In a world where the economy is plummeting, race is playing a front role in this year’s election, and people are losing their jobs on the daily, it’s important to keep your priorities straight.

Making sure your finances are straight and your family is taken care of should hold top billing. The gang that your 4-year-old son should join?not so important. In Commerce City, Colo., a young couple caused quite the disturbance during an argument about what set their toddler should claim.

The father, Joseph Manzanares, entered the Hollywood Video store where his girlfriend worked and began arguing with her. According to police reports, Manzanares knocked over numerous video displays, a computer and even threatened to kill her.

Police were called and the 19-year-old was arrested at his home. His girlfriend informed the police that the two were arguing about which gang their son should join. According to thedenverchannel.com, the teen mother is a member of the Crips and the father belongs to the Westside Ballers gang.

This right here, this is amazing. You can’t make this stuff up, people. I’m not going to start harping on young parents not knowing how to raise children because I know plenty of grown-ass, 40-year-old people who are terrible parents. I will, however, harp on stupid parents. Let me rephrase that – stupid people – because it’s obvious that parenting had nothing to do with this little display of tomfoolery.

As I read this, I didn’t want to believe this was true. Someone has to be pulling a fast one, right?

Where is your life headed? Normally parents of a 4-year-old are more focused on getting their child into a good kindergarten program and teaching the child the fundamentals of life. The fundamentals of life should not include how to coordinate the kid’s Garanimals with his blue bandana.

I quit. I just can’t take this anymore. As I’m writing this, my blood is boiling. It’s one thing for these parents to mess their own lives up with gang activity – they’re “adults” after all. It is quite another to involve their young son in a culture that’s known for violence.

After this idiotic spat, Manzanares was charged with disorderly conduct, harassment, domestic violence and sentenced to a year of probation.

That’s it? After all that, I think Mr. Manzanares should possibly seek out some anger management classes, not to mention parenting classes and possible out-patient psychiatric evaluation.

On an even more extreme level, the police could even evaluate this situation as being possible child endangerment; maybe not now but definitely in the future. I just don’t know what kind of world I’m living in.

Only in America could you hear about some utter buffoonery like this. What kind of whacked-out 2008 version of West-Side Story do we have going on here? It’s news like this that makes me not want to bring children into the world. I mean, we all know stupid people exist. It’s just my opinion that they should not be allowed to procreate.

Oneika Richardson can be reached at orichardson@statehornet