Unneighborly conduct and anger management
At one of of Club Ed's neighborhood parks, I was castigated by a "neighbor" for letting my son pee in the bushes behind the children's playground. Actually, I am not sure he made it into the bushes. A drawn woman was standing safely a few yards away yelling at me after failing to get my attention since I was completely engrossed in used car ads (another story), "DID YOU HEAR WHAT I SAID? IT'S NOT A BATHROOM AROUND HERE! SMALL CHILDREN PLAY HERE!"
I was so shocked to be addressed this way that I took a pause and said sarcastically, "Thanks for the heads up." But then I was really angry when it sank in and I started to walk after her with my son in tow ready for a real fight when I thought the best of it. "No one speaks to me that way," and a mutual castigation session would have been sure to follow. I cursed and then suggested that we go confront her. My son, "No, mama, she would be too angry." And upon further reflection, I realized that losing your temper with another grown up in front of your child is really not a good idea. I had already replied with sarcasm. I didn't have to follow up with belated aggression.
So I controlled my impulses. My incontinent neighbor didn't. My son didn't either, but then he is still learning. What is her problem?
I was so shocked to be addressed this way that I took a pause and said sarcastically, "Thanks for the heads up." But then I was really angry when it sank in and I started to walk after her with my son in tow ready for a real fight when I thought the best of it. "No one speaks to me that way," and a mutual castigation session would have been sure to follow. I cursed and then suggested that we go confront her. My son, "No, mama, she would be too angry." And upon further reflection, I realized that losing your temper with another grown up in front of your child is really not a good idea. I had already replied with sarcasm. I didn't have to follow up with belated aggression.
So I controlled my impulses. My incontinent neighbor didn't. My son didn't either, but then he is still learning. What is her problem?
3 Comments:
I would think that her problem is, regardless of why it happened that your kiddo couldn't get to the potty, *it is in fact inappropriate* (maybe even gross) to have people of whatever size/age peeing in public and at/on a play area. It's just not a good idea. Accidents happen, maybe it can be prevented in the future with some thought/planning/communication, but I don't see why it's so hard to see how this might appear to someone else. To me your indignation, cursing and anger are harder to understand.
umm...I guess I'm just an angrier person than you anonymous!
And I condone peeing wherever whenever the feeling strikes you, so you can see how my moral universe has a different top spin from yours.
For me, yelling at your neighbors is the kind of incontinence that I find truly inappropriate. So you see the moral relativism of the world in all its glory!
is this the kind of 5-year old with a big bladder who came into the world knowing that sharks and whales don't like it, but then was trained by his anarchist parents to pee like a bear? can't hardly wait for bees, birds...
Post a Comment
<< Home