I only posted this photo as it pleases me
There are rules in society ......one of which is that you don't swear at parent in front of their child.
I broke that rule today
I was driving in Prestatyn and was turning into Princess Avenue from Ffordisa at around 1pm when a small child on a very small bike shot across the road in front of me. He appeared out of the school gates of ysgol y Llys and a woman on a mobile phone was following him and as I stopped suddenly she ran forward grabbed him and waved a hand at me in a kind of acknowledgement.
I wound down the window and yelled angrily " I could have killed that child !.. What were you doing? "
The woman glared at me, shook her head and told me to " fuck right off!" before starting after her son. She never once put down her phone!
My blood pressure went well over 200 mm of mercury in 1 second flat
And what did I do, whilst stopped in the junction of a busy Welsh Street?.......I'll tell you, I did what I normally do in such circumstances
I resorted to abuse.
" YOU'RE A BAD MOTHER WITH FUCKING CHEAP SHOES" I yelled after her with some gusto
Bravo John!
ReplyDeleteShe won't do it again. Maybe child will tell its dad, and she'll another bollocking.
I doubt it made any impression at all.....however I have circulated the event on Facebook to my local friends and colleagues ....I hope the bitch is shamed
DeleteGood for you !
Deletecheers. parsnip
Good on you John. I have seen so many mums pushing a buggy with a small child toddling behind her. Mum is on her mobile phone and the child could be in the middle of the road in seconds. What can be so important that it can't wait until small child is firmly ensconced in front of Tv with a pasty...... AKA Greggs dummy...... (Greggs being a local chain of sausage rolls and pasties) Heaven forbid that they might actually have a conversation with their kids while walking along.
ReplyDeleteGood for you, I saw a meme a while ago that read `Greet your child from school with a smile, not your phone'. Good advice.
ReplyDeleteI had no idea that that was a rule. I think it would be worse to swear at a child in front of his or her parent. I believe it may be healthy for a child to hear the truth now and then about a mother or father. My life certainly would have been a lot better if I'd had some inkling that my parents were (to say the least) not always right.
ReplyDeleteLove the cheap shoes jibe, that will really hurt.
ReplyDeleteThat would devastate me ! lol
DeleteIt's a cheap insult I have employed several times......the last was at a petrol station a couple of years ago
DeleteI bet the cheap shoes part of your comment irked her more than the bad mother part.
ReplyDeleteWe are a dying species.
ReplyDeleteI can't stand cheap shoes either. X
ReplyDeleteThe "cheap shoes" remark will ring in her ears for weeks.
ReplyDeleteGood for you, John ! Perfect.
See above.......I have used it several times and stole it from a movie somewhere
Delete‘Life is short, your heels shouldn’t be.’
Deleteanother good one that I have no idea who I am quoting :)
Excellent pic, circa 1930's I assume.
ReplyDeleteIt's when your diastolic goes over 200mg/Hg you need to worry.......
1936, and the story about what became of the man who refused to salute is very sad.
DeletePhilip, what happened to him, I don't know the story
DeleteI'd like to know as well. I looked at the picture and thought 'I could just see me doing that' to what cost?
DeleteJust looked it up, it was as I suspected.
DeleteThis is a famous photo showing August Landmesser refusing to salute at a Nazi rally. He had been a committed Nazi Himself but fell in love and married a Jew. This was of course illegal and he was arrested a couple of times but continued as best he could with the relationship. By the time the picture had been taken his first child had been born. He spent time incarcerated and was reported missing fighting in the the Yugoslav front in 1942. His wife is recorded as being killed in one of the death camps. I think this is an interesting picture to juxtapose with the equally famous photograph of Corporal Adolf Hitler in a large crowd of protesters taken in 1920.
DeleteThank you Philip..how sad
DeleteI love what you yelled !
ReplyDeleteSchool Assembly Wednesday Nov 9th
ReplyDelete"Now it's important that you all listen very carefully to this children. Please don't be alarmed but there is a mad man on the loose in Prestatyn. He drives a little red car and is very foul-mouthed. Yesterday he was involved in a terrifying incident which greatly upset Jesus Evans and his mum - our popular dinner lady Mary. Do not, I repeat NOT approach this man under any circumstances. And now I'll pass over to PC Moon, our community police officer..."
The jibe about the shoes probably upset her more than if her kiddie had been run over !
ReplyDeleteI can't even recall what the mothers problem was, but she shouted something at me while holding the hand of her 3 year old, and I told her in a heartbeat to "piss off".....lol, I'm american living in the midwest so wondered after the fact if she even knew what I meant :)
ReplyDeleteI was standing on a railway bridge with a very large and fearsome friend, waiting for a steam tream to pass underneath. He is a steam enthusiast. We were standing next to a small child and his mother, when a white van full of oiks went past, making the universal wanker sign to us. My friend bellowed "CUNTS!", then turned to apologise to the mother and child.
ReplyDeleteNow I would have paid good money to have seen that
DeleteMe too. Ha ha ha. I don't know who Tom is nor can I get into his blog but his comments over the last couple of years on here have made my tits jiggle more than once!
DeleteYou seem to have managed to get in... haven't you?
DeleteOh, hang on - I'm not in my own blog. Silly me!
DeleteI am a former teacher John, can't tell you how many times I wanted to say that phrase out loud. lol
ReplyDeleteI don't know where peoples heads are these days, or their priorities for that matter, I believe in intervention of some kind is required, worldwide. You were mild John.....very mild under the circumstances.
ReplyDeleteI would've done the same.
