National Night Out Military Style

I don't know if you have this in your neighborhood, but we had National Night Out a couple of weeks ago. This is another time when its cool to be near the military. For starters, Bruin has become obsessed with all things Fireman, Fire Trucks, Fire Hoses, even fires. Oversized Fire Dogs creep him out, but he likes their boots. The cool thing about National Night Out here is that Bruin gets to play with a .50 Caliber machine gun, and the bomb squad likes to pick on the D.A.R.E lion. It is kind of lame trying to have a night where you are trying to keep kids, specifically teens, occupied and safe when they are basically under military lockdown anyway. They can't drive, there's no place to go other than the activity centers on base, they're always surrounded by fence, and the closest thing they can get to drugs is their parents cigarettes and beer. It is fun, but it just doesn't have the same effect that I think it would have in an American suburb where kids have actual troubles to deal with. Our biggest problem is actually with the sailors fresh from Boot Camp that can go find trouble downtown.