Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Weymouth Police At The Basta Bar
The Basta Bar in Weymouth, the scene of the now infamous crime of “underage singing”, has been in the news quite often over the past few years and may be “inappropriate” as Weymouth Police Officer Brian King put it; in reference to the young rockers plying their trade at the establishment. If it is indeed inappropriate, then it is inappropriate for everyone and perhaps Officer King should take that into consideration while doing his job as licensing officer. When it comes to children playing music however, Officer King and the Weymouth Police clearly are not doing their job, they are stepping into the realm of parenting, the toughest job on earth.
These 9 and 10 year old children, have played their music, along with several other youthful rock bands at this “pub” on at least 2 prior occasions without incident. Each time, the bands played 2 or 3 songs each from approximately 7 to 11 p.m. with their parents present, on a mid-week night. It amounted to a practice session for the kids to play their instruments, with the help of their music teacher. I’m sure that all the kiddies had their homework done prior to going out and were home and in bed immediately afterwards so that they got the proper amount of sleep, if that’s what the police are concerned with. No fights broke out, no curse words were uttered (other than the song lyrics), there were no unruly patrons, and most importantly, no laws were broken.
There are many establishments throughout the Town of Weymouth, frequented by families, where the atmosphere is similar. The Weymouth Police should stick to investigating true crime and locking up true criminals and leave the job of parenting to parents.
This opinion also appears in the Patriot Ledger.
POSTED BY STAN at June 17, 2009
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