |
jta- they went to the police that morning at 6am when they got back just two days ago. I did not say anything of last year. I also don't know what good will come out of the police report. | ||
| Joan Supporter Username: Joancrystal Post Number: 7632 Registered: 5-2001 |
Crabby: You wrote: "My neighbor's kid got wind of the prank and got dropped off. Too bad for the others." If your neighbor's kid had been more considerate and protective of his/her classmates, s/he would have told the police ahead of time so this could have been prevented. If your neighbor's kid had told his/her parents to drop him/her off because the cars left in the lot stood a good chance of being trashed, shouldn't the kid's parents have shared what they knew with the police? We all need to take some responsibility for the safety and well being of our neighbors. Otherwise, what happened to the cars of the Senior class members today could happen to someone else tomorrow. It is difficult for the police to protect the senior's cars if they don't know that something like this is about to happen. This was not a prank, it was a serious case of vandalism and this message has to be gotten across to everyone concerned. It won't take too long for the kids whose cars were damaged to find out who did this. Hopefully they will go to the police with this information and any proof they may have rather than retaliating in kind. This is not a tradition which should be repeated. | ||
| crabby Citizen Username: Crabbyappleton Post Number: 684 Registered: 1-2004 |
Wow. I guess it's my neighbor's kid's fault  THe kid was told what happened last year, so the kid did not take the car to the lot. The kid had no idea if the same thing would happen or not this year. And neither of us know if the kid warned each kid about the possibility based on last year's record. We also don't know if the kid went into the lot in the dark and wrote down each license plate number and then got on the loudspeaker of each bus going to Midnight Madness and announced the possibility giving each driver a chance to move his car and those drivers decided to just take the chance. JTA- get a life!!! Hey, maybe it's the fault of last year's kids whose cars were trashed for not telling this year's kids. No wait, maybe it was the class of 2002's fault whose cars got trashed for not warning the next year's kids..................... Nonetheless, on Friday am, the kid's friend had damage done and reported to the police. Hopefully they'll find something out. It's terrible vandalism, and the kdis who did it should be ashamed and have bad dreams the rest of their lives and if they're caught, they should pay the consequences. | ||
| Fabulouswalls Citizen Username: Fabulouswalls Post Number: 84 Registered: 10-2005 |
What a shame. All of that wasted food. It could have been donated to the Food Bank. | ||
| Joan Supporter Username: Joancrystal Post Number: 7637 Registered: 5-2001 |
Crabby: I assume you are responding to my post not JTA's. Your earlier post implied that the kid knew in advance from first hand information that the vandalism would occur when and as it did. If the kid did indeed have such information (overhearing a conversation at school or receiving a tip from one of the persons contemplating the vandalism for example), it would have been appropriate to go to the police with this knowledge before the vandalism occurred. As clarified, if the kid was reacting to a conclusion that something which had happened in several prior years would happen again this year (more of a "deduction" than a "tip" IMO) it would have been much more difficult to go to the police and say something like "the seniors' cars were trashed last year and the year before while they were at Midnight Madness therefore please prevent it from happening this year" nor should this have been the kid's responsibility. However, the organizers of Midnight Madness, the CHS administration and the Police Department should all have been aware of this pattern of behavior --if it has indeed been happening for several years now-- and the police should have taken steps to keep an eye on the parking lot this year as a prior poster recommended. Hopefully, this will be the last year anyone tries this form of vandalism. Still, it would be appropriate for the police to anticipate it next year and act accordingly. | ||
| Peter G. Magic Citizen Username: Pmagic Post Number: 139 Registered: 10-2005 |
I think we all forget what it is like to be a high school kid. Yes, they will tell some of their friends to be careful but they certainly won't want contact with the police and would be embarrassed by any publicity they get if they told the whole school and nothing happened. The problem is with the perpetrators who should be actively pursued. Someone has to have seen what was going on and it had to have been done by more than one person. The level of maturity of some boys this age is exemplified by the posting of the college student who that it was a great prank! | ||
| Sandi and Paul Citizen Username: Momsandi Post Number: 90 Registered: 10-2005 |
I agree Peter. If you haven't seen his soapbox post, "the two jerks over in Union" by all means read it. It is quite obviously he would have had a different reaction if it had been his own car. Also his posts about noise on his street and problems with the carwash. If I was his mom he would have some explaining to do, college student or not! | ||
| greenetree Supporter Username: Greenetree Post Number: 8188 Registered: 5-2001  |
If this is a ritual, I can't believe that parents, cops and students didn't know about it. Ritual pranks have been going on in HS since the beginning of time. Or, the invention of HS anyway. I find it difficult to understand why, even if this is lore, anyone left their car there in the first place. It seems to me that the school should have banned overnight parking. There have to be enough parents/sibs/whatever around to pick a bunch up early on one morning and drive them home. As for the cops not patroling, I can see how this may not be true. I remember being a pretty creative (if not stupid) HS student. Unless a patrol car sat there all night (a very stupid use of resources, IMHO) students could easily have done the deed quickly and between patrols. I once helped a friend tie a giant TP bow around her ex-boyfriend's house and hit the bushes in the front yard while a family party was going on inside. We were fast and no one ever saw us. Ban overnight parking from now on. | ||
| Case Citizen Username: Case Post Number: 1792 Registered: 2-2005 |
Oh man... how wonderful would it have been to lay a trap for the FTOA (Future Tards of America) group and catch them in the act? Having to come home from their second year of college to handle a little court date? Community service? DAMN! There are so few opportunities for pure joy in this world, and we've just missed one. | ||
