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This Fun Must Be Managed

After some enterprising kids in Greenwich Connecticut built a Wiffle-ball field out of some public land, fashioning it to resemble Fenway Park, the busybodies descended. They included “angry neighbors and their lawyer, the police, the town nuisance officer and tree warden and other officials in all shapes and sizes” And here is the most dispiriting […]

After some enterprising kids in Greenwich Connecticut built a Wiffle-ball field out of some public land, fashioning it to resemble Fenway Park, the busybodies descended. They included “angry neighbors and their lawyer, the police, the town nuisance officer and tree warden and other officials in all shapes and sizes” And here is the most dispiriting quote I’ve read in a long time:

The regular players, mostly high school boys but including Tara Currivan, 15 (who swings a mean bat and brings lemonade to the field), and Scott Atkinson, 13, seem a little befuddled by the whole thing. “They think we’re a cult,” said Jeff Currivan, 17. “People think we should be home playing ‘Grand Theft Auto.’ ”

Of course, I understand this is public property. And there are good reasons to require permits for construction. And of course there are property values to consider – the lot itself is valued at over a million dollars. We should be concerned about the boys too. Will they just play until the sunset forces them away? How will they know when they should stop? Also, though it may be Wiffle-ball, it seems reasonable to expect that they’d have some kind of coach, maybe even a pitching coach, a stretching coach, and, a sports-therapist to prevent self-esteem issues. We don’t want anyone’s efforts to be disparaged.

And the human cost to the community: what futures-trader, after a long commute, can withstand the sound of boys trotting around in the dirt, or the sight of them imitating Kevin Youkilis’ batting stance in the friscalating dusklight.

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