Other People's Screaming Children
Abbie and I went to our nearest Mega Mart store the other day. Sometimes we make these trips to purchase Vital Supplies like diapers that are on sale or newly released CD’s. Other times we make these trips because I’m bored and have run out of ideas to entertain Abbie so I let the car ride and the cart ride entertain her for me while I look for something that we’re getting low on like, oh, I don’t know, um, transmission fluid. On this particular day, I genuinely needed the Vital Supply of shaving cream because I had run out and my facial hair had reached a dangerous length where Abbie could pull on it. Plus, Ellie wanted something in the snack cracker family. As long as I’m out.
When I walked in the store, a woman was pushing her cart with a boy of about 2 years strapped inside and throwing a full-bore temper tantrum. Ten minutes later as I walked out holding a bag bursting with shaving cream and snack crackers, the same boy was still throwing the same temper tantrum. I know he was still working on the same temper tantrum because everyone in the entire store could hear his shrieking the entire time.
“Get me out of here,” the woman behind me at the register exclaimed as I grabbed my bag of Vital Supplies.
“I know,” replied the cashier. “I can’t wait until my shift is over. Why can’t he be like her?” she asked while pointing to Abbie who, at the moment, had decided to fool strangers into believing she was a calm, quiet, cooperative child.
I try not to pass judgment over strangers with screaming children. I figure it’s one of those moments where There But for the Grace of God, and Abbie, Go I. In fact, I’m pretty sure that one day There Will Go I as I scurry through the store to find something like laundry detergent while dragging a screaming Abigail behind me. So I give that haggled mother the benefit of the doubt that she was doing all she could to calm the boy while finding her family’s Vital Supplies. The screaming didn’t bother me very much anyway since I’m developing that selective hearing parents need to maintain their sanity. Still, I know the boy is too young for reason, but is it too much to take the boy outside for a couple minutes and let him scream himself out? Just a thought.
In the future, I promise to keep an open mind when visiting the Mega Mart stores because, as the saying goes, don’t judge a man until you’ve walked a mile in his shoes listening to his kids whine the whole way. Now, I believe the new Coldplay album is available for purchase.
When I walked in the store, a woman was pushing her cart with a boy of about 2 years strapped inside and throwing a full-bore temper tantrum. Ten minutes later as I walked out holding a bag bursting with shaving cream and snack crackers, the same boy was still throwing the same temper tantrum. I know he was still working on the same temper tantrum because everyone in the entire store could hear his shrieking the entire time.
“Get me out of here,” the woman behind me at the register exclaimed as I grabbed my bag of Vital Supplies.
“I know,” replied the cashier. “I can’t wait until my shift is over. Why can’t he be like her?” she asked while pointing to Abbie who, at the moment, had decided to fool strangers into believing she was a calm, quiet, cooperative child.
I try not to pass judgment over strangers with screaming children. I figure it’s one of those moments where There But for the Grace of God, and Abbie, Go I. In fact, I’m pretty sure that one day There Will Go I as I scurry through the store to find something like laundry detergent while dragging a screaming Abigail behind me. So I give that haggled mother the benefit of the doubt that she was doing all she could to calm the boy while finding her family’s Vital Supplies. The screaming didn’t bother me very much anyway since I’m developing that selective hearing parents need to maintain their sanity. Still, I know the boy is too young for reason, but is it too much to take the boy outside for a couple minutes and let him scream himself out? Just a thought.
In the future, I promise to keep an open mind when visiting the Mega Mart stores because, as the saying goes, don’t judge a man until you’ve walked a mile in his shoes listening to his kids whine the whole way. Now, I believe the new Coldplay album is available for purchase.
posted by Matt at
9:31 PM
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