When did eggs become such a fearsome weapon of terrorism?

When people started feeling like there was nothing they could do about getting egged.

Kids in generations past threw eggs at mailboxes and it was seen as rascal and annoying, but generally guileless goofing around. Now it has become a heavier crime the likes of which has half the state calling for jail time for the kids caught in Lanikai.

Certainly, pranks in general have become meaner in the age of Punk'd and such. Likewise, property has become more valuable, and both houses and cars are more nervously guarded. The cost of replacing a window or buffing out a door panel could well be in the thousands.

This incident found extra traction in the community talk story circles because of who was involved and where it happened. This was a man with a name and past, a school with a football team both famous and infamous, a well-to-do seaside community, a BMW and an eyewitness Mainland visitor with digital photos of the aftermath who wasn't afraid to talk to reporters.

Perhaps the biggest factor that made this recent incident so volatile was the alcohol involved. Maybe you don't get so happy crazy about damaging people's stuff with eggs when you're sober. Maybe you don't get so angry crazy about chasing down a car full of kids when you haven't been drinking.

Those elements together make for a story rich in allegory.

The Honolulu Police Department and City Council should take very seriously the postscript that has been attached to the telling and retelling of this sordid tale: the utter frustration of the community in calling 911 to deal with anything but an emergency.

So many people have said "Sure, the right thing to do if some kids are egging your house is to call the cops, but seriously, what is that going to do?"

Many have had the experience of talking to a disinterested dispatcher and waiting in vain for the police car to show up long after the vandal or pest has moved on.

The courts will deal with the parties involved. The school administration has vowed to take appropriate action in regard to the teens. We as a community need to take up the rallying cry for more and better police response because if so many people are saying, "I would have chased those punks down, too!" then something like this or worse will happen again.

Lee Cataluna's column runs Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Reach her at 535-8172 or lcataluna@honoluluadvertiser.com.