The Adventures of Leash Boy

I probably ask myself this question several times a day: What the heck is wrong with people?

I found myself muttering that phrase again last weekend, during the Autumn Leaf Festival Parade in Clarion, when I found myself seated next to a young mother and Leash Boy.

Have you seen these things? I couldn't restrain myself from taking a cell phone picture of this poor kid, tethered to mommy with this whacky leash thing.

Not only was he attached to a leash, but part of the leash assembly was a teddy bear. So it looked as though this kid had on his back either a teddy bear with a really long tail, or some other kind of 12-foot-long item emerging from its butt.

When floats would go by, they'd toss candy in his general direction and he lunge for it, only to be snapped backwards by mom when he'd get within inches of it. I think maybe she was making a game of it.

Whatever the case, I suspect Leash Boy is going to be in need of some serious therapy in the years to come.