Southland Surfers Battle for the Best Summer Waves

The dispute between the surfers and the “Vals” is so stupid! Have surfers been whacked too many times in the head by their own boards? What gives the beach “locals” the right to claim the waves of the Pacific Ocean as theirs and to beat up on and trash the property of people whose only crime is not living on the ocean side of the Santa Monica Mountains?

What’s next? Do we “Vals” retaliate by putting up roadblocks to keep the surfers from coming “over the hill” to the Sherman Oaks Galleria or Universal Studios? What if people who live near Westwood decide that the crowds on Friday and Saturday nights are so bad that only Westwood “locals” can use the movie theaters in that part of town?

Recently, I rode my bike from Panorama City through Van Nuys, Sherman Oaks, Sepulveda Pass, Westwood, Brentwood, Santa Monica and into Pacific Palisades--and then back--and never did I feel I was intruding on someone else’s “turf.”

Where in the world do young people--and maybe not so young people--get their ridiculous ideas about territorial rights? I’d suggest that parents take the responsibility of initiating some discussions with their children about such concepts as the right to travel freely around town and the right to use public and business property regardless of your address and--just as important--how it is necessary to protect these rights for others if you want to keep these same rights for yourself.

SALVADOR REED

North Hollywood