A latte to do over a little

Divine (l), Phelps (r)

My beloved home town of Towson MD is like Anytown USA. It's the kind of place they use in movies and situation comedies for mid-to-upper class suburbs where things are usually going pretty well for most people, and the two most famous graduates of its high school are Divine and Michael Phelps.

They both did swimmingly after high school.

But there is a problem bedeviling some of our citizens of late.  The main road that bisects the town and the county is York Rd, which runs from downtown Baltimore into (you guessed it) York, Pennsylvania. Drive it and you will see the seething teeming city at its lower end, then you'll drive through a suburban town and then before you know it, you'll be in farm country, seeing race horses and cows meandering and galloping, not in that order.  And then you'll get to Pennsylvania, and that's a whole 'nother story.

The story I have for today is this:  when you drive through the south part of Towson, not far from the city line, you're in an area where stores, banks, service shops and food joints line the sidewalks like a Potemkin village, only real. And the side streets are packed with houses, and the houses are packed with moms and dads and kids and uncles who really ought to get a job and move along.

For real, it's a fine suburban community, but in the past several weeks, many of its denizens have become upset by the impending arrival of a Starbucks coffee joint at the intersection of York Rd and Regester Av.

Mind you, it's not that they will have a place that sells overpriced, undertasty coffee and foamy associated products that has them in high dudgeon.  No sir.  It's the fact that the S'bux will have a drive-through, don't you see.

I understand that current policy in the United States calls for a ★bucks to be built approximately every fifteen feet along major roads.  Why people can't make their own coffee at home and save 30-40 dollars a day is beyond me, but they flock to these joints like ants to a dropped Popsicle. 

And so having a 🌠💲💲in their neighborhood is ok, but the problem they see is that some kids in middle school and dear old Towson High have to walk past that intersection, and some people are sure chaos will reign and no one will remember to look both ways.

Mind you, even without an S.B. outlet selling their caffeinated mess at that corner, there would still be cars zooming up and down York Rd, and turning into Regester Avenue to go wherever.  So the only difference seems to be that cars will be turning into the drive-thru pocket, and that is dangerous to pedestrian traffic.  The cars racing by and turning in and out of all the other side streets along York Rd?  No problem.

I see a teachable moment for the very few kids who do not receive personal chauffeurization to and from school.  Their parents can sit them down and remind them not to step off the sidewalk unless they're sure no cars are coming.

By the way, there were kids toting signs among the dozen or so protesters who eddied about in that very intersection on Friday. Police report no fatalities.

And that's the sort of progress we can ALL feel good about.

Teach your children well!