Last week, while shopping at Mid Rivers Mall, I noticed some teenagers standing in front of Famous Barr. I assumed they were shopping, like myself, and paid them no further attention. When I finished my shopping I stepped out of the store only to find the same teenagers walking in front of me. The only difference now, that I noticed, was the security guard that was following them. Being the good investigator I am, I decided to keep in step and observe what was taking place. Okay now is the time to stop and allow me to ask a rhetorical question. What do you think the teenagers did to warrant being followed by a security guard? If your opinion matches 78 out of 100 of adults polled (Newsweek May 2002) you would assume they stole something. If you were among the 91 out of 100 students polled (same source) you would say they were being harassed and stereotyped by an over-confident security guard. Stereotyping among teens takes place everywhere; the three most prominent locations are restaurants, in the shopping mall, and at school. After giving the hostess my last name, my husband I waited to be seated at a restaurant which will remain anonymous (sounds like Crapplebees). In the corner of the lobby, I noticed four teenagers waiting for a table as well. As I eavesdropped on their discussion, I overheard one of them comment on how long it was taking for them to be seated. Just as their conversation was heating up, our name was called announcing our table was ready. As the hostess led us to our table I mentioned how quickly we were seated and that we had anticipated waiting a bit longer. She replied that she had skipped “those obnoxious kids’” name because she thought they wouldn’t tip their server and was hoping they would just leave. Adults stereotyping teenagers offends me in this case because that hostess had absolutely no way of knowing whether those teenagers would tip their server or not, just based on the kids' appearances. Pe