By MARK DEVOLDER
Los Alamos

Today I went for a walk and saw a number of children waiting at a bus stop near a residential area on San Ildefonso. For fun, I decided to look around the bus stop for pens and pencils. Sure enough, I found what I expected to find.  As I walked up San Ildefonso, I found a brand-new Bic 0.7mm HB #2 mechanical pencil in a crack between two concrete sidewalk sections. Value: approximately $1.00.

Later in my walk I encountered a child at another bus stop. I asked him, “Why do pens and pencils fall out of carry cases, backpacks, etc.?” He indicated that the backpacks are not closed. Well, there you have it. 

On my return trip I found a sheet rock nail on the road. It was a $32.19 sheet rock nail (the cost of repairing a flat tire in Los Alamos).

People live for about 70 to 80 years.

From cradle to grave, life might be something like what follows:

1. Baby cries because he/she is hungry, thirsty or needs a diaper change.
2. Youngster cries because he/she wants a toy. So, the family goes to McDonald’s for a Happy Meal.
3. Some years down the line, youngster cries at Smith’s because he/she wants a toy.
4. Youngster cries because he/she wants a bicycle, an electric motorcycle, or an all-terrain vehicle.
5. Youngster cries because he/she wants a motorcycle or an automobile. All the other kids at school have a car, an I-phone, cool clothing (for example, jeans with holes in the knees), containers of hair dye, etc. If youngster doesn’t get these things, then everyone at school will think they are a “freak.”
6. Youngster goes to college and needs tuition and all the other things necessary to make life bearable. 
7. Youngster goes into the military and can’t wait to get out after 20 years with a full pension and all the perquisites (that is, PX privileges, health benefits, etc.). The attitude is that the taxpayer “owes me” for my time in the service of our Country. 
8. Youngster gets a high school diploma, a job, rents an apartment and purchases a brand-new automobile. Fast forward six years. Youngster is older, has a job, lives in an apartment, has a six-year-old automobile, has a family (that is, a wife and two children), has $300 in savings and $9,387 in credit card debt.   
9. College graduate needs a job, a spouse, a better automobile, a house, household furnishings, major appliances and all kinds of electronic goodies.
10. Big shot at work needs a corner office, a better automobile, a better house and all the trappings of a big shot.
11. College student retires, becomes a nobody, goes on cruises to foreign countries and gripes about taxes, social security, Medicare as well as health problems.  

Let’s back up and look at some youngsters who attend the Los Alamos Middle School. When the youngsters finish with school for the day, they leave the safe enclave of the school and either walk home on San Ildefonso or take a bus ride to get home. If you follow the path from the middle school east on San Ildefonso, you will notice some of the following items lying adjacent to the sidewalk: plastic eating utensils, candy/snack food wrappers, empty beverage containers, a few pens – and lots of pencils. In the last few days, I collected a can full of new, used and broken pencil pieces. I also noticed someone with a clear plastic bag picking up discarded aluminum cans.    

I stopped into the administration office at the Los Alamos Middle School today and reported that I had collected a can full of pencils along the sidewalk east of the middle school. I also happened to notice a lost and found white board in the lobby adjacent to the administration office. The response I received was, “They are just kids.” I indicate that the response sounded like an excuse. I commented that children grow into adults. How can children work at their tasks at school or do their homework without pencils? I recommended that middle school personnel find out why this is happening and then do something about it.

Now let’s look at the behavior of Los Alamos drivers – maybe alumni from the Los Alamos Middle School.  Being self-absorbed and careless can begin at a very early age. It progresses from the home, through school, through the workplace and right on through retirement. In the past, I believe that some driver smashed into the median area at Smith’s grocery store. 

I have to wonder if it is worthwhile to teach reading, writing and arithmetic (or higher-level math courses) in the middle school if the end result is low-quality driving habits, traffic tickets, wrecked automobiles, injured drivers/passengers, injured pedestrians, higher insurance rates, etc.

We have a well-funded school system in Los Alamos County with high-quality bus transportation. Is it too much to ask for something in return? I would like to live in a place that is safe, clean and populated by intelligent/caring people.