Mar 15 2005
The 8 Stages of a Mother’s Wrath
1. Oblivious
You are in the baby section of Wal-Mart, minding your own business with your baby strapped into his Baby Bjorn, checking out the cute socks. You make idle chit-chat with another mom. All is well.
2. The trigger
A bunch of kids are one aisle over, teenagers about 16 or 17. No parents in sight, but at that age, that is to be expected. Suddenly you hear that their horsing around has reached an unacceptable level- something has been thrown, over the shelving, hitting the top of the shelves. You brace for impact, expecting the object to land somewhere near you and not wanting it to land on your precious cargo. The object is a football and when it lands, you were right to brace yourself because it lands on your very own head. It hurts.
3. Shock
You realize that you just swore over your son?s head and cover up his little ears- after the word has left your mouth. The other mom races around the shelves to yell at the kids, ?You better stop that- there is a baby over here!? You are kind of stunned, not knowing what to do- leave it alone and just go on with your shopping? Or do you go add your two cents?
4. Lashing out
You decide that going on is not acceptable and someone should pay and see what could have been. Your eyes land on a young man, standing with his girlfriend and you glare the glare of an angry mother. The young man says, ?I didn?t do it.? You yell back, ?I don?t care!? You know someone needs to pay.
5. Gaining composure
That young man isn?t even with the group of teens and you walk to the young man, apologize and go to the end of the aisle, approaching the group of offending teens. One guy is sulking off to your right, the others just stand there. ?Who did that?? you demand. The guy in the red shirt points to the guy sulking off towards the layaway counter.
6. Taking your stand
You follow the young man, who notices you following him and when he turns into the housewares section you say, ?Hey!? He acknowledges you, and you say, ?Youdonotdothatinthisstore!Youalmosthitmyson!Youhitmeonmyhead!Youdonotdothat!? He apologizes, calling you ma?am. He is hunched over, looking kind of sorry, but somehow that isn?t enough. You continue, ?You need to leave this store now. You need to get out before I call a manager.? ?Yes, ma?am.? And he leaves the housewares section, heading for the door.
7. Break down
You head back to where you left your cart. An older woman, who also witnessed the incident, is standing there, guarding your purse that you left in your moment of passion. You thank her and get on with your shopping. As you head to the dairy section, you begin to shake and suddenly you are crying. Your head hurts and you feel kind of violated.
8. It?s ok
You continue with your shopping and your son is calling out with his happy noises. ?Cawwwww!? ?Haaaaaaighhhhh?? The milk is in the cart and there are the refrigerated cresent rolls over there. It?s ok now.
GOOD for you!
That was gutsy. That teenager probably won’t do it again since you invoked the highest form of weapons against teenagers: public humiliation.
We can’t just assume people know how to behave in public.
WOW!
That was pretty impressive. Wish I could have been there to witness it. You’re probably a cult hero in the security department by now. I imagine they all saw the tapes and they’re telling their friends “Man, you should have seen that redhead rip into that little snot-nosed punk.”
My recomendation is to ship in unionized stores.
They’ve got mobster friends who’ll get your back.