I got a flyer
with a coupon from one of my favorite stores the other day. I was excited
because this is where I go for the shower gel and lotion I love so much. However,
it’s rather on the pricey side so I try to wait for a sale or a good coupon. And
as an added bonus, usually when they send out the flyer, they have new scents. Thus,
off I go to the store yesterday. Unfortunately, in the area with the new
products there was a group of 5 or 6 kids spraying each other with the testers and
non-testers alike. And in addition, they were squirting lotion from every bottle
they seemed to be able to get their hands on. I said ‘excuse me’ a couple of
times but was unable to get anywhere near the display. I gave up and went over
to see if I could find my old staple product. No luck there either – it was
nowhere to be found. Ugh. I made the mistake of trying to go over to the
display of new scents again – the kids were still there. This time when I said ‘excuse
me’, I got sprayed with I don’t know how many scents and a bottle of lotion was
not so gently dropped by my foot. Lotion ended up all over my leg, foot and sandal
as it had exploded on impact with the tile floor. So fine, I made a not so polite
statement about how some of us were there to shop not play. Now, I doubt I would’ve
said anything if there had been an adult in sight. But there wasn’t one, at
least not until I said that. Then, as if by magic, there comes this woman,
snapping at me about how they were just being kids and I didn’t have to be rude. I had
had enough at that point, I left the store. Later, after practically taking a bath
to get all the different smells off of me, I went to the grocery store. I bumped
into a friend and she spotted the flyer half sticking out of my purse. Frankly,
I had forgotten it was still there. Anyway, she goes on to tell me all about
the great new fragrances they have for fall. Well, don’t even get me started on
that one. And I proceed to tell her about my visit to the store. Her reaction
wasn’t what I expected. She asked me what race the children were. Okay, what difference
did it make if they were white, green or purple? They were being destructive hooligans
in a public place. Her next statement gave me more than a few moments of pause,
“If they were African-American you were being rather racist by saying anything.”
There was nothing I could say in response to that, I simply walked way from my
friend after more than a minute of silence. Since when is it acceptable to be
disruptive in a public place if you are a certain race? And since when can no
one call you out on it? Have we gotten so politically correct in this country
we are afraid to say anything? Thus when someone does it’s wrong no matter how
right it may be? Children need to be disciplined. They can not be allowed to
destroy property. What they did to me was borderline assault. Yes, I know
free-range parenting is all the rage these days. I also know children always
seem to be home alone at hours of the day or night no matter how young they may
be. The misbehavior is not the fault of the children. No I blame you and you
and you. And by that I mean society as a whole. Parents, aunts, uncles,
grandparents, teachers, pastors, priests, neighbors, any adult in a hundred
mile radius. Because, yes, by all means, it should always be acceptable to
correct a child and train them in the way they should go. Race isn't a factor here, having children who will functioning members of society when they become adults is. ‘Junior, pull up
those pants, no one wants to see your underwear.’ ‘Honey, stop screaming, use
your inside voice.’ ‘Don’t run inside.’ ‘Don’t open every bottle in the store,
people may want to buy that later.’ Find other examples, there are so many of
them. I for one, am not going to stop telling kids they're in the wrong if they
are. Even if they are orange or fuchsia or blue…
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