I want to talk for a few minutes about something I witnessed on a city bus last night.
There was this woman sitting just a few aisles away from me, who had a little girl around 2 years old with her (who I assume was her daughter). The bus hadn’t started moving yet, so the child was allowed by her mother to wander around the vehicle unaccompanied. A guy in the back asked her if she would mind not letting her kid have free reign of the bus. And then, all hell broke loose.
She started screaming at him, cursing and swearing and threatening multiple times to “cut off [his] ponytail” and/or “wrap it around his throat”. He ignored her and asked the driver to call his supervisor, which he did; but the woman kept berating him, so he got off the bus and walked. Of course, the little girl was so startled by her mother’s behaviour that she screamed… for the entire 20-minute ride. I cranked my iPod to max volume and STILL couldn’t drown out the noise.
Look, I like children. Even if I don’t want any of my own, I think they’re cute and fun; I always coo over babies, my friend’s daughter calls me Auntie Velociraptor (don’t ask), and I love to spoil my own niece and nephew. But take heed, parents: while I get that, in your eyes, your kid is the greatest thing since the entire Internet and can do no wrong, not everyone loves your kids as much as you do. And they don’t have to.
Maybe it’s true that Bus Guy didn’t like kids; maybe he doesn’t have any, finds them annoying, or truly doesn’t understand what the fuss is about. And he’s entitled to that. But it’s also possible that he was concerned for the safety of the little girl. What if the bus started moving suddenly, or she tripped on his shoe/backpack/whatever and hurt herself? Regardless of the reason, Bus Lady had absolutely no right to say anything. Asking her to control her kid in public is not a crime, but uttering death threats is.
Perhaps the saddest thing of all is that Bus Lady doesn’t realize the consequences of her actions. However indirectly, she taught that little girl that it’s okay to abuse others when she doesn’t get her way. And that’s exactly what’s wrong with this ‘kids these days’: their self-important, entitled attitude came from their parents.
I wonder if Bus Lady will be quite so vocal when Little Girl gets in trouble at school for cursing out a classmate, or mouths off at the wrong person and gets punched in the face. But that’s besides the point. She missed a perfectly-good opportunity to teach her child healthy conflict resolution.
Even if your child is all that and a bag of chips, please don’t let it cloud your judgment when it comes to respecting the rights of others.
Until next time,
Laura “Auntie Velociraptor” VB.
The Write Place 