Thursday, April 10, 2008

Thank You For NOT Smoking

A few weeks ago, I got a call telling me about a situation that happened at a park. Apparently, there were some teenagers/young adults who were playing on the playground. I'm sure you're wondering WHY they were even playing on the playground... I am too, trust me, don't question too long, I think I've finally come up with an excuse which I'll tell you later.

Anyway, let's call the person that called me Mary. Mary took her two children, Johnny (2 years old) and Sally (4 years old), to the same park where the teenagers were also "playing." Johnny and Sally were playing with the teenagers and their dog. Everyone was having a great time until one of the teenagers, we'll call her Sarah, pulled out a cigarette and lit up. So if this were a painting on a wall, and you had to explain what was wrong with this "picture," isn't the first thing that comes to mind that there are kids around and this girl is lighting up?! Mary thought so too. (Side note: The city agrees too, that's why they posted NO SMOKING signs at the playground). Mary spoke up, told her she needed to put the cigarette out due to her children being on the playground. Ok, reasonable request, any SANE person would agree. Sarah disagreed, I'm sure in her mind she must be thinking, "Who are you? My Mom??" Actually Sarah, speaking of your mother, didn't she teach you that smoking is bad? Oh, she did? Ok, well didn't she teach you what respect is? Oh, ok, yeah, that is a big word, maybe when you grow up you'll understand when you are disrespected. Yes, learning the hard way is sometimes the only way. Sarah proceeded to get angry at Mary, calling her names and swearing at her in front of the children.

As Mary proceeds to tell me this story, I'm annoyed at Sarah. Mary says she thinks that she'll be the topic of their conversation for the rest of the day. I say, you know what Mary? Good! If their lives are so boring that all they can talk about is that mean lady with the children at the park then good! I'm glad you gave some spice to their boring lives. Let them talk all they want. I feel bad for them if that really was the case. I feel bad that they lead such uneventful lives. I feel bad that they can find nothing better to do than "play" in a park. Which leads me to my analysis of all this, being a logical person, I had to figure out why this girl was the way she is. My conclusion, that cigarette was weed. She's a young girl trying to be cool, which is why she got into weed in the first place, and then mouthing off to Mary was her way of showing off to the boys she was with. Poor thing. One day Sarah will learn that respect will get you a lot farther than being mean. For her sake, I hope it's sooner than later.

1 comment:

Reynolds Family said...

Interesting story :) Sure love ya!