So, fresh on the heels of worrying about how my kids will behave for a week without parental influence, I went to the local Subway to grab a few sandwiches to accompany the me/wife movie marathon event. (We really party when the kids are away.) There, in line ahead of me, are four teenage girls. They are all actively engaged in texting or talking about texting while simultaneously being extremely rude to the two guys working the counter. One girl, who appeared to be the youngest, repeatedly yelled at one of the employees, twice asking him if he were "stupid 'r somethin'." None of the girls were paying attention to his requests on how to make their sandwiches and one actually chastised him for interrupting her conversation with one of the other girls, which was "so rude; don't you have manners; gah!"
These girls severely backed up the line and made everyone angry. The guys working the counter took the blame for the delay and behaved in a top-notch fashion - especially considering that neither was far removed from the teen years themselves. I joked around with one of the guys, who was obviously dazed and angered by the group. Many of the other customers were not polite due to their frustration with the young ones, which is also sad.
After all was said and done, I got back in my car and drove home, half in disbelief and half in terror. The thought of either of my girls behaving so rudely made me nauseous. The parent in me wonders what, if anything, their parents and families were doing to instruct these girls on how to behave in public. The less rational side of me wanted to punch them all in the face. Regardless, if you're a parent, and you actually care about your kids, you want them to represent themselves and you in a positive manner when they're in public. These four excelled at the opposite.
I will keep working hard on my girls because I love them. I am proud of them, and I want other people to see how great they are too. Kids will be kids (whatever that means), but I want mine to be good kids, even when I'm not around.