As we pulled in, we saw someone parked in our space. Those of you in apartments with assigned parking know how annoying it is to have someone in your spot. We recognized the van, as this is nowhere close to the first time this has happened. It belongs to the Russian family next door...yeah, the ones that vacuum several times a day, in the same spot, and who apparently are either doing carpentry as a hobby or hang a new picture every few days.As we're looking for somewhere to park, I see a head pop out of the van door, asking if she's in our way, and I say yeah, so she starts up the van to move. That was very nice, I thought, and went on about my business. She pulls out, we pull in, very polite of her.
As we're getting out of the car and getting in the house, their door opens, and the main mother-type individual comes out, and starts screaming at the girl in the van, top of her lungs, just railing on her. Screaming about not giving her permission to do that, what the Hell was she thinking, she's not supposed to do that, blah, blah, blah. Really called her on the carpet. Chick tried to explain that the van was in our spot and all, but bitch would not hear of it. Just yelled on and on.
I felt bad for the kid (who may not have been old enough to drive, but was certainly old enough to move a van 10 feet, not in traffic), since here was someone that recognized that they were in a place they were not supposed to be, and did the right and polite thing, and then got called on the carpet for it. Meanwhile, here was a parent that could have taken an opportunity to congratulate the child on the presence of mind and action to do right by her fellow citizen, and perhaps, without making a scene, adding to it the mention that next time, she'd appreciate the child coming to get her and asking her to do it, but since no harm was done, this was not a big deal right now...but instead screamed for a good five minutes, loudly and in public (and not just any public, but around the home!) about how bad the child was for what she did. What about the next time she has to make a decision about 'the right thing to do'? Is she going to do what needs to be done, or what will get her the least yelled at? Or perhaps will she do what will get her in the most trouble, purely out of rebellion? Christ, I hope that woman gets some serious karmic backlash for that shit...and I'm willing to take the karmic backlash I'll get for wishing that.
Take the time to think about your kids, and why they do something. You might find, sometimes, that they may have done things for the right reasons...and that's a damn finer start than doing nothing. No wonder we have such a stupid bunch of children in this country.
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PS - Speaking of reasons to move, the rhino family upstairs is apparently taking breakdancing lessons. Fuck, I can't wait to be out of here.