The Hurley School....Part III....

The parking lot/soccer field yuppie debacle worsened this week. Last Week's letters section of the South End news showed us even more arguments from entitled South Enders against a proposed soccer field on the school's own property. (For those readers unfamiliar with the debate, please see previous posts). A sampling of the spurious rationales the neighboring yups are trying to use to support their argument to keep their overnight parking spaces in the school's lot are as follows:

1. There are other "grass playing fields nearby"; parents should consider sending their kids to schools in the suburbs that have "plush playing fields".

Somehow, I think that where the school has 79% of its kids enrolled in free or reduced price lunch programs (its a predominantly low income school), sending the kids to that exclusive private school in Weston is not an option. Of course if you are a South End Entitled Yuppie Asshole ("SEEYA"), and you haven't got a clue how the other half lives, and you've sent little Kyler, Brianna and Harrison to the Miss Whitebread Boarding School in one of the suburbs beginning with "W", then why should you?

2. If we can't park there, then teachers shouldn't be able to park on our streets "except in two-hour visitor spots".

This is perhaps my favorite SEEYA argument. Those obnoxious teachers, with their sub-poverty salaries!! Damn them to hell!! They're already in the most thankless and underpaid profession in our society - let's dump on them even more. Of course when they interfere with your God-given right to free South End Parking, they become the enemy. Let's make it even tougher to attract good teachers for those other people's kids.

3. If anyone plays on that soccer field past 8pm, "I will call the police!"

Way to intimidate a bunch of 3rd graders!! 8pm is probably their bedtime, fool! Of course this concerned resident probably looks the other way when the current parking lot attracts hookers and drug dealers. That's ok, as long as I can still park in my spot!!

4. "These kids have many parks within walking distance; I don't see the need for kids that age to have a soccer field."

I don't know about you, but I'm not sure if I want my 2nd grader walking all over this town looking for a playing field. The nearest one is what, Blackstone Park? "Excuse me, group of homeless wino's, can my friends and I play soccer here?" Perhaps they could use Titus Sparrow Park (where the older teenagers will be unlikely to give up a field for kids half their age).

Apparently, the SEEYA's are pinning their argument on some sort of an alleged "agreement" they had several years ago with the previous principal of the school whereby they think in exchange for helping out clean up a lot outside the school or a bake sale or something, they have the right to free parking in perpetuity. Even a reader of this blog commented that he or she sees neighborhood folk cleaning the school yard and helping kids navigate the traffic. Yeah, right. The yup's in this neighborhood would sooner push a kindergardner to the ground in order to get to their caramel macchiatto three seconds sooner. They need to get used to two things: one: the word "no", and two: that sometimes they don't come first.