Ok. I am kind of annoyed at myself for letting myself get annoyed at this, but hey, it happens.
Today at the Thacher Park Fall Festival (which seemed sadly quiet as opposed to last year... maybe because it was so bloody cold) they added a little choo-choo train ride for the kids which was basically some souped up barrels pulled by a tractor. Anyway, it was a popular ride and there was a line forming. As the children from the previous ride got off, my kids lined up to get on. There was a little boy who didn't get out of the car my son was in line for. I figured he just needed a few moments to say good bye to the train, no big deal, but his dad walked over and said he would be riding on again. I very politely asked him if he could ask his son to get out and wait in line again so my son could get a ride. It seemed fair enough to me. Apparently, not to him. He basically spazzed out and refused. After a few more comments, he ended up yelling at me (in front of a line of children and parents, mind you) "Jesus... why don't you get a gun and shoot me!"
I have often heard that when you bring up Hitler or the Holocaust in an argument, you automatically lose. Well, I am now extending that rule to saying things like 'get a gun' and 'shoot me'. Especially in front of kids.
Well done sir. Not only did you teach your son that he is entitled to get things regardless of how it affects other people, you also taught us all how to fly off the handle.
Thank you dear readers for indulging me. I feel better now. Moving on.com.
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
and breathe...
ReplyDeletewow. so NOT cool. I would have smacked the guy with a scarecrow (and not a fresh one, but the one we made there last year at the festival--it's full of ants now). I hope your little guy eventually got a ride.
ReplyDeleteI wonder what would have happened if you pretended to break down and cry.
ReplyDeleteCrying, as any 2 year old will tell you (if they could verbalize it) is a very powerful negotiating technique.
More powerful than laughing. But that might have been fun too. Although there is a greater risk in further escalation.
The scarecrow smack did come to mind... crying however, did not. I wonder if he would have been moved. He wasn't moved when he saw my son visibly (and audibly) upset that he couldn't get on at the same time as his sister... so I'm not sure if an adult crying would have melted his ice cold heart. My guess is that he might have gotten his gun and shot ME.... and then laughter would definitely be out of the question.
ReplyDeleteMaybe he didn't get enough hugs as a little boy :) You should have reached out and given him a nice big one! Or pouted and looked cute and says "Why Santa, why?", or you could have faked a seizure, or...so many brilliant ideas when it's not me. I would have stood there like an idiot saying "uuuhhh...". Sorry you had to go through that!
ReplyDeleteWhat the hell is wrong with people? Sorry you had to deal with such an a-hole. How can people be such douches to kids who follow the rules?
ReplyDelete