My brother and I were almost barred from the Montgomery Mall for life.
We were about 10 and 12 years old, visiting my grandparents in Bethesda, Maryland. As I recall it, Mike and I were first busted for going up a down escalator, and soon thereafter, the same security officer caught us riding down a different escalator by hoisting ourselves up on the rubber handrails. We were told to leave the mall and threatened with a permanent ban if we loitered.
As fate would have it, 35 years later, my sons are banned from the same mall. This isn’t a case of punishing the sons for the sins of the father, but it’s a different sort of guilt-by-association: My sons are the same rough age as other kids throughout the county who have gone on a multi-year crime spree, including assaults, shootings, and, of course, theft…