Time for ‘the talk’ approaches

In a couple of weeks, my son is going to be 13. In many cultures, that is the time for a rite of passage. In the Smith home, it will be time for “the talk.”

Unlike most talks of this nature, we’re going to zip right through the yucky part about girls and get right to what will mean more to him later in life. I will tell him, for example, what my father taught me.

First, never draw to an inside straight. There are no exceptions to this rule, even if you own the table and are drunk.

Second, don’t smoke in bed. No exceptions to this one, either. Regardless of how many TV shows or movies he may see that show adults smoking in bed, it’s a very bad idea.

Third, when you are buying clothes for a woman, always buy size small.

Fourth and most important, never argue with a peace officer. Related to this are: Never swear at a peace officer, and never hit a peace officer.

To show just how dumb it is to tangle with a peace officer, I am going to show him the newspaper and online stories about the recent brouhaha at Piecemakers, the Costa Mesa craft store on Adams Avenue, that violated my fourth rule. In fact, the folks at Piecemakers violated every section of the fourth rule.

The information I have comes from a couple of newspapers and a couple of online stories. Unfortunately, the Daily Pilot and the Los Angeles Times chose not to print the foul language used to verbally assault the cops, but the OC Weekly did.

In a good story by the Weekly’s R. Scott Moxley, you can finally get a feel for the rage of the Piecemakers clan.

Apparently, there was no shortage of some very bad language, resisting arrest, downright arguing and even a swing at one of the peace officers.

But all that pales in comparison with the lack of long-term thinking.

You see, the reason you never argue with, hit or swear at peace officers is that they hold all of the cards and can make your life really miserable if you disobey them. That is, in fact, a huge factor in their success in getting people to do what they want.

As well they should. If I were in their shoes, I would probably do the same thing.

The Piecemakers (just a couple of letters away from being a really good oxymoron), don’t want health inspectors to come into their store and check out the food preparation area of the store. In fact, they don’t want any inspector inspecting anything, which I find interesting because taken to a not-so-distant extreme, every customer is an inspector.

Every customer in the store is examining price, quality and selection and they have more power to drive the store out of business than any of the so-called terrorists that the Piecemakers folk believe are out to get them.

So, here’s a bit of information and some unsolicited advice for the folks at Piecemakers: There is a reason why peace officers are also called law enforcement officers. It’s because their job is to (duh) enforce laws. If you disagree with the law, there are ways to be heard. And if you don’t like the system, there are ways to change that too. Fight your battle in court, not in the parking lot.

I’m sure the folk at Piecemakers would have us believe that fighting this fight in court is a waste of time because the system is rigged and full of the same terrorists who want to inspect their soup.

But that, to me, is just an excuse for not fighting the real fight -- the one that could take years to complete, the one that could change things for the generations after us, not just for today for our little store.

Fighting that real fight takes courage, commitment and dedication. And it’s hard. If it were easy, more people would be doing it.

I don’t know any of the folk at Piecemakers, and I have no reason to assume they aren’t doing anything but getting themselves into a twist over what I believe is the wrong fight with the wrong people.

And for the record, I’m not advocating the end to health inspections of restaurants. Having worked in one, I’d rather see more of them.

What I’m advocating is that someone over at Piecemakers come to his or her their senses and realize that no matter how much you believe you are right, there is a time and a place for everything.

I have a time and place for my chat with my son. In case anyone cares to sit in, I’ll be going over rule number four just after the yucky stuff.

* STEVE SMITH is a Costa Mesa resident and a freelance writer. Readers may leave a message for him on the Daily Pilot hotline at (714) 966-4664 or send story ideas to [email protected].

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