| Just The Aunt Supporter Username: Auntof13 Post Number: 5462 Registered: 1-2004 |
Ess- I agree with you just because a certain number of cars can fit doesn't mean there were that many. I got the impression from cookie's post the lot was full or almost full because of this statement "The parking lot was full to capacity" Crabby's statement seems to imply there were a lot of cars in the lot as well. Not that it changes cars being vandalized but there is a difference between there being 3 out of 5 cars hit VS 80 out of 100. Even so, nobody has the right to destroy someone else's property. I don't completely agree the police had a responsibility to give this lot extra attention just because they gave the students permission to park there; if the police knew there were problems in the past (as implied by Cookie's first post), that's a different story. But I'm struggling to believe this has happened in the past and it's a ritual because I can't believe with the amount of work those planning Project Graduation put into making sure the students are safe and have a good time in an alcohol and drug free setting, the planners would not take some kind of precautions to protect the cars left behind. I still find it difficult to believe this is a 'ritual' where the students from the previous year's class vandalize the cars the following year. Doesn't make sense at all. I called Maplewood Police yesterday before I posted and nobody seemed to know anything. Said I could call back Monday to inquire again. I plan to do this because if it turns out to be true this is not the first time this has happened, maybe some changes need to be made to prevent this from happening in the future. Crabby- Not sure where your "JTA- get a life!! " statement in your Saturday, June 24, 2006 - 8:04 pm comes from but, that post makes me think there is a good reason you use 'crabby' as your MOL name.  You now admit your neighbor's kid knew what supposedly happened last year. Again, If this happened last year, one would think precautions would have been taken this year to prevent a repeat performance. I just can't believe students from the prior year's class would vandalize the cars of other students because it's a supposed tradition; especially when it's considered vandalism. If thrashing of the cars is as wide spread as cookie and you imply, why is it more students weren't aware of what might happen? Why weren't the organizers of Project Graduation aware? Or even better, why, weren't the police aware? If this happened last year why is it nobody posted about it on MOL? Glock graduated last year, Class of 05. He posted on Friday, June 23, 2006 - "4:07 pm: hahaha that never happened to our class. ('05) That's rich!" Does it mean nothing happened last year, or that his friends were lucky because their cars weren't targeted? I don't know. I hope though next year nobody takes any chances. Maybe a condition for attending Project Graduation should be you need to be dropped off and picked up by an adult. (yeah that would go over real well) | ||
| FlyingSpaghettiMonst Citizen Username: Noodlyappendage Post Number: 189 Registered: 11-2005  |
It's Midnight Madness,JTA, not Project Graduation.Pay a little attention, it's even in the title of the thread. | ||
| Just The Aunt Supporter Username: Auntof13 Post Number: 5465 Registered: 1-2004 |
Nice try noodle. They are the same thing! | ||
| Paper Bag Bandit Citizen Username: Glock17 Post Number: 1259 Registered: 7-2005 |
Yep. JTA, read my other post. I was glad that I did the sensible thing and got dropped off. | ||
| Just The Aunt Supporter Username: Auntof13 Post Number: 5472 Registered: 1-2004 |
Glock- I'm confused. Are you saying (with the exception of the key damage) this did happen last year? If so, I misread what you posted. | ||
| Paper Bag Bandit Citizen Username: Glock17 Post Number: 1260 Registered: 7-2005 |
No no. It did NOT happen last year. I was saying that many kids last year (including myself) opted to be picked up and dropped off as opposed to leaving their cars in the lot...which is totally unnecessary. | ||
| anon Supporter Username: Anon Post Number: 2815 Registered: 6-2002 |
Spoke to a parent of a senior who is also a school district employee. She never heard anything about this happening in prior years. If it had happened before I would think some MOL poster would know about it and that there probably would have been a mention about it on MOL last year. I have to question such a thing being perpetrated by the previous year's graduates. That would be kids who went away to college. It does not seem probable that they would come back home after Freshman year at College and do something like that. | ||
| Paper Bag Bandit Citizen Username: Glock17 Post Number: 1261 Registered: 7-2005 |
Truly. I was just going to comment on that. What evidence is there that anyone from CHS was even involved? | ||
| Albatross Citizen Username: Albatross Post Number: 872 Registered: 9-2004  |
CHS '04: Never heard of this until now. | ||
| Nancy - LibraryLady Supporter Username: Librarylady Post Number: 3602 Registered: 5-2001  |
I have a CHS '01 and '03 and it didn't happen to them as well. | ||
| Just The Aunt Supporter Username: Auntof13 Post Number: 5478 Registered: 1-2004 |
Thanks Glock for confirming what I thought your post said. That this did NOT happen last year. I still plan to call Maplewood Police and ask what, if anything happened the other night. I learned a valuable lesson Friday night from a friend who pointed out I tend to believe too much of what is said on MOL when I told her about this story. After thinking about it I realized my friend was right. And I came to the conclusion there was something not right about the first post in this thread. Thus my post at 5 something am Saturday morning. | ||
| Smarty Jones Citizen Username: Birdstone Post Number: 831 Registered: 10-2005 |
When I was in HS, having our cars keyed, egged, fished, floured, and defacated on would have been considered an UPGRADE to whatever it was that we were driving.... The real problem here is parents giving their kids too much money for too much car. | ||
| Hamandeggs Citizen Username: Hamandeggs Post Number: 323 Registered: 8-2005 |
No, that's not the problem. We don't know the types of cars, nor is that germane. The problem is the vandalism, the problem is students leaving our schools not on a successful note, but with worry, fear, damage to property as their final experience with the SOMA schools. On many levels, this is extremely troubling and calls for a response from parents, police and district personnel. What types of cars students drove that night doesn't matter in the least. | ||
| Paper Bag Bandit Citizen Username: Glock17 Post Number: 1264 Registered: 7-2005 |
They do get too much car though. Mercedes SL whatever..you name it..it's there.. BMW convertibles, large-luxury SUV's |
