Thursday, February 21, 2008

PET PEEVE #11

People who don't keep track of their children in public places.

A few months ago, Izzy and I went to McDonalds and then to the playland. This is a special treat for Izzy. After Izzy and I arrived, two women entered with 8 children between them. The ages probably ranged from about 14 to 2 years of age. The women set up "home school" at a table and told the children that after they prayed, ate and did their lesson.....they could play. After trying not to roll my eyes, I focused on Izzy climbing on the play structures.

After "the lesson", the kids went off to play and the two year old left the open door to the playland, out in to the main area of the eating establishment, and then out the front door of McDonalds when someone opened a door to come in. Meanwhile, Mrs. & Mrs. Homeschoolers were gabbing away. After I RAN out in to the front of the building, scooped up the toddler who had just entered the parking lot, and then brought him back in to the playland. I brought the boy to the Mom's and breathlessly said, "Your kid was in the parking lot!" They looked at me as if I was an alien from another planet. Not a "thank you." Not an "oh my goodness!"

Nothing.

(Note: It may appear I have something against homeschoolers. Not really except that in my state, there is no regulation of homeschooling. Many children get a childhood of biblehood and can barely read or write as adults.)

THEN.....AND THEN..... fast forward to a couple of days ago........

I went in to a grocery store at 9:30 in the evening. It was slow in the store and they had one checker open. There was one woman in front of me and three people behind me waiting to check out. The woman in front of me had 3 girls (about 7, 5 and the cutest toddler on the planet of about 2). The two older ones were playing leap frog everywhere. Fine for a park, not for a grocery store. The youngest was opening up package after package of gum in the checkout line.

Mom was oblivious to it all. (She also had very dark sunglasses on which is weird for pitch black darkness.... unless of course you are dodging the paparazzi.)

While Mom was watching her items being rung up on the screen, the tiny little Cindy Loo-Hoo of a girl toddled out the automatic doors and in to the parking lot. Oh! Did I mention ALL of the girls were barefoot and did not have coats on and we live in a part of the country where there is snow on the ground?

I said, "Excuse me? Your smallest daughter just ran out of the store and in to the parking lot."
The woman immediately yelled for one of the older girls to go get her.
As I stood there, the woman turned to me and said (with the head bobbing back and forth).....
"YOU GOT A PROBLEM WITH ME?"
And I said in the calmest of voices, "Well, now that you mention it......I do." And then I told her exactly why from her lack of dressing the children properly to letting them run amok and open packages in the store to not being grateful that I could have possibly saved her child from getting squished like a bug in the parking lot. Oh yes, I calmly explained all of my grievances.

This is when the Mom got a couple of inches away from my nose and started screaming obscenities (all in Spanish so I understood very little). She was then asked to leave the store by the clerk and she was shouting all the way out the door at me.


I ask you this........If we don't bring these things up to people, how can they ever be held accountable for it?

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

They will be held accountable only by our sweet Lord baby Jesus, lying in a manger and passing judgements of damnation to the vast hords of sinners like the blasphemers in McDonalds.

Either that or you should let it go.

tallulah said...

My dearest of Daddy's.....I will pass judgement until the "sweet Lord baby Jesus" appears by my bedside and commands me differently. In the meantime,now that my dear readers have endured my latest pet peeve...I will let it go.

Oh...and anytime you want me to call your neighbors again to get their kid off the roof, I would be glad to oblige.

boisecommaidaho said...

If Mrs. Homeschooler was a midget sized woman, with kinky long blond hair she is one of the many colorful neighbors up on Humphalot street. She has a gun, she prays, she homeschools, she's 3 feet tall, and scary as hell.

tallulah said...

Boisecomma - LOL! I know exactly who you are talking about. Her husband tried to shoot my friends dog!
I'm not sure which is more scary....her or Humphalot street. The things I hear that go on up there....tsk tsk tsk!

Is That Wrong? said...

I just wish I would have been at the store. I could have called our our sweet Lord baby Jesus to give me strength not to open a whole can of whoop-ass!

Jennboree said...

BRAVO! I'm so very impressed that you spoke up!

I always call out bad mothers. At least in my mind. If I could purchase some balls to actually TELL them off, that'd prolly be more effective.

john said...

Capital-A-fucking-MEN!

As a childless person, I of course cannot open my mouth in situations like this. Lest the mommy-nazis pull out the "well, it's easy for you to say, since you don't have kids" trump card.

(My internal response whenever I hear that? "You know what? I may not have kids. But I do have common decency and a sense of public decorum.")

Anonymous said...

Our sweet Lord Baby Jesus, lying in his manager, swaddled in his baby Jesus NRA blanket, would like you to know that guns don't kill people, Satan does.

Furthermore, he has a pinchet for midgets.

boisecommaidaho said...

My neighbor tried to shoot one of your dogs? What could your dog possibly be doing that would warrant shooting it? Perhaps if we all pray to Baby Jesus for their salvation....