sooooo. . .i was all caught up in the moment, euphoric even, as i rode the train to work this morning. it was amazing to see so many of my people with their 'i voted' stickers on and to think about how even in this dreary weather, eeearly in the morning, the polling sites probably looked like a black family reunion. i've heard people cried, danced, sang and everything else. . .just happy that this moment is even possible. i was taking all of this in and was on the verge of tears when my thoughts were interrupted.
'come sit down chloe' 'NO!!' i looked to my left and saw this little skinny blonde 3 year old screaming at her father and eluding his grasp to go swing from the pole in the middle of the train car (i know lots of fathers who make it their life goal to keep their daughter off the pole. . .but i digress). she is flinging her hair and just having the best time ever while her parents use their 'stern voice': 'chloe stop swinging your hair' 'chloe come sit down' 'chloe people are trying to get by you' 'chloe if you do that one more time you're going to come sit on my lap'. o. . .m. . .g.
each one of these 'admonitions' was met with a shriek from this little blonde peace-invader. it was just too much! i was waiting to see one of the parents snatch her by her hair and sit her down. . .or at least (as the bf says) chop her in the throat. lol
for comparison, i looked around to see the little black kids and their reaction to the 'chloe show'. they would look at her, then up at their parents. depending on the age of the child, the parent would give the 'don't you even think about trying that later' look; or, for the more seasoned children, they would share a knowing glance and shake their heads.
i mean, what in the WORLD is going on?? are you really going to let your child tell you what she is and isn't going to do? and let her ruin the tranquility of the train by shrieking and screaming whenever she feels like it while you look on in admiration? worst of all, this poor child (it is taking a lot for me to refer to her as such, since she ruined my blissful moment) will grow up and people will not like her. she will be spoiled and incorrigible and she won't understand why she doesn't have friends and people don't like to be around her. so not only are you doing the train passengers a disservice, you are doing your child a disservice when you let her do and say whatever comes to her pretty little head.
ugh.
