Graffiti Vandals

In response to “Leaving Their Mark,” March 10:

Reading how obsessed they are to leave their mark, I was struck by the similarities between the taggers and dogs and cats, which have an equally unpleasant way of staking out their territory.

A few years ago I was threatened with a knife when I tried to get one teen-ager to stop carving his initials in the window glass of an RTD bus. Recently, I watched in disbelief as another teen tried to paint the side of a bus. Each time the driver got out, the culprit would stop, only to resume once the driver had closed the door.

What I feel most, beyond the predictable anger and frustration, is an almost overwhelming sense of sadness. What empty lives these taggers and their groupies must lead and what dreary futures must lie ahead for them!

R. D. HARDCASTLE

Los Angeles