Dating : The Parking Ticket Line Saga

I was standing in line to pay for my parking ticket. The parking ticket machine wasn’t working and there was quite a long queue of people standing in front of me. Directly in front of me was a woman with her four children that looked about 10 years and younger. They were all very cute; chatting and playing amongst themselves.

I was minding my own business, trying to ignore the voice notes this woman was sending a friend of hers. She was loudly telling her friend that she’s going to drop the kids off at home and she’ll be over for a drink — she said she needs a few drinks after spending the whole day with the “little shits”. (umm… okay?!)

The little girl turned around to her mother and asked what they were going to do when they left the shopping mall? I couldn’t believe what I heard next.

Can you just be f***ing patient, you little shit!

If I was sitting on a chair, I would have fallen off it. It wasn’t a whisper either from her mouth. I think my jaw fell open. Every part of my being felt embarrassed for the child, shocked that a woman would speak to her children like that and hurt… the little girl just wanted to know what was happening next.

It then got worse. The little boy and little girl were playing around in front of the mother, this woman. (Yes, I’m judging! I was so shocked that someone would speak to their own children like that!) They weren’t making a noise, they weren’t getting in anyone’s way. They were merely entertaining themselves because the queue was taking so damn long. The woman then lost it again:

Can you little shits just f***ing behave. I’ve had enough of all of you today!

I had this heart-wrenching feeling in the pit of my stomach. Again?! How can you say that? I understand that being a mother can be incredibly taxing, but there are definitely other ways to tell your children to calm down.

When I didn’t think it could get any worse, it did. After sorting out my own parking ticket I walked past this woman and her four little children in the parking lot where she was trying to get them all into the car. As I got closer to my own car, I heard this very same woman say, at the top of her voice,

Get in the f***ing car before I kill you!

I wasn’t sure what to do. I got into my own car and left. But there were so many thoughts running through my mind — perhaps I could fit them all into my car, take them home with me and I’ll raise them? Should I go back and say something? But what would I say?

I work full time in a school environment and I’ve learnt whilst working so closely with children the importance of being kind, patient and loving. I don’t know what this woman is going through, or what battles of her own she is fighting. I was torn between being so upset about the way she treated her children, and wow! She must be having a tough time. It just made me scared for the way in which she is raising her children, and will it help them be good people? All children want are love and care. And that’s truly what they need.