Thursday, May 10, 2007

Still Flabbergasted...

I am confronted daily by behavior that is annoying. That behavior ranges from the "actually kind of amusing" to the "downright irritating." But, for all my complaining, I am actually a pretty even-tempered kind of Sheep. I find it hard to work up a good grump. I suspect that this speaks to my general level of laziness, really. Sometimes it's just not worth it, you know?

But every once in a blue moon, I have to fight my better nature. Sometimes you are witness to a degree of social inappropriateness that is beyond what can be borne without some sort of cerebral episode. Consider this:

I was making my usual Thursday night run to the store to pick up the rewards for the students who have behaved themselves well for the week and chocolate for the staff that has chosen to remain in the employ of the district despite having to work as my teaching assistants. They deserve it. Trust me. They put up with a lot. Most of it being me-related...

I was maneuvering my cart through the toy area after picking up some sort of light-up, squishy balls that I suspect will be enjoyed by the children (and rather quickly confiscated by the bus drivers) tomorrow. I suddenly found myself having to work around a bicycle. It is unusual to find a bicycle in the middle of a store aisle, but this is me and these things just happen to me so go with it. Further complicating matters was the little girl astride the bike. She had ridden it into the aisle and, in full defiance of her clear inability to ride with anything resembling skill, was proceeding to wobble her way through the toy department. I had some difficulty getting around her. But, I chose to say nothing. She is a kid, after all. Kids don't always know better. Knowing better is the job of the adults in their lives and I was hoping that she might belong to one of the adults in the vicinity. I firmly believe in the rights of parents to deal with their own children.

However, in this case, it was not an adult who interceded. It was a slightly older boy. Upon noting his sister's (I'm assuming that this was the relationship) rather unsafe behavior, he told her that she shouldn't be riding her bike in the store because other people couldn't get around her. I was really quite impressed with his quick action on this one. And for his not calling her a poopy-head. I wanted to...

At this point, I was finally able to pick out the parent of this delightful child from the gaggle of adult-types in the store. It was not the one who might have said, "Why, thank you Johnny for pointing out your sister's unsafe and discourteous behavior. Please, precious darling, get off the bike so that others may shop without fear of tire treads on their cute, strappy sandals that they are wearing for the first time today!"

No.

It was the charming lady (clearly of the old school and highly refined) who said, "Hey! It's her birthday and she can ride her bike wherever she damned well pleases!!! And anyone who doesn't like it can just go cry to someone who cares!!! Now let's go get some air for those tires, sweetie!"

You will just have to imagine the smug smile on the face of the Precious Princess as she proceeded to wobble her way merrily down the remainder of the aisle. There is really no way for me to describe it. And, if you want to, you can try and get a visual of her brother's face. I don't want to think about it anymore. No kid should ever look that old and defeated. It just depressed me.

Now, I think by now that we are all on board with the fact that I am rarely one who is at a loss for words. In fact, I have more things to say rattling around in my head than I know what to do with on most days. But, I never said a word to incite that little Bike Freedom Protest Speech. I wasn't the instigator. You can probably imagine, though, my desire to explain to this mother the facts of life, specifically that Precious Princess is not the only person in the world and that if having a birthday means getting to run people over then she'd better make sure and stay home on mine. Because I will make it my business to find her now that I am clear on the rules.

But I didn't.

Let's face it: those kids have had enough bad examples for one day. And probably many, many more to come. I didn't want to be the cause for another scene in a store that they will have to recount in therapy. Well...the boy, anyway. Precious Princess seemed pretty content with her lot in life, actually. I ignored Her Majesty, Queen of The Discount Store and headed straight to the shoe department where I proceeded to reward my trip down the high road with a new pair of wedge heeled sandals. Tomorrow, I will teeter my way through the day with an air of righteousness.

Meanwhile, I'm debating whether it is time to pick up and knit a bit on the sweet, stripey sock again. The last few sessions with that little piece of footwear have not gone well, thanks to my snuffly, sneezy state and I have made the decision to live by the "if it's inside the shoe, it doesn't count" theory of knitting aesthetics. But I really don't want to do any further damage on this little project.

How much NyQuil does one have to ingest to take care of cold and indignation symptoms?

SA

14 comments:

Mia said...

Sheepie has wedge heels? Well then surely I must have wedge heels as well ::laughing:; who am i kidding.. i can barely handle clogs.

and about th epharmaceuticals.. yeah, i am. very. Lortab. dentist tomorrow. blogging soon, god help us all.

sheep#100 said...

Some people really just make you want to (forcibly) remove their heads from their anal orifices, do they not? Wake up and take a sniff of reality, Discount Queenie!

MsAmpuTeeHee said...

It's a good thing I wasn't there. I totally lack self restraint.

Anonymous said...

I feel for that poor little boy.

Anonymous said...

I don't know how you restrained yourself. You deserve the cute new shoes and some new yarn too.
Karen
http://nothingbutknit.blog-city.com/

catsmum said...

I cannot even begin to formulate a suitable response to that woman. Doesn't sound as though she would've been particularly responsive to sweet reason and anything else would've probably been met with expletives or worse.
... when the precious princess who must not be gainstayed turns into a monstrous teenage bitch queen from hell it will of course be her teachers' collective fault not her dear mama's.

Lorraine said...

Actually, that type of parenting will eventually bite that Mom in the nether regions. As Catsmum so wisely pointed out, that child will grow into a teenaged terror. And at least the teachers don't have to pay the bills for the spoiled brats.

Anne P said...

If you are still taking Nyquil now is a good time to get an eye exam. You don't have to get the dilating drops - ask me how I know.

Anonymous said...

Well thank god I am not like that Mother! I really can't believe there are people out there. Well, yes I can.

Summer shoes.....ahhh.... good for you!

Big geek Beth

Cursing Mama said...

Does that mean that if its inside the actual shoe it counts?
Oh man I'm in trouble!

Anonymous said...

Some parents are just head-shakingly annoying. (Does that make any sense at all?) Unbelievable.

Anonymous said...

You did much better than I would have! I may not have actually said anything to the Discount Queen, but there would have been a lot of loud sighing or mumbling just loud enough for her to hear!

You definitely deserved your reward :)

missemilysmom said...

Nothing phases me anymore! A little boy in Emily's daycare called her sexy because of her bathing suit, stared at her rudely and made a weird (I think was meant to be obscene) gesture! He is only 5! Maybe you will see him in 5 years! He comes to K this year!!! He learns this all from daddy! Who has more then once been rude to the daycare owner and asked her to pose in a calendar! Oh Yeah!! People are just unreal!!

Anonymous said...

I applaud the little boy. Princess is a bitch along with the mom.