Ace and I were at the playground behind the neighborhood school the other morning. The sun was shining (for once), and I was bound determined to soak up every ounce I could get. It was going to be a good day! I was taking loads pictures with the new camera and Ace was enjoying the curvy slide, the swing, and the bouncy bridge at the playground!
Everything was great! We were both having a good time until…….I came across the first person that I wanted to literally strangle the life out of!
I have seen many people in my life. Probably in the multiple tens of thousands I would guess. Most of them are nice people. Some are jack-asses, but not a single one ever fired me up like this one.
So, I was helping Ace climb up the ladder to the bridge that leads to the slide when I heard, from around the corner of the school, a lady…sorry, wrong word, she was far from a lady…a bellowing woman yell at the top of her lungs… “SHUT THE F*CK UP!”
It caught me off guard. I mean after all, we were at a school…ya know…where kids are present? …and then she yelled it again…and again…and again!
Finally the bellowing woman rounded the corner of the school building with two other adults, three kids (maybe 8, 10, and 12 yrs old), and a dog on a leash.
They finally made it over to the playground…and of course had to play on the same piece of playground equipment that Ace was on.
I could hear one of the boys (the 10yr old) whining to his Mom (biologically..not emotionally) that he wanted to walk the dog.
She yells again, “YOU HAD YOUR F*CKING CHANCE TO WALK HIM AT HOME! YOUR BROTHER IS WALKING HIM NOW SO SHUT THE F*CK UP AND QUIT YOUR DAMN CRYING!”
The boy cries more and asks again. “Please Mom…I just want to walk the dog….please please please…”
The woman stands up and starts to unbuckle her belt. The boy runs and screams…”GIVE ME ONE MORE CHANCE! ONE MORE CHANCE MOMMY! JUST ONE MORE CHANCE!”
At this time Ace has just made his way up onto the bridge and is walking across it. I’m standing on the ground below him.
The lady whips out her belt and chases her son around the playground. The other two adults with the group were laughing hysterically.
The boy runs up the ladder onto the same piece of playground equipment that Ace was on…and the Mom follows with belt cocked.
The boy stops about two feet before he gets to where Ace is and…WHACK! She whipped the boy with her belt diagonally across his upper back. And if a belt across the upper back wasn’t bad enough…it was a STUDDED BELT. You know, the ones with the big stainless steel spikey looking things…!
After she cracked the boy…it was silent. The laughing stopped. The boys screaming stopped. The only sound I could hear was the panting of the crazy woman.
I didn’t say a word. I was speechless. And then she looked at me and said, “Go ahead and call f*cking Child Services. They can raise them. I gave birth to them. I can do whatever the f*ck I want to them.”
Aaaaand now I am pissed. If a look could kill I’m pretty sure she would have died ten times over.
If it wasn’t for the whole going to prison thing I could have easily strangled her right there with her belt…
And then to top it off the other adults start laughing and yelling at the boy to stop crying. His crying was scaring the little boy (Ace).
“No..you bunch of hill jack, loud mouth, studded belt swinging, piece of shit parents who think it’s funny to chase a little 10 year old around the playground putting all of these other younger kids at risk for getting hurt are scaring him!”
Man, that would have felt good coming out of my mouth…but I held it in. It definitely went through my mind though!
No matter how bad I wanted to, I knew I couldn’t say anything. These were the kind of people who honestly don’t care. If they would go through all of that trouble to punish a boy for asking to walk the dog, what do you think they would do if I threatened to call the police? And I was there by myself with Ace. Nope. I was not putting him in any kind of danger.
So I sucked it up…and kept my mouth shut. I got Ace down from the playground and we walked over to the next playground area.
No stupid hill jack, loud mouth, studded belt swinging POS Mom was going to ruin our day!
Wow. Just wow.
I know that people like this exist, I see grown up versions of that little boy on my psych unit every time I go to work.
It just makes me want to weep for the state of the world.
Honeybell, that is exactly what I thought as we were walking home. That this boy doesn’t have a snowball’s chance. It’s just sad…
My wife was at an appointment the other day and she told me about this maybe 3 year old boy who was hungry. His mom and her boyfriend were telling him to be quiet. They were speaking mean things over him and that if he doesn’t stop his whining he’s going to live with his dad. But then continued that even his dad doesn’t want him and he’s going to send him to live in New York.
Children are blessings. Blessings are rewards for doing good. I can only pray for these kids with ungrateful parents.
Eric, I really do not understand these people…the kid was hungry…give him something to eat. Don’t threaten to send him away! There should be a screening process before you are allowed to give birth…
Unbelievable.
If only there was some sort of entrance exam to becoming a present. I mean, you need to pass a test to drive a car… yet anyone can have children!
Chris, I agree. I mean what does it take to have a kid? A man, a woman, and 30 free seconds? There really should be a screening process before you are allowed to raise children.
Stories like that just blow my mind – some people have no idea that children are awesome little people and that they don’t have adult brains to comprehend what’s going on all the time. You did the right thing though and your inaction was the right thing to do especially since Ace was with you.
Tyler, awesome little people is right. I wouldn’t trade mine for anything. 😀
WOW! I’m glad you were able to keep your calm. I’m not sure what I would have done in the situation. I can only imagine what Mama would have said if she was with you guys!!!
You know Mamma, she would have lost her mind!!! The police would have been called immediately, it would not have been good!I’m just sorry we don’t know who they are.
@Cathy: Yeah…I’m glad she wasn’t there. 😀
I’m horrified…
And now I have tears in my eyes..
@Tanya: Sorry, didn’t mean to make you cry. It just ticked me off a bit. Had to get it off my chest…
Golly gee whiz. I always think about what I would do if I saw something like that but then if it happened I probably just stand there in complete amazement at how freakin’ shitty some human beings are.
I feel really really sorry for that kid…
@PapaK: I’ve thought about it. What could have I done, really? Yell at her? Wouldn’t have made the situation any better, ya know? Call the police? She just wouldn’t do it in public any more…that’s if she was that smart…maybe I’m giving her too much credit. 😀
Wow. Intense. I’ve been thinking a lot about dealing with exactly these sorts of situations with Baby Grrl!™ once she’s old enough to take to the playground. It’s not a class, or race or economic thing it’s a humanity thing. I’m far from naïve but the closer I get (7wks!) to being an active SAHD, it becomes increasingly dumbfounding to me that parents can treat their children like this.
Great post.
Hi, I stumbled upon your website while researching footprint tattoos. I thought I would check out the rest of your site when I came across this article.
I recently became a father myself and although prior to being a father I couldnt have imagined being this way to a child, now that i have one of my own it actually breaks my heart a little knowing that this happens. I love my little girl and could never be that way. You just want to walk over, take that little boy by the hand and walk him away to a better place. (after slugging the broad in the face of course). But, like your situation, I wouldn’t have known what to do and would have done nothing. It is a situation that you never know what will happen until it does. And, the unfortunate part of that is, it does happen.
Nice site! Good stories. Keep having fun with Ace!
Paul
This is so sad. I am not sure I could of kept my cool, that is why I don’t go to Walmart anymore. Poor little children. Children are a blessing from GOD and they are so amazing if you take the time to listen to them. Sometimes my mouth gets me in trouble. God Bless the little abused children.