Rolling on the bus right now, there's a toddler with an iPad and some app that makes way too many annoying sounds for this hour in the morning.
There's nothing cute about it.
I imagine it must be trying as a first world problem to travel with a child on a bus but guess what? Not all of us need to be entertained by Clifford and his desire to win some kind of dog contest as we cruise to the train station.
A woman asked the mother to turn it down because she was trying to concentrate on her book, and suggested it was distracting to the driver.
Instead of apologizing or at least working to reach a happy compromise, the mother told the woman to move and boasted, "The bus driver didn't say anything so she can get off or mind her own business."
Wow. And in front of your own kid, too.
This mother needs to invest in a set of headphones. And second, the bus driver isn't saying anything because he probably sized this mother up the second she got on and knew she'd be the first to call GO Transit to complain about the bus driver, dare he say something.
I don't understand how or why it got this bad that no one can ask another person to be accommodating to the comfort of others in shared, public space. We're beating each other up now over reclining on an airplane for chrissakes!
The woman did move and the mother smiled a smile of victory. Yes, mom, you definitely won a prize for entitlement.
18 comments:
I'm currently reading a book called "Good Manner for people who say F@#k" and it talks a lot about inconsiderate people in public places and how to deal with it. I recommend it!
Wow. Just wow. She sounds like a real peach. (*end sarcasm*)
The self-entitlement generation. And the sad part is that they are now breeding. Which will only make things worse in 20 years when the precious cupcakes decide to start breeding themselves.
Sigh.
Why is it that most parents ask like bad behaviour from their kids is a handicap me must all accept?
Teach them how to be courteous not that the world owes them something!!!!
I think you meant act. My daughter isn't owed anything, she knows she has to earn it and most importantly, that includes respect.
I blame the internet - I really do.
A generation ago when our parents were young they had to interact with people face to face and they were taught to respect other people. Not everyone learned the lesson, there are some pretty rude 60 and 70 year olds too, but far fewer of them.
We grew up on the internet, in chat rooms and with email. We lost that human connection. People would say things in email, chat rooms, comments on blogs and newspaper articles, that they could never say in face-to-face relations. We grew up in a generation that was quick to flame people over email, instead of like our parents where you had to write a letter and walk it to the mailbox which offered you a chance to calm down. People have forgotten that there are REAL people on the other end of that email, comment or chat and those people have real feelings. And if things got too bad, you would go anonymous or change your screenname and start anew. There were no repercussions.
It isn't a surprise that this online hostility has become a way of life and leaked into our face-to-face relations with other people. We have lost compassion and good manners. We shop online so we don't have to see other people, we bank online so we don't have to be polite to the teller, and then we wonder why we have no ability to appropriately deal with other people and/or conflict.
We even treat our own spouses the same way - we get angry and instead of discussing it face-to-face we start text messaging wars where we say crap that we would never, ever say to their face. But when you say those things over text messages often enough, over time it becomes easier to say them face to face.
And then there is reality TV which is not real at all but we see these awful relationships and behaviours that are great for entertainment but then we mimic them.
We are so screwed.
Damn you internet. Damn you.
Not a big surprise, lots of mom's act this way especially with their mammoth strollers that they're reluctant to collapse or at least move out of the way of fellow commuters. They behave as though they have the right of way because they have a kid with them, be it with an iPad or a stroller. Let's all be respective and try to set an example.
When did this become such a me society? everyone is so self entitled that they no longer have common courtesy. I can't stand taking the GO train anymore because I am afraid that I am going to snap on someone one day.
One of my pet peeves is the lack of people that move their legs so that people have to climb over them to get into the window seat of a quad. And most of these inconsiderate aholes are MEN.
If I was the person reading the book I would have sat as close as possible to this POS mom and read my book aloud.
^ For some people, who aren't rude by nature, this is hard to pull off.
Sometimes you just have to dial up the crazy and sing along to your iPod. :) Don't forget to bop your head to the beat!
I've been doing that when peeps are on their phone at stupid o'clock (ie. 6am) in the quiet zone.
I feel a song coming on!
Several years ago, I spent a two-hour flight across the aisle from a couple of toddlers who were watching "Lilo & Stitch" on a portable DVD player the entire time. WITHOUT headphones. I had mine on, but I still couldn't quite drown out the music. :p
As a GO bus driver I have to say you are right...one look at people like that and I know that she could be trouble not because she would call GO but because none of the passengers would stick around to defend me after she calls GO and that's the unfortunate thing.
In situations like that I usually crack open the front door of the bus just enough to create lots of wind noise when on the highway I also open the driver side window to create a draft and turn my radio as loud as possible and most of the time they still don't get it.
My husband, a sound engineer, has taught me to say to ignorant sound junkies, "The right to YOUR noise ends at MY eardrums, so STOP infringing on MY rights and shut the h*ll up"
Go bus driver here as well. He's telling you like it is. I find on the 90 service you have a lot of these baby mama's with a whole lot of attitude. The only thing most of them open up isn't their minds. We all do the same things to drown out the noise, and he is exactly right. 99% of the passengers will not defend the driver.
I am a 1%. I will stand up, step in, throw a punch if necessary. I will NOT tolerate disrespect. PERIOD.
I'm with you, CJ. Nothing gets me in the face of another passenger faster than when they disrespect a Route 12 driver. Fortunately, that doesn't happen much.
@McDarver: I like that. My I use it, too, please?
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