Last week in Hamilton (an hour west of Toronto) was the annual Peach Festival. Young and old gathered at Winona Park to sample the peach pie before riding the midway. Yet by the end of the day police had arrested a 19-year-old.
Seems that after the festival, a bunch of young guys in cars didn’t want the summer night to end. So around 10:00 pm they drove to the local Tim Horton’s coffee shop, bought some double-doubles, and hung out in the parking lot playing music from their car stereos.
Around 10:30 pm a 53-year-old local resident yelled at the youngsters, demanding they turn down their music because it was preventing sleep. The youths cursed out the crotchety old man and sent him away (likely while playing Lil’ John’s banger ‘Turn it Down for What‘).
Here’s where the story turns. The old guy didn’t walk away with his tail between his legs. No, he came back with two more guys to confront the youths, who responded to the aggression with a baseball bat. Police ended up charging a 19-year-old with uttering threats and assault with a weapon. Seems like the bad guy got away.
That’s right; the bad guy. What the hell is wrong with people when they can’t even let young gearheads just hang out in peace. So they were playing their stereo in the Tim Horton’s parking lot; nobody was racing or doing burnouts. Then some hate-filled old man had to complain that the boys were disturbing his sleep at 10:30 pm!?
Seems to that mature people today don’t want to see young people having the same fun they had all those decades ago. Simply jealous of their youth.
As if Canada weren’t already cool enough now I hear you had a peach festival.
And what a peach that 53 year old guy was. Yelling at a bunch of teenagers for playing music and socializing (those words right from the police report).
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Yes there is entirely too much of thr “get off my lawn” zeitgeist these days.
I’ve lived long enough to be the young guy in the car playing the music loud, and the older guy driving by the young lions saying to myself “That ain’t music!” but what kind of intolerant person actually goes up to a bunch of kids at 10:00 pm and complains their music won’t let him sleep. A total jerk!
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But the real crime is coming BACK to the scene of the dispute with two more guys. That’s just going to start a fight. It should be no surprise that the 53 year old guy ended up bloodied.
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Teenagers will act out / lash out with their own fathers! Imagine what they’ll do to a loud mouth stranger who challenges their Alpha status.
I guess intolerant is the key word there. I could’ve let his initial complaint slide. I have had a few times where I asked for something because it was disturbing my child’s sleep. But yeah bringing back a group is just asking for trouble. More anger.
I chose all B&W photos for this article to hammer home the point that youngsters hanging out in cars has been the official sport of American teenagers since the 1950s. I just can’t believe that as generations have grown up and assumed positions of power and authority in society, intolerance has grown.
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For example, in Toronto’s suburbs laws have been enacted to prevent even parking lot leet ups.
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https://demaras.com/2024/04/13/car-meet-vs-intolerant-suburbs/
I meant to mention the b&w because that was a very nice touch
Yes, I was serupticiously and subconsciously trying to evoke a sense of historical significance. Youngsters been hanging out in cars forever. Why we now pass laws against this, all because of isolated instances of littering, loitering and vandalism.
I appreciate you speaking out! Car rallys seem like such a tame gathering compared to many other activities of young people.
I just don’t like to see a 19 year old get a criminal charge / conviction over a fight with some intolerant jerk.
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However, hitting a guy in the head with a baseball bat might have been a teenie weenie bit of an overreaction.
Just a wee tad.
I only find it marginally difficult to defend this kid. Which of us hasn’t hit another guy in the head with a bat … or wanted to.