ReplyDeleteYears ago, I was walking with my then 3-year-old son (no phone!)when he darted between parked cars and into the busy street. I was after him in a heartbeat, jerked him back to the sidewalk by one arm and swatted his bottom, hard. I screamed, "Don't you ever do that again!", being terrified myself. He never ran into the street again, but if I were to repeat that incident today, I would be in jail and he'd have spent the rest of his childhood in foster care. It's hard for moms to win, today. I think it breeds a kind of apathy.
ReplyDeleteYou may have been too easy on her ...
ReplyDeleteWonder if she will file a 'Hurt Feelings' report.
I almost think it should be an offence to use a mobile phone in the street.
ReplyDeleteApplause, applause, applause - job well done, John!
ReplyDeleteI know it isn't funny but you do give me the giggles.
ReplyDeleteMobile phones will be the death of us all....
ReplyDeleteWe have become an ignorant society of yakkers.
I believe that rule is why Jehovah Witnesses now bring their children round with them door to door.
ReplyDeleteHa ha, so THAT'S why they do it!
DeleteSigh. Should I skulk away. All my shoes are cheap.
ReplyDeleteNot a parent though. And my phone spends most of its time turned off.
And yes, you were milder than she deserved. If you had hit her child she would have firmly blamed you and not accepted any responsibility.
have all the people shaming her forgotten what it's like to be a parent of little ones?
ReplyDeleteWhat?
DeleteWhen you are a mother, your child comes first. Not your cell phone.
DeleteCheap shoes are often the result of being a mother. When my children were small (pre cell phone days) feeding and clothing them were the priority. I don't think I had a pair of new shoes for years.
No, but
Delete1. The child was around 5 on a bike on a main road
2 she was walking twenty feet behind and not in control
3 she was on the phone
4 she told me to fuck off ( not nice)
5 she was wearing cheap shoes
Well I didn't even see her shoes to be honest
DeleteShe was on her phone throughout the whole thing, though, kylie. She really shouldn't have been on the phone unless it was an emergency, and then she should have had the child's hand firmly in hers, preferably standing still, away from traffic. I've seen many a young mother completely ignoring their child - any age - to focus solely on their chatting or swiping. It's a disease these days, and it's neither fair to, nor safe for, their kids.
DeleteAnd yes I had kids.
DeleteAs far as I am concerned, John was there so he gets to have an opinion. Nobody else does.
DeleteBeing inattentive and rude at one point in time makes her inattentive and rude at one point in time, not necessarily a bad mother.
Agreed kylie, it was a cheap shot, but hey I'm not perfect too! X
DeleteYou were having a grumpy old man day and it probably scared crap out of you! xo
DeleteIt did and I was
DeleteI haven't yelled it, but I've THOUGHT it very loudly indeed. I try to understand that ignoring a child in favour of tapping away on a phone may be a one-off event, but it gets really hard to believe when it goes on for more than five minutes. And safety is more important than any other emergency. If a child is in danger of running into traffic, that's an emergency too.
ReplyDeleteI imagine that if she is inattentive once, she is probably inattentive on many other occasions, in which case she IS a bad mother. The child's safety should be her first priority, not her mobile phone.
ReplyDeleteNick, I am a damned fine mother but I had some hairy moments. Mother shaming is rife and it's bloody unreasonable. Have you ever been solely responsible for an unpredictable individual for 24 hours/ 7 days/ several years?? have you ever been starved for company? exhausted? unable to even take a piss without interruption? eaten every meal cold?
DeleteIt's true that the way we use phones is wrong but lets also remember that being a parent is tough and constant
And would we make the same criticisms of a father? we'd probably be applauding him for doing school pick up
DeleteNo I would bollock a father with equal vitriol
DeleteTo be fair
I have never been a parent but I know it must be hard
DeleteBut for the stupidity of that women I could have easily killed a child ...and that could and would have been with me all of my life. The responsibility of motherhood is vast
But it is ( for the most part) a choice .
What irked me the most was her reaction to it all not the fact that she had made a mistake which we all do
This is going somewhere I never intended
DeleteCould it be past and present, I would like Meg represented too X
DeleteThe best line in this whole conversation is, "Well I didn't even see her shoes to be honest".-John Love it! -Jenn
ReplyDeleteCheap shoes...Ouch!
ReplyDeleteOuch! That hurt. "... with a bad haircut" is also a good one.
ReplyDeleteDo you really know footwear that well?
ReplyDeleteI wear crocs wadda you think?
DeleteOn a lighter note would you consider doing a calendar (maybe with help from the teenage boffin) of all the dogs, with Winnie being Miss September as per the song?
ReplyDeleteFor charity? Yes ok
DeletePerhaps funds for flower show, hall, SPCA, Winnie's tooth fund. Whatever you deem close to your heart
DeleteThe Samaritans
DeletePerfect
DeleteVistaprint are doing their half price calender offer again 😊
DeletePassing no other comment on this post, it's taken a very serious turn ☹ (It started well 😊)
I know sue sometimes I should just shut the fuck up and not post
DeleteMy own particular pet hate are mothers who signal thier desire to cross the road at by just pushing g the buggy off the pavement into traffi.No thought for their own or the child's safety...just relying on the drivers ability to read minds and brake.....
ReplyDeleteMy own particular pet hate are mothers who signal thier desire to cross the road at by just pushing g the buggy off the pavement into traffi.No thought for their own or the child's safety...just relying on the drivers ability to read minds and brake.....
ReplyDeleteBrilliant.
ReplyDeleteI have had my moments where I got engrossed in a text but it is usually the playground. Most parents do not mess around when it comes to being around cars or street. Her poor judgment call could have been devastating. Kids make you gray before you are ready.
MissFifi
Stinging on both levels, well said
ReplyDeleteI'll bet the "cheap shoes" comment has been eating away at her ever since. When I grow up, I want to be you!
ReplyDeleteI bet it was the cheap shoes shot that really got to her...
ReplyDelete