In the small town of Granbury, Texas, in Hood County (pop. 50,000 roughly) a 34 year old man was arrested for "mooning" the car behind him. He was charged with Indecent exposure and released on a $2,500 bond. There was no mention in the local paper of anyone being under the influence of drugs or alcohol during the incident.

The charged man, a passenger in a pickup, climbed out of the passenger window, while the pickup was driving down the road. He then climbed into the bed of the pickup where he proceeded to drop his pants, enough to moon the people in the car traveling behind them. I don't know if the people in the car that got mooned were friends of the "mooner" or not. Paper didn't say. Anyway, the local police spotted all of this going on, pulled over the pickup, and proceeded to arrest the "mooner" and haul him to jail. All of this happened during the week of the full moon during the month of August, 2009.  

Being a teenager in the 1970's, we thought "mooning" people was hysterically funny, and never dreamed it could get you arrested. Although it isn't the most mature thing to do, I can't bring myself to agree that it really constitutes an "indecent exposure" charge. Considering all the sex and violence that we see on prime-time television every night, and the fact that this mooning incident happened either very late at night or early in the morning (I believe), these two vehicles could have possibly been the only two vehicles on the road within a mile or so, except for the police car that arrested the man. You see, around here, in Granbury, they pretty much "roll up the sidewalks" by nine o'clock pm. After 11pm, about the only things open around here are Walmart, Kroger, and a couple of 24 hour convenience/gas stations. I have driven through this town, even on a weekend night, and seriously seen only a couple of cars on the major highway (377) that the majority of the businesses are located along.

Now, if I am not mistaken, if these "indecent exposure" charges stick, this guy will be considered a sex offender, with all the things that go along with it. Most assuredly, probation at the least, possible jail time(?), and fines. Plus he will have to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life. All from what I consider a silly prank. Gives a lot of credence to Granbury's worst kept secret motto, which is "Come on vacation, leave on probation". Personally, I think the police overreacted. If there had been some "full frontal" exposure involved, or sexually suggestive things involved, none of which were alluded to in the article I read, it would be different. This poor sap just "dropped trou" and mooned the car behind him and his buddies, and I bet he knew the people in the car behind and they were friends of his. Amazing.

In all fairness, we just got a "new Sheriff in town" and he and his deputies have done a wonderful job of cleaning up the growing drug problem we had developing here, as well as doing many other fine things for our community. So I have to give them big Kudos for the good work they have been doing. But this mooning incident just struck me as totally overreacting, and I would love to hear any comments you have on this! So feel free to post your comments. Is it just me, or was this guy arrested for no REAL good reason? Is it a waste of taxpayers dollars? What do you think? Stay tuned for other unusual things that go on in small towns, under my "Small Towns, Small Minds" series!!!