shilo
08-02-2007, 06:33 PM
bear with me here... this is partly a b!tch, but a serious question too...
i had a run in with a teenage girl today in the mall parking lot. she pulled into the row i'd been waiting in for 4-5minutes and whipped into the spot i'd been waiting for for 3 of those minutes while the mom packed up. i had my blinker on, my wheels turned, etc, but because of the way the minivan pulled out i was blocked from pulling in before this teenager could. i honked lightly and gestured at the spot as she started to whip in just in case she hadn't seen me waiting, and she looked me right in the eye, smirked and pulled in anyway. then she and her other 16 or 17 year old girlfriend both looked over at me, shrugged and giggled with a little "oh well" and skipped off into the mall. i'm sure everyone's probably had a spot stollen before, but i was just so seething mad over it today.
when i finally got parked and walked in to run my errand, she and her friend were standing nearby chatting, i presume waiting for a table at CPK. i did not want to make a scene in front of DS since i'd already been talking to him in the car about manners and how rude the girl had been and how it wasn't fair to cheat and cut like that. but i felt like i had to say something. so i walked up to them, looked her right in the eye and said "you only cheated yourself of your own dignity. your mother would be ashamed of you" and walked away. she just stood there, mouth agape, blushing.
and then i spent the rest of the afternoon thinking about it. maybe this girl's mother wouldn't be ashamed of her - afterall, she must have learned the behavior some where? am i teaching my son to stand up for himself, or am i setting an equally poor example by being petty and vindictive? the truth is, i wanted to make her feel shame, wanted to embarass her in front of her friend so that she would think twice about doing it again next time. but is that really a good lesson for my son, or am showing him that i think it's ok to embarass others intentionally even if the motive is to assert himself? maybe that's exactly what this girl's mother thought she was teaching her own daughter at some point? or am i reading too much into it and this is just self absorbed, entitled teenagers being teenagers?
ack, help me sort this out. what do you all think - and it's ok if you think i was way out of line doing this in front of DS and tell me so.
lori
Sam 5/19/05 How lucky I am that you chose me.
i had a run in with a teenage girl today in the mall parking lot. she pulled into the row i'd been waiting in for 4-5minutes and whipped into the spot i'd been waiting for for 3 of those minutes while the mom packed up. i had my blinker on, my wheels turned, etc, but because of the way the minivan pulled out i was blocked from pulling in before this teenager could. i honked lightly and gestured at the spot as she started to whip in just in case she hadn't seen me waiting, and she looked me right in the eye, smirked and pulled in anyway. then she and her other 16 or 17 year old girlfriend both looked over at me, shrugged and giggled with a little "oh well" and skipped off into the mall. i'm sure everyone's probably had a spot stollen before, but i was just so seething mad over it today.
when i finally got parked and walked in to run my errand, she and her friend were standing nearby chatting, i presume waiting for a table at CPK. i did not want to make a scene in front of DS since i'd already been talking to him in the car about manners and how rude the girl had been and how it wasn't fair to cheat and cut like that. but i felt like i had to say something. so i walked up to them, looked her right in the eye and said "you only cheated yourself of your own dignity. your mother would be ashamed of you" and walked away. she just stood there, mouth agape, blushing.
and then i spent the rest of the afternoon thinking about it. maybe this girl's mother wouldn't be ashamed of her - afterall, she must have learned the behavior some where? am i teaching my son to stand up for himself, or am i setting an equally poor example by being petty and vindictive? the truth is, i wanted to make her feel shame, wanted to embarass her in front of her friend so that she would think twice about doing it again next time. but is that really a good lesson for my son, or am showing him that i think it's ok to embarass others intentionally even if the motive is to assert himself? maybe that's exactly what this girl's mother thought she was teaching her own daughter at some point? or am i reading too much into it and this is just self absorbed, entitled teenagers being teenagers?
ack, help me sort this out. what do you all think - and it's ok if you think i was way out of line doing this in front of DS and tell me so.
lori
Sam 5/19/05 How lucky I am that you chose me.