If Mayberry had Facebook

Twelve years ago we decided we wanted to move.  We wanted a nice, small town where we could raise our kids but still be close to everything we wanted like Wal-Mart and Olive Garden.  We had a 6 month old and a 4 year old.  We looked at several small towns and after research, hearing everyone's opinions and lots of visits, we decided on St. Joseph.  The one thing we heard over and over was "the schools are great...there's no crime...it's a great community to raise kids"...and so on.  Since that fall of 2017, we have loved every minute of living here.  Everything we were told has been true.  Our kids are now in 6th and 10th grade and we have been thrilled with the school system and the community.  We are active in both and have nothing but good things to say about this small town that has now become home.  My father in law has mentioned on more than one occasion that we live in Mayberry. Y'all know what I'm talking about....good old Andy Griffith and his small town of Mayberry.  And what better place to live than a fictitious TV town where all the problems were solved in 30 minutes and it left you with a heart felt smile and warm, fuzzy feeling?  But recently, our own little Mayberry has taken a turn and I'm blaming Facebook.

When we first moved here, there was no Facebook.  Or if there was, it was still an innocent form of social media where you shared a random picture of your kiddos so your out of town relatives could see how big they were getting.  There was no place to post every single rant or complaint you had about a town.  There was no place to post for the millionth time on how a pool in our community would solve every single problem for every single person during the summer months and there sure wasn't a place to argue about whether we need another police officer or not.  If you wanted to discuss any of those things, I'm assuming you actually had to show your face at a village board meeting.  Whaaaatt??

Lately, our town has had a few minor incidents where someone is wreaking some havoc.  Someone has thrown eggs at cars, someone has knocked over a few mailboxes, someone has drawn a chalk penis on the sidewalk.  Notice I'm saying someone because we really don't know who...yes, it's probably a teenager but I've seen some adults also do some pretty stupid stuff in this town.  (Have you been to the beer tent during the Fall Festival? )  Maybe it's a middle schooler who is trying to impress someone, maybe it's a teen from another nearby town, maybe it's just a stupid high school student that thinks it's funny.  Maybe it's several different people and we're just lumping them all in to one deviant that is going to someday end up in jail.  But seriously, you guys, let's step back and take a deep breath.

We live in a town that's biggest problem is a chalk penis.  Yes, read that again.  We live in a town that's biggest problem is a chalk penis.  Last night, someone saw a teenager taunting a dog with an invisible fence and then said teen drew a chalk penis.  Facebook lost it's damn mind.  Currently the post has 37 comments.  It's a chalk penis.  It rained last night.  Said penis is gone.  The dog that was taunted?  It was ours.  Apparently this teen posted a snapchat video about it.  Our dog is fine.  If you know her, you'd know she's a complete spaz and would have been freaking out whether you were in the yard or across the street.  And seriously, to the teen that did this...I'm sure you're a good kid (yes I know who you are because everyone in town had to message me your name) but if you are going to do stupid stuff, your hair is dyed bright yellow.  People are gonna recognize you....if they didn't already see your snapchat story.  Duh.  I hope this was the end of your "life of crime" because you're not gonna make it far.  Stick to art.  Your penis drawing was much better than your thug skills.

I know some of the things that have happened recently have caused property damage and that is a more serious issue.  We did get egged and were lucky enough that we saw it and washed it off.  The $2.00 we had to spend at the carwash wasn't a big deal but if our mailbox got knocked over, I'm sure I'd be more upset.  You have a right to be upset.  These hoodlums shouldn't be doing this stuff.  But guess what, we still got it pretty good.  Last week, a 15 year old boy was beat up after school in Champaign and died.  Look at all these surrounding towns, big and small, and be thankful that it's a mailbox and not your kid.  Getting the word out on Facebook does help the rest of us keep our eyes open and aware of the situation but it also makes our town sound horrible.  Social media plays such a huge part in everyone's life now days.  I can't imagine wanting to move here and checking out the town's Facebook page and seeing all this drama.  Had I looked at that page 12 years ago, I may have made a different decision.  We are not portraying St. Joe as the "Mayberry" that it is and that makes me sad.  Instead, we are arguing about trivial matters and pointing our fingers at all the teenagers in our town.  I'm not naive, I know our town has its problems.  There are students here that are drinking (and worse) but for every few students that are doing that, there are ten times more doing amazing things.

I don't know what the answer is but it seems like every few days, the same 30 comments on a post argue over the same thing.  If you want a solution, don't be part of the problem.  Pointing fingers and ranting over the same issues isn't helping anyone and just making us all look bad.  Get involved.  Be active in the community.  Get to know your neighbors.  Get to know the teenagers that live near you, they really are good kids.  Go to a Village meeting.  Know the police officers that patrol and respect them.  If you see something, yes, it's fine to let people know but do it in a way that will help, not open a can of worms.

So remember folks, when you are posting stuff, let's bring back our Mayberry image.  Because, like me, I know you all love this town as much as I do.  I know you all mean well and I get caught up in the drama too and have commented on posts.  But lately, we are all flying our crazy flag just a little too high.  When you see a post, be positive.  If you see something good, let others know.  We need to let everyone know what a great place we live in whether it be Mayberry or St. Joseph.