Saying 'sorry' can make it right
By Mary K. Reinhart, Tribune Columnist
A few days ago, the 4-year-old was breaking in a bucket of sidewalk chalk, a
consolation prize for not getting new school supplies like his older sibs.
Before long, with help from his big sister, he had created the world on our
back patio.

Big and round, in vibrant colors of blue and green. It was beautiful, and it
looked like such a peaceful place. To small children, for the most part,
the world is a peaceful place and the people in it are peaceful people. We
grown-ups, of course, know otherwise. We know that war is being waged and
lives are being lost in the Middle East and Liberia, on the streets of the
East Valley and in the homes of domestic violence victims. As school
resumes, we know that bullies will rob some children of what should be a
peaceful learning experience. We know that the U.S. employed the ultimate
weapon 58 years ago at Hiroshima and Nagasaki, incinerating two cities and
leaving shadows where people once stood. To commemorate that infamous
anniversary, members of the Arizona Alliance for Peaceful Justice took their
sidewalk chalk to downtown Mesa on Tuesday night and drew outlines of bodies
near the library and other public buildings. Groups have been doing this for
years in cities around the globe as a reminder of the atomic bombings that
claimed an estimated 230,000 lives. Similar outlines were drawn in Tempe and
Phoenix. An intrepid Mesa security guard took note, however, and called
police. Officers surrounded the group, confiscated chalk and cardboard
body outlines, and issued misdemeanor graffiti citations. Fire hoses blasted
away the chalk people. Graffiti is a nuisance. This much I understand. But
sidewalk chalk is not graffiti, nor is it a nuisance as the fire hoses so
nicely demonstrated. The chalk people would have washed away with the next
monsoon or sprinkler cycle. So I'm thinking the nuisance here is the
message. It's a nuisance to be reminded about Hiroshima. It's a nuisance to
be reminded that other countries today are capable, or will soon be capable,
of something similar. But in Hiroshima they remember, and they have devoted
themselves to peace. The grown-ups work on nuclear disarmament while the
kids work on empathy and kindness. At Wednesday's Peace Memorial Ceremony
in Hiroshima, two sixth-graders summed it up: "The pathway to peace is the
effort to be tolerant of each other, to understand each other, and to
recognize each others' good points despite our differences of personality or
way of thinking," Mesa police apparently understand this. On Thursday the
department announced it was dropping the citations and offered apologies to
all involved. What a peaceful ending to the story. What a wonderful lesson
for adults and children alike. When you are wrong, you say you're sorry.
The chalk world on my back patio has been washed away by garden hoses and
pool water. But at least one corner of the real world still looks peaceful.