Drew and I walked into Friendly's tonight for some ice cream but walked out with something else.
The desire to never have a young teenage girl like any one of the cluster we saw gathered around the claw machine (I am not sure, what exactly, that machine's technical name is but it's the machine from Toy Story with all those little aliens in it that, when the claw starts reaching down, are oohing and aahing, saying, the claw! and the one who gets nabbed pipes up with I've been chosen in quite the same manner that any one of David Koresh's followers might have used...you know the machine?).
First of all, we walk in to an ice cream shoppe expecting that delicious vanilla and candy scent to waft towards us when instead we smell something rank and quite the opposite. Those girls are laughing uproariously and yelling at each other, respectively, for farting.
And believe me, I never even wanted to write that word on this blog. But these girls have forced my hand.
Now I understand the humor in it, I do.
It could be especially funny in, I don't know, the privacy of your own home.
In fact, I think that kind of joke is best done there.
Cause it seriously stank. I wondered if maybe there was something wrong with the plumbing.
Then these girls proceeded to use the basest words in the English language. With small children eating ice cream cones not three feet away.
Again, I understand that people have differing views on vernacular; that certain words which are offensive to some are simply funny to others.
But still, we are in public. There are small children. Have a care.
I guess my point is why didn't anyone ever tell these young teenagers to be aware of their surroundings? To realize that there are other people with whom they have to share this space? Why didn't their parents ever teach them about dignity, grace, honor?
About not smelling up their local ice cream restaurant?
As we walked out I looked at Drew and just said, Those girls...!
He finished my sentence with, ...Made me never want to have children at all.
9 comments:
Alas, sometimes parents can teach and teach and try, but kids can still make these choices!
What were they doing alone at Friendly's, anyway? "Young" is a vague term, but a gaggle of young teenage girls ought to be chaperoned, IMHO. Boys, too, for that matter. Someone with authority to be properly mortified over their behavior.
My wife would have said something to them, I betcha. Even if they weren't hers. (She agrees. "Like a gold ring in a pig's snout is a beautiful woman with no discretion," she says.)
The cavalier way people (young and old) use words continues to astound and disturb me...as well as some of their public behavior and the things they find humorous. Too many people are not conscious enough of anyone other than themselves to "have a care", as you so accurately put it, Jess. Maybe their parents taught them, maybe they did not, either way they are free to choose, as your mom said. Even to make what is so obviously the wrong choice. I also wonder, where was the manager of the Friendly's? If these girls were such a disruption, why didn't the manager discreetly approach them and ask them to be respectful of the others in the establishment or leave? It's not like Friendly's would lose anything by that action and I am sure the rest of their customers would have appreciated it.
Friendly's still exists?! I thought they all closed down. Now I want ice cream.
And Jes, are you sure you weren't really jealous, and wanted to join them at the claw machine?
~Alex
TEENAGERS!!! AGH!!! I've got 3--almost four of them and your mom is absolutely right. Kids still go through that ridiculous stage!
But I had a do-over, I'd have them all over again.
yes, luckily for us we have nine fantastic nieces and nephews who do totally make us want to have kids!
And Alex--Friendly's DOES still exist; their ice cream is the best, too! And was my jealousy over them hogging the claw machine THAT obvious?!?!
LOL Only things like this happen to you Jessica! I love reading your stories. THOSE KIDS ARE A MESS, BUT THEY ARE JUST KIDS!
Ok, so when I was a young teenager I probably said a cuss or two in public but NEVER NEVER would I or anyone I know F*** in public and then talk about it. Ew. Yuck.No freaking way.We also never would have been cussing loudly. That is so rude. The sad thing is in this area adults do the same thing. Usually worse. People blare their music at like 12:00am. Heck, the ice cream truck blares it's music at 11:00pm.They double park in the middle of the road, they honk their horns to get someone to come out of the house at 6:00am. People just either are so unaware of others or they really just don't give a flying freak. I have a feeling it is the latter.
eew, I know those kids... hopefully they will improve with a couple of years... teenagers are not full of discretion or self control, unfortunately, although I do know a couple of wonderful ones who give me hope for my own little ones!
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