Grow up, already

Well, here we go again. Another bonfire in the street, another bunch of drunk students getting their ya-yas out by making a big noise and even bigger mess in the middle of the night and then, when the police arrive, throwing bottles and bricks at their cars.

Yeah, we know, worse things have happened than students gone wild on a weekend. But what occurred last Thursday night (Jan. 29) into early Friday morning on Sixth Street off Chestnut is just the latest in a series of such incidents going back 20 years or more.

To those of you who were responsible for this latest outbreak of barbarism: Please know that we who live here year-round are sick of these shenanigans.

It’s all about drinking too much. What’s with this desire to get so wasted you can’t function? It’s stupid, crass and dangerous. One young woman will have scars on her leg for the rest of her life after falling into the fire Thursday night. People have died in Chico because of this lust for blind intoxication.

Chico is a great little town. Chico State is a fine public university. We are glad you come here to live and study. And we understand that most of you are respectful.

We want you to relax and have fun on weekends. But some of you—too many of you—occasionally forget that you are here as temporary residents, that for the rest of us this is home, and that when you get so wasted you puke on our rug, so to speak, we get upset.

We want you to know something: It’s rude to set bonfires in the street. It’s rude to Chico, and it’s rude to your parents. It says to the world that they didn’t teach you good manners or how to behave in a civilized society. It shames them. Is that what you want?

Last year the city passed a disorderly events ordinance. It took months to write because City Council members wanted to be sure students were heard, and they were. But the city can pass such ordinances till the cows come home, and it won’t do any good if you continue to be rude. The university can threaten to expel students who get caught breaking the law, and the police can send in the SWAT team to disband a street riot, but this rudeness, this crudeness, won’t stop until you stop it.

You’re giving Chico and Chico State a black eye. You’re embarrassing your parents. More than that, you’re embarrassing yourselves. Shame on you.