In one of my favorite movies, “Forrest Gump,” Forrest told his childhood friend Jeannie at their first meeting on the school bus, “Mama always said, stupid is as stupid does.”

Keep in mind that this was a movie in which — except in a short segment about Vietnam — nothing was blown up. And there were no creatures from the planet Zocar with terraces down their foreheads to ponder the mysteries of grits.

It was just a simple movie about a simple guy. It was saturated with many good one-liners — some of them thought provoking.

In one instance Jeannie had returned to her old homeplace where her father had abused her as a child. In her agony of remembering those days, she began screaming and throwing rocks at the old house.

In his simple observation of Jeannie’s reaction, Forrest offered a comment about such events in some peoples’ lives.

He said, “Sometimes there just aren’t enough rocks.”

Now back to that thing about “stupid is as stupid does.”

I’m sure we’ve all seen and heard things that would fit this declaration. Two good examples came on today’s Associated Press news wires. There were others, of course, but we can’t write a book here — just a column.

In Denville, N.J., two teens filmed a fake bank robbery and car burglary as part of an art class project.

Obviously they didn’t seek any advice on this idea or someone might have told them that when you flee a real bank wielding a toy machine gun and carrying what appears to be a money bag and you haven’t let the cops in on the ruse, then Forrest Gump might have something to say about it.

The youngsters face disorderly conduct charges, but fortunately, no one was hurt. And there has been no indication that the youngsters will file a lawsuit against the city for scaring them out of three years growth. Actually, to the credit of the young cameraman, Remigiusz Wojdala, he put the whole incident into proper perspective: “Overall, it was a stupid thing to do. We didn’t think before we did it.”

As Clint Eastwood once said in one of his “Dirty Harry” flicks, “a man must know his limitations.” A particle of wisdom. We might add that a man is somewhat wise when he realizes and admits that he has done a stupid thing, as opposed to trying to justify it or saying, “the devil made me do it.”

Now let’s move across country to Gig Harbor, Wash., where four freshmen girls were kicked off the cheerleading squad because they held a car wash to help pay for uniforms. Their problem: They didn’t get the school’s permission.

As technicalities go, they would have been safe had they not used the school’s name and just donated the money to the squad as individuals.

But coach Lindsay Cady told them in their letters of dismissal that their actions “constitute fraud” because the school did not sanction their activities.

Guess who was stupid in this incident?

Cheerleader Chelsey Nesbitt said she felt like a criminal. “They’re telling me I’m a fraud. I’m like 14 here … I don’t know what fraud means.”

Everyone knows we have to have rules. Society requires rules. But one also might pose that society needs equal portions of common sense. Had common sense — rather than stupidity — prevailed, we would never have heard of this incident.

I guess for these kids’ sakes, it’s good that sometimes there aren’t enough rocks. They might have been stoned for such obtuse behavior.



Dwain Walden is editor/publisher of The Moultrie Observer, 985-4545, ext. 214. E-mail: dwain.walden@gaflnews.com