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January 15, 2007
Parents today ... sheesh!
So, I took my two boys to opening night of the Minnesota Swarm last Friday. I wouldn't usually go out of my way to go to a lacrosse game, but someone gave me the tickets for free and I love visiting the X. The game was pretty good even though the Swarm lost, but that isn't what I wanted to talk about.
Today I want to talk about negligent parents, or more specifically child etiquette at a sporting event. Right before the game started a family of 4 came and sat down behind my family. This family had two boys, one of which was probably 4 whom they positioned right behind me. The kicking started immediately.
This kid kicked my chair like a jackhammer non-stop for about two hours straight. I am not exaggerating when I say these were not just simple taps either. These were ground shaking kicks that can only be produced by putting one's full force into the upward swing of one's leg. Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom Boom!!! All night long. Oh it was painful.
What do you do in this situation? Do you act like you don't notice? I tried for that for a while. I got all zen and said, "There is no kick, only calm," and "Serenity now," but it was no use. The kicking was tunneling into my brain and slowly making me into a raging volcano ready to burst.
After about an hour of this, the miraculous happened. The family all got up for some popcorn! Unfortunately the popcorn vendor was only about 20 feet away from our seats, but this would at least give me 5 minutes of peace. And I relished those 5 minutes! No kicking, no teeth chattering, it was wonderful!
The family came back and started to eat the popcorn. After about a minute of this the young lad behind me took a bite of popcorn, started chewing, and then sneezed it all over the back of my head. As I wiped the half-eaten popcorn out of my hair I glanced back at the oblivious parents with a look of desperation. Still nothing. Would I have to be "that guy?" Would I have to actually scold the child and ask him not to kick my chair or sneeze in my hair anymore?
At this point the boy dropped something and bent over to retrieve it. While doing this he rammed his butt into the back of my neck which caused me to reflexively stand up and see what was going on. His parents said:
"Damien! Watch what you are doing! You are bothering that man in front of you!"
I kid you not, his name was Damien. Never has a child been more appropriately named. I sat down and started thinking how I have so angered God to have been given this punishment.
As I was thinking about this I chanced a glance over at my own 8 year old son two seats down. At this particular moment my son was absolutely savaging the chair in front of him with his own two feet. Boom! Boom! Boom! He was kicking it so hard I thought the young gentleman in front of him was going to fly out of his seat at any moment. I think I also noticed a small tear trickling down his cheek. Who knows how long my son had been doing this. Unfortunately, I was too busy worrying about myself to notice. Of course, I quickly told my son to stop kicking, sit up straight, and pay attention to the game.
From then on I didn't mind Damien too much. Parents today, huh? We've all got a little to learn I guess.
Posted by snackeru at January 15, 2007 10:56 AM
Comments
Well Shane, just so you know, I have very little problem being "that guy". I know kids will be kids, but at some point, the parents need to be told to step in. You have a right to enjoy the game as much as other people do. Had I gone to that game with you, there would have been a very different blog entry today.
Posted by: Cheesehead Craig at January 15, 2007 02:43 PM
If only rude behavior at public events were confined to children. My wife and I went to the Eric Clapton concert this summer. Our tickets were more than $100 each. Behind us sat a group of about 3 couples, who carried on a banal, shouted conversation for the first several songs as if they were in their own living room. Eventually I turned around and asked them, with all politeness, to please quiet down so we could hear the music, which they did. So being assertive but civil is my policy in such situations, and it seems to work pretty well.
Also, our preview feature is still broken.
Posted by: twayn at January 17, 2007 11:42 AM
Actually, I guess it's your preview feature that's broken, not ours.
Posted by: twayn at January 17, 2007 11:44 AM
Ah, you're far more civil than I in such situations. If the kicking went on for more than 2 minutes I would have turned around and smiled and asked the child to please stop kicking my chair. And repeat ad nauseum. And if the child doesn't listen, I'll ask the parents to please stop him from kicking my chair. And if that doesn't work, there's always the ushers. I see no reason to put up with that sort of behaviour no matter where the parents are -- it's common courtesy and you're never too young to learn it.
Posted by: Vicki at January 19, 2007 09:27 AM
