Friday, May 25, 2007

Are We Getting Stupider, Part Deux

Alright, in our latest attempt to annihilate the human race entirely by our own stupidity, I return to another rant about stupid people.

I have noticed a disturbing trend over the past, oh, I dunno, 10 years, but tonight it really hit home, almost literally.

What the hell is wrong with people letting their kids run around in parking lots!?

Tonight, the General and I went to Target to pick up some supplies for the house and for me to get a nice new kite to take to Myrtle Beach (Hello Kitty kicks ass!). In any event, we get back in the car, and as I am pulling out, a woman WALKS BEHIND US WITH HER TWO CHILDREN! We weren't "maybe" pulling out. We were actually pulling out and they walked behind us.

I wish I could say this were not something I face on a regular basis, but at least 3 times a week, someone walks behind me AFTER I start pulling my car out of my parking space.

One time, there was a woman who let her two year old run all by himself towards their car in a Walmart parking lot, and as I started to pull out, I heard a scream and she ran up to the car in the nick of time. A 2 or 3 foot tall little person cannot be seen in the rearview mirror.

For the love of God. Why do people seem to think that a car going backwards can't hit them!?

AUGH!

2 pearl(s) of wisdom:

Talmadge said...

Why? Because most parents today have chosen to become lazy and/or abdicate their responsibilities as PARENTS to society in general.

You're not the only one who's noticed things like kids running around.

You could start backing up, and a little tyke - completely out of your line of sight - suddenly dart behind you. You hit them.

Will that parent realize how careless they've been, allowing their children to run amuck like apes all over a parking lot?

No, they'll call (name of ambulance-chasing attorney on TV commercials in your area) and sue you clear to your last penny.

My parents weren't like that. Seraphim's weren't. I highly suspect you and Nettiemac would not have been running loose unchecked. Hell, when I was young, it was assumed by my brother and me that if we were careless around a moving car, that the driver would've HAD A RIGHT to cream us!!!

Not to drag politics into it, but my observation over the last two decades has been the "young Republican" and especially most "christian" (read: on-your-sleeve Southern Baptists and Methodists®) of our ilk tend to be the worst offenders.

What I'm afraid might be needed on every vehicle are those 'beep-boxes' one finds on trucks - to activate whenever the car is put into reverse. (Only problem: this will drive neighbors crazy each morning)

What'll ultimately work is for parents to actually be parents. (and that goes for my SIL and BIL, too)

--Tal

nettiemac said...

Tal is right. Parents today have either completely abdicated all responsibility for their children, or are so over-involved to the nth degree that little Billy or Susie can't move without Mommy's okay.

My mother would have first said, "Are you CRAZY?" (to me) and then turned to the driver and said, "I swear, you can't do anything with kids anymore, can you?"

But of course, that was back in the age that parents could pop their children's hands (or even their hindparts) in a store and not fear DSS being called in to question their parenting skills. Other parents in line would have looked at their own kids and said, "You want some of that too?"

Signed,
She Who Didn't Get Hit By A Car But Got Popped A Couple of Times (and Deserved It, Too) -- And Turned Out Just Fine, Thank You!