Idly scanning the magazine covers in the supermarket check-out line, I looked up as a screaming 2 year old pushed past me to get to a large bin of rubber balls for sale.
Grabbing a large blue ball, he returned to his mother who responded, “Brian likes orange better, we’re going to get the orange ball. We don’t need any more balls; let’s put this blue ball back.”
The mother put the blue ball back then returned to continue having her groceries scanned, including the orange ball. The child screamed, returned to the ball display and grabbed the blue ball again.
Sighing, the mother said “okay” and put the blue ball on the conveyor pretending that she was going to buy the ball while quietly whispering to the check out clerk that she’s not buying the ball and to just put it behind the counter. The child, who had immediately calmed upon hearing ‘okay’, was smart enough to follow what’s going on.
As soon as he saw that the blue ball wasn’t being purchased he tensed all of his facial muscles and prepared to emit another ear-splitting scream at which point the mother sarcastically retorted, “Fine! Do you know how many balls we have at home? We’ll add this to all of the other balls in the garage and have enough balls for all the kids in the neighborhood!” And with that, she purchased the blue ball (along with the orange ball, apparently a gift).
I stood stunned and rooted to the spot as she tensely pushed her cart out into the sunny afternoon.
I unloaded my cart for the cashier, all of the supportive comments I could have offered streaming through my mind. Why hadn’t I just said, “It’s ok if he screams, it won’t bother anyone here if he screams; we’ve all been there.” Or “Personally I think it’d be much better for him if you would let him scream and follow through on your initial decision to buy only the orange gift ball.” Or even, “Don’t worry about it; here, let me put the ball back for you.”
Sigh. I hope that next time I speak up.
2 comments :
Cool! I love it! It's real, right? It's okey you didn't speak up beacuse he probly could scream pretty loud!!
that's a really good question. I wonder what the mother would have said if you'd offered her advice. Can people see the difference between support and being told what to do?
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