The child brought the toy truck to
his father. I was ringing his father up,
and I could tell that I was making him impatient. This sale was actually ringing up quickly
though, and there was nothing I could do to go faster.
“Daddy, daddy!” the child called. Sensing that he would be ignored, the child
continued right on to say, “Listen Daddy!” Then he pushed a button on the truck
and it blared its horn. “Daddy, it
sounds like you!”
The innocent comment out of the
mouth of the babe almost made me smile, but the look on the man’s face warned
me not to.
With the sale finished, I told the
little boy to “Have fun with your new train!” as I packed it in the bag.
“What do you say?” asked the
man. His son turned to me and said, “Thank
you!”
“No,” said the man, “what do you
say to me? I just bought you a train.”
“Thanks, Dad.”
What a terrible parent. God, help me to be a better parent than
that. Give me people in my life that
would confront me if I acted like such a jerk with my kids.
“Mom? Mom?
Mom? Mom? Mom?” the kid was about
four years too old to be so nagging. “Mom?”
“Yes, Hunny?”
came the tired reply.
“Can
you pleeeeease buy me this animal?”
“No,
Hunny. We’re here to get you a coat, that’s
it.”
“Mom! You know how much I like penguins! Why won’t you let me have him?”
“I
already told you, we aren’t here for toys.
Maybe another day.”
“Mom! I hate you.”
What a monster of a child! I sure hope I never spoil a kid to be as poorly behaved as that.
We
judge. That’s what people do. We spend our entire life observing people,
talking with them, hearing them, and then judging them. We judge their motivations, their true meanings,
their plans, their dreams. Well, maybe
this doesn’t describe you, dear reader. But it describes me and I hate it. My interaction with other people is always
viewed from my own little pedestal, and my view is always obstructed by prejudice
and cynicism.
No actors' cues! Works bigtime for me! The dialogue is sharp, the content is telling, and IMO, this moves quickly and forcefully and convincingly without those cues.
ReplyDelete"Well, maybe this doesn’t describe you, dear reader. But it describes me and I hate it." Actually it describes me perfectly. I have to accept all of that about myself, but, of course, I'm far more set in my habits than you, being a half-century older. And, as well, Luke 23:34 and Matthew 7:1-3 are only part of my mental furniture, not for me holy words.
It's certainly possible to understand what motivates someone as narcissistic, cruel, and stupid as the father in your piece. And they say that to understand all is to forgive all, but personally, I've never found that to be true. Sometimes the more one understands, the harder it is to forgive.
I guess those cues have always been a crutch for me. It didn't hurt too badly to throw them out though, so I suppose this is growth.
ReplyDeleteMatthew 7:1-3 rings so true in all of our lives. We've all got problems, so we ought not to be so ready to accuse others. But it's so easy to do.
Forgiveness is a tough subject. And you're right. Once we understand someone, and realize that they have no good excuse, then understanding becomes such a hindrance to forgiveness.