I struggle to understand the way that some people process information. The filter that appears to be missing between what they are thinking, and what comes out of their mouths.
About a month ago, I took all 4 of my children and myself to the doctor to get flu shots. (Yes, all 5 of us got shots at the same appointment…4 young children, 1 parent…good times. The upside is, only ONE of my children completely lost it while I lifted her up onto the table -- kicking her legs and screaming, “You can’t make me do this!” I’ll just let y’all guess which one that was.)
Anyhoo…I promised them that if they all cooperated (cooperation being defined rather loosely), I would take them to McDonald’s playland afterwards to get some ice cream and play for awhile. McDonald’s playland is one of those places I hate to love – cheap greasy food, mass chaos, and more germs than a dumpster. Lots o’ fun. My children’s favorite part of the playland is a tunnel that leads out to a big, see-through, plastic bubble that hangs out from the rest of the equipment approximately 10 feet off the ground. All 4 of them piled into that bubble and pressed their little faces against the plastic, looking down at me and waving like they had just made national television.
Into the midst of this scene walk 2 men, one of them dressed in a maintenance uniform, holding a clipboard and taking notes. They proceed to work their way around the equipment, pointing and making comments about the general condition of things. As they walk over to the bubble that my 4 children are now bouncing in, the one guy points up at the joint holding the bubble to the rest of the equipment and says to the other, “Do you see all those cracks along there? That’s not good, that needs to be fixed. And see how the whole things bounces around so much, that’s not safe either.”
Now…I realize that these men were only doing their jobs, and don’t get me wrong, I’m glad they were – safety’s important to me. But even a VAGUE notion of common sense would tell a person that those adorable little children in said bubble actually BELONG to one of the mothers in the room! And in that room, being that it’s relatively small, your voices are bound to CARRY. I think I tend to be a rather “relaxed” mother when it comes to my anxiety level over the safety of my children, but DUDE…SERIOUSLY! What mom isn’t going to be at least slightly disturbed by hearing that??! Surely such examinations could take place after hours? Needless to say, I started discreetly motioning my children to
“G-O B-A-C-K!”
We made it through the whole thing unscathed. That lady a few years back with the hot coffee ordeal had NUTHIN’ compared to 4 children falling 10 feet out of the sky in a big, plastic bubble!
3 comments:
At least falling 10 feet from the sky would make the flu shots seem like nothing!
We've been in there when there's been an "accident" from one of the other children and I've had to inspect my little ones for, ummmm, "evidence" of the accident before I let them into our car and promptly run them home to bath them in HOT water and burn their clothes.
The flu shot was a really good idea before going there. When my kids were little they got sick the day after going to McDonald's playlands--without fail! I wasn't/am not a germ freak, but I eventually stopped taking them because I got so sick of them being sick. But, back to the subject--people are really clueless sometimes when it comes to what they say. Oh, yeah, that would probably include me. I'm finally learning to think a little bit before I start talking.
kristi - I definitely agree! As funny as the whole playland situation was, it did make me think about how often I say things that have people going, "Excuse me??"
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