Parkside Gangstas

I count among my friends three teenage boys who we'll call Curly, Larry, and Moe. Curly is the 16-year-old son of my coworker and Larry and Moe are his close friends. I met Larry and Moe through various run-ins at Curly's house, as his mom and I have a really good friendship outside of our working relationship. I have been with this family to the coast several times and the three boys are often with us. I have also watched various sporting events with these three, as they are very typical in their love of all things competitve. It might seem strange to you that someone as sophisticated as myself would talk about her friendship with three 16-year-olds, but these guys are wonderful and have given me a lot to think about over the year and a half I have known them.

I wonder a lot about kids today. When I was growing up, I had very clear boundaries but was free to do as I liked, as long as I was respectful, kind, and stayed within the proscribed limits my parents put upon me. It seems today that a lot of people have trouble doing this with their own children. The news is full of stories of young men doing horrible things to each other and their peers, for seemingly no reason. I continue to be thrilled when people I know and like become pregnant with boys, because I feel like at least one good man will be raised as a result. I know that the world is a very tough place and growing up in it, particularly as a man, cannot be easy. So imagine my delight as I continue to develop my realtionship with Curly, Larry, and Moe and find out that they are really great people.

Curly is one of those guys who genuinley cares about other people, without caring what they think of him. He will do anything with no fear of repercussion. Moe is very intelligent and thinks about the things he says before he says them and always asks thoughful questions. And Larry is just plain hysterical. He has an incredible wit, which he can apply to any situation, but without being mean about it. All three of these boys have had difficult upbringings, but they cruise through their teen years with an open mind and a great attitude in general. There have been more times than I can count where I have thought what great husbands these chaps are going to be.

For all of their shining points, it must be said that these are teenage boys I'm talking about. They come complete with their awkward faults. One time, the boys were getting intoxicated because it was spring break and they still think alcohol is something only to be consumed in mass quantities. The drunker they got, the more they kept coming to me and conspiratorily confiding that one or the other of them thinks that I'm hot. They also have some mixed up ideas about what makes a good girlfriend and what a good time is, but, all of that said, they are still awesome guys. I love to hang out with them because of their qualities listed above, but also because I want them to see that they can be appreciated for who they are. I remember how awkward I felt around the opposite sex when I was that age and how I thought I needed to change things about myself to make myself attractive. I don't think these guys are quite as caught up in that, but I want them to see that who they are is really great and that they should embrace it.

I'm titling this post 'Parkside Gangstas' because of something these boys have done. Another of their friends has a digital video camera and has taken video of these guys beating each other up with boxing gloves. Nothing overtly malicious is going on, it's just boys working out their fight lust on each other. The video is edited quite cleverly and set to some rap song and posted on the internet as 'Parkside Gangsta'z 2'. It's pretty funny, but it also indidcates to me that for all of their good points, these boys have some frustrations about their lives that makes random beat downs of their friends an activity worth capturing for posterity. Parkside Gangstas they may be, but they're also young men trying to make their way in the world and find their identities. I'm just glad they can laugh about it.