"Get up on the sidewalk!"

That's always what I tell my kids when I unload them from the car outside of a store. Get up on the sidewalk, where it's safe. And I tell them to stand in front of my car because I know that my car isn't going anywhere.

But they don't always listen. They may run up and down the sidewalk as I unload the baby into his stroller. So, last week, in town, putting the mail on hold, getting them out of the car outside the post office, I noticed that the outdoor mailbox was dented and the front bolts were ripped from the concrete. Did some hoodlums try to steal the mailbox?

It wasn't until I entered the post office and turned round, looking through the large front window, that I saw the damage to the woman's car. Her left, front headlight was completely smashed. A police car was nearby. Not entirely unusual for a police car to be nearby because they eat their lunch at the pizzeria, Versuvios. But it wasn't lunchtime.

The postal clerk explained to me that the woman drove her Lexus SUV right up onto the sidewalk and smashed the mailbox. On two other occasions, drivers have taken their cars right through the front glass window. And the business next door, a copy shop, has also had its front window smashed by a careless driver.

It looked like a new car. Not one of those runt Lexus SUVs. It was a big, honkin' LX 470. And the "70" portion of the model number refers to the price tag, in thousands! Too much Prozac for this "Pleasant Valley Mom"! Oi gevalt!