overheard on 103rd

[rm]

Mom to 5-year-old:

"Xavier don't be a fucking bully! Bullies get hurt and bullies die and bullies go to jail. You aren't going to be no fucking bully. You're going to get good grades and a job!"

It's only funny if you've never visited my neighborhood.

Comments

[zarq.livejournal.com]

That kid's going to have such a lovely vocabulary when he's... 6.

[rm.livejournal.com]

I actually yelled at a pack of 5th graders on the train this morning. They were all screaming at each other about their mothers being whores, debating about whether to litter and accidental spilling green-tea soda on other passengers who were all making faces at each other but who apparently didn't have the balls to yell at children.

[kiji-kat.livejournal.com]

I see enough bratty children around that when I come across one who is well-behaved, I make it a point to thank their parents for it. This happened to me once in the Rock Hall gift shop - a boy of about 10 or 11 saw my volunteer badge and thought I worked there. I'll never forget how polite he was...

"Excuse me, ma'am? Do you happen to know which rack this shirt belongs on? I was going to get it, but I decided not to and now I can't remember where it was displayed."

I said I didn't know and directed him to a sales clerk, then asked him where his parents were. He got really nervous, then led me over to his dad.

I told the man, "Sir? I just want to thank you for raising an exceptional son. He's very polite and well-spoken, and I want to let you know that you're doing a fantastic job, and that it's appreciated by the other people who work and volunteer here, not to mention society at large."

I didn't think anyone could smile as big as those two did.

[beemerbike.livejournal.com]

I love when people do this sort of thing. I grew up in one in one of those neighborhoods where everyone knew what everyone else's kids were doing--good or bad--but rarely did anyone ever make a point of letting the 'rents know jon or jane had done something nice.

[kiji-kat.livejournal.com]

Well, I think it's important, you know? Parents have a rough time of it, and kids usually behave a little different at home than they do in public. I think it's good when you can tell parents that their kids are good citizens - shows they're doing something right.

[zarq.livejournal.com]

Good for you. Seriously.

It's bad enough that our commutes feature unbearable heat in the summer *and* the winter. It's bad enough that we have to deal with aggressive homeless people, aggressive proselytizing and loud saxophone players. We even get to deal with idiots who won't get up off their asses for a pregnant woman (that's another rant, don't get me started.) But if someone spills their drink on me, I'll lose my damned mind.

[upstart-crow.livejournal.com]

*giggles* Actually I think if more parents cussed their kids out, we'd have fewer bullies. *sagacious nod*

[fleur.livejournal.com]

Part of me wonders if she should have thought of this before she named the poor child Xavier.

[digitalsidhe.livejournal.com]

Heck, I wish the mothers of the guys who used to beat me up had given them this kind of tongue-lashing when they were little.

[rm.livejournal.com]

Well, sure, and I was charmed by that aspect of it. But my zipcode also has the percentage of its male residents incarcerated in the whole city, which made it really frigging sad.

[imaginarycircus.livejournal.com]

Since I used to work in your neighborhood I found it kind of D:. One of my first overheards was in Staples on 125th. I was picking up file folders for my office and it was back to school shopping time. A mom and her 11 year old daughter were looking at pens. The girl picked up a package of cheap pens and her mother said, "You don't need those. Some nigger'll lend you a pen."