Neighbor’s “Retard” Sign Upsets Family
The article could go a lot further into why the neighbor put up the sign but either out of laziness or out of a desire to slant it to their own viewpoint they do not. It boils down to a family has a 13 year old boy with a 3 year old mind, but, apparently they don’t always keep tabs on him. He wanders around the neighborhood, throws rocks at neighbor kids and walks into others houses. The neighbor who put up the sign called the cops when his daughter was hurt by the boy but they would do nothing because the kid was “handicapped”. That’s fine as far as pressing charges against the kid, but what about the parents? So the frustrated neighbor hangs up a sign warning of “retards in area” and everyone is on his case about the use of the word “retard” being “not nice”… pitty… since the word “retards” used on the sign is plural my bet is the neighbor is calling the parents “retards” and not the kid.
Considering there have been cases in recent years of such handicapped kids raping and killing young girls. The mental age does not preclude the physical force such a young man can exert but it does reduce his ability to control the physical changes and urges of a teenage male.
Read the comments, too. The same people who think the neighbor was wrong using the word “retard” turn right around and call the neighbor “white trash”, “red neck”, “hillbilly”…. I guess those are less offensive and more socially acceptable than “retard”. Interesting how those getting on the neighbor’s case are attacking him personally and will not discuss the issues that brought the neighbor to a level of frustration that led to the ill conceived signage. Otherwise, the same lack of dialog and action that lead to the sign in the first place.