Shot girl gets text message apology

What's lovely about the new methods of communication so beloved by today's youth is that they haven't caused people to lose their sense of propriety, their sense that there's a way to do things.

Yes, kids might prefer to text rather than talk these days, but that doesn't mean their texts don't convey true, heartfelt sensitivity toward that fellow human. So I know you will appreciate a story emerging from what I used to consider the rather sedate area of Huntington Beach, Calif. (Didn't Shaq used to live there?)

According to the Orange County Register, which is surely read by all real housewives and their aspiring young ones, two girls appear to have arranged to fight in Sun View Park. I know, I know. It sounds like a prospective Miller Lite commercial. But, please bear with me, as one of the attendees to this little open-air Fight Club appears to have been bearing arms.

History does not yet record what engendered the fight. Perhaps someone had called someone else the b-word or the s-word. Perhaps someone had been caught kissing someone else's clean-shaven but otherwise disheveled beau.

In any case, the twin sister of one of the the combatants--or should that be combatantes?--was shot. Did I mention she was 15? Perhaps not. But it seems her injuries were not life-threatening, as she was only punctured in the ankle and the shin.

But why is this a tale of modern technology's tentacles of politeness? Well, because, shortly after the shooting, the twin sister who was still whole reportedly handed the police her shot sister's cell phone. And on that cell phone was a message of apology, freshly sent, from a person unknown. It was a message of apology for the shooting.

Could one imagine that John Wilkes Booth, had he enjoyed the luxury of mobile telephony, would have sent a text to Abraham Lincoln to say "sorry?" Perhaps not. It is surely a signal of how far the world has come that the immediate aftermath of such a shooting was a texted "sorry". Without, it seems, even a trace of an LOL.

The police, reportedly, aren't yet sure who might be responsible for this heinous act. (The shooting, not the text.) They say that four different gangs have been rumored to be responsible. However, surely they should be looking for someone who is always nice to their Mom and never fails to help old ladies cross the road.