My naked toddlers almost got arrested down the Jersey Shore

[Waytwofast]

http://troyrecord.com/articles/2013/07/08/opinion/03138573-f5f5-4e63-b49a-eb1e1c7c7edf.txt

[Waytwofast]

 

[mikeisnude]

   idiots !

[Northman]

Never would have thought of a situation like this.

[Danee]

I finally read this and cannot stop the feelings of disgust at the actions of the Gestapo.  The writer expresses it all.

[Danee]

Update column: http://www.trentonian.com/article/20130709/OPINION03/130709661/jeff-edelstein-your-take-my-kids-8217-sandy-butts#full_story


JEFF EDELSTEIN: Your take my kids’ sandy butts



Well, I’ve got to do a bit of a post-mortem because of Monday’s   column   , the one about how I went to Spring Lake with my wife and kids, we took their clothes off to rinse the sand off them, ended up having the police called on us? Yeah. That one.


Anyway, it’s not the event I want to talk about; it’s the response to the event. Because believe me, it’s all over the map.


For starters: In a million years, you’d never think Fox News Channel’s “Fox & Friends” and WHYY, a Philadelphia’s public radio station would see eye-to-eye on an issue. After all, Fox is known for being a wee bit to the right, public radio a wee bit to the left. But they — and other news orgs — came to me, dead center on the issue and in full agreement with how I handled it.


If you were on my side — and between the comments, posts, emails, and the like “my side” was winning, about 10-to-1 — it was for a variety of reasons.


I need a short list.
1) The kids: Many people were outraged it’s illegal to take your little kids’ clothes off to get the sand off them. Some couldn’t believe the law has any right, some couldn’t believe the ultra-conservative ways we treat nudity in general. “Are we THAT afraid of nudity that even tiny children need to completely cover up their bodies AT ALL TIMES?” wrote Emily Wachelka. And a poster going by “Das Anarchist” chirped in from New Zealand, writing “I can only sit and laugh in wonder at the majority of commenters who think there is something wrong with 2 & 4 year-olds running around naked. God forbid you should ever visit this country.”


2) The treatment by the beach supervisor, who I’d like to point out, never identified himself, just started ranting and raving. “Who knows how many other parents were harassed by the ‘beach supervisor’ but don’t work for a newspaper,” wrote JasenJ1. “In a sane world, people washing their children off after time at the beach would be a completely normal and accepted activity. It’s worth publishing the article to shame that town for being stupid.”



3) The NIMBY aspect, as pointed out by GloomCookie613. “Spring Lake is the most boring, uptight beach I’ve ever been to … no activities, etc.; just beach, bland boardwalk, and bad attitudes. The author wasn’t far off when he speculated part of the snark was because he (the author) was obviously not a local. People are snooty ... in that town.”


Of course, not everyone thought I was right. Again, it was for a variety of reasons.


1) Nudity is disgusting, as voiced by ELAINEMAXINESYNHORST, who wrote “I think the parents were wrong. I had people taken of my beach for letting their kids swim naked and that’s offensive because I should not have to see naked kids on my time to enjoy the beach.” There were other opinions that echoed the sentiment. We could argue this point from now to end of time, but to be clear: America is definitely on ultra-conservative side when it comes to nudity in general, and toddler nudity specifically. Travel to virtually any other beach in the world, and you know what you’ll see? A lot of baby tushies, that’s what.


2) The fact I didn’t respect authority. A decent-sized handful of people commented about this, that I should have stood down simply because someone told me to. “So let’s see, the authority tells you that you are not permitted to do something, you shrug it off and do it anyway and then you get upset because they follow through on the regulations?” wrote Sunshine1011. And Kisspoetry chimed in with “Why do we have laws? My guess is because laws are put in place to protect the innocent & punish the guilty. But I guess you & your family are above the law. NOT.”

For the record (again) the guy never ID’d himself and all he kept saying was “Spring Lake is not that kind of place.” I didn’t have any indication I was technically “breaking the law” until he called the police. At any rate ... I call shenanigans. If there’s a law that’s wrongheaded - and to me, a law stating no one, not even a 2-year-old, can be naked for a moment while sand is removed from the buttular region is about as wrongheaded as things get - it’s our duty as citizens to stand up and be counted. I’m not saying - at all, not at all, not in the least bit - what I did was in any way heroic (because it wasn’t, not by a longshot) but really: Where would we be today if we respected every law that was ever placed upon us? I guess, for starters, we’d still be under British rule.


3) I’m white trash. “It’s quite simple, Jeffy,” wrote Wakefield_Damon. “Spring Lake keeps out the riffraff, and does a damn good job of it.” And Jsnhnsly just went full-bore, writing “Yeah white trash would be a better description of this guy and his family.”


Well, if rinsing off my kids after a day at the beach makes me white trash, it’s a badge I’ll wear with honor.


Anyway …
See what I mean? What happened at the beach that day — trivial as it may be — struck a deeper chord. Class, sex, authority, good manners, bad manners, family, children … it’s all in there. Nutty how these little things can set off such a firestorm.


In the meantime, and after further perusing the Spring Lake borough code, you know what else I found out? You’re also not allowed to … well, I’ll save it for Friday’s column. And as it turns out, Spring Lake isn’t the only Jersey Shore town with laws on the books that are, quite simply, insane.


Read Jeff Edelstein every Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Friday. He can be reached at jedelstein@trentonian.com, facebook.com/jeffreyedelstein and @jeffedelstein on Twitter.

[Northman]

This guy is great.

[Waytwofast]

Here's an add-on :)

http://www.newsworks.org/index.php/local/item/57159-should-nudity-laws-apply-to-toddlers?linktype=all_feedtop