I am NOT Nice to Stupid People

 

So we had a long day in Vegas, that’s my excuse. We’d spent the night before with Jana, so the day wasn’t AS bad as normal Vegas trips are when I drive down and back and do all the doc visits AND shopping in one day. But still, 2 doc visits, one of them informing me that my 3-year-old needs surgery on his un-descending testicle, driving all over Vegas, and then shopping with all three kids by myself yet again still wore me out. We did get to have lunch with Crystal, which was a plus!

By the end of the visit to Wal-mart, near the end of the day, I was literally ready to take someone’s head off, and one unfortunate, and not very bright, woman happened to be in my path. We had been in the store for at least 2 hours, I had all three kids in 1 cart with blankets and pillows and I was pulling a 2^nd cart along for the groceries. I was cranky, hungry, and spent, as were all three monkeys.

Naturally, when you approach the check-out lines, you’re searching for the shortest line AND the emptiest cart in that line. So I found the shortest line, 2 people, and each of those people had just a couple things thrown onto the conveyor belt. It was a staggered register set-up, where you had to walk past one register to get to the other. I was making a B-line for register 6. There were about 4 people in line 5, the line I had to walk past to get to the emptier line. Each of them had a cart that was at least half full, and the woman at the end of the line had a full cart. She was blocking the path to register 6. This was a problem that instantly set me off.

I wasn’t rude, at first, but sharply I asked her which line she was in.

She looks at me, a little clueless, and says, “Oh, I’m just waiting here to see which line was going to call me up first.”

In my head I busted up laughing. I looked at her, like she was a total idiot, and said sternly, “Um, no, you’re either in lane 5 or you’re in lane 6.”

And she argued, looking at me like I’D just fell out of a banana tree, “Well, no, I was just going to wait here until it was my turn and…”

And I very rudely, and sternly interrupted her idiocy, “Look around! You’re in Wal-mart! That’s NOT how it works HERE!”

And she tried to argue some more, looking at me as though she’d never been to Wal-mart before and encountered real people, “Well, these lines are just…”

And I was done arguing. “Look lady, pick a line, or move out of the way so I can get through!”

And she slowly rolled her eyes as though she were thinking what a crazy freaking person I was knowing she’d better not open her mouth again. She walked up to the guy in front of her and motioned for HIM to go up to the other line! So, instead of ramming my cart into her body and smashing her up against her own cart, I quickly walked away, searching for another line, which I found at the other end of the store!

And this couldn’t have turned out MORE embarrassing for me. It takes A LOT to offend or embarrass me.  But let me rewind just a little bit. About 40 minutes into our shopping trip, everyone had to use the bathroom. So I went to the back of the store where they have the family restroom. I can push the entire cart filled with children into the bathroom, and not have to worry about any of our stuff getting stolen or having to carry the 2 pillows, 2 blankets, 5 baby blankets, diaper bag, and baby into a single stall while I am trying to listen to the other 2, making sure they are doing what they are supposed to and are not sneaking off or getting knapped.

We get to the bathroom area, and the door is locked. Of course! So we wait. For about 15 minutes. I checked the door during that time once more, just to be sure and just to make a little extra noise for whomever was inside. Most people have been in Wal-mart. This area in the back also has regular restrooms, about 15 feet away from this ONE family bathroom. But I can’t take the cart in there, hence the waiting. So, after the 15 minutes, ONE man walks out of this bathroom! I shot him a look that should have burned his skin right off. He apologized quickly and held the door opened for us. When I got the door closed on the inside, I cursed, calling the guy a very bad word, beginning with a BIG F!

OK, now moving forward. We get to the register, the 2^nd attempt at one. The kid was about 90% finished ringing us up, and Kaida points to him, she’s about 2 feet away from him, in perfect hearing distance, and says, “Mommy, that guy is a Freak!”

Pretending that I am not completely mortified, I say calmly, “Honey, that’s not nice, why would you call him a freak??”

The kid is just smiling at us like it doesn’t matter to him that she just blatantly called him a freak.

Kaida says, with a huge smile on her face, “Because, he’s a freak Mommy!”

I kinda grin and say, “Has he done something to make you think he’s a freak?”

The kid is still smiling, ringing up our groceries.

Kaida grins really big at me, then at him, then at me again and says, “Yes.”

Trying to be stern, and not laugh, and not make it obvious how awful I feel for this kid, I say, “Honey, what has he done to make you think he’s a freak?”

The kid is still smiling, looking right at me.

Kaida is still grinning and says, “The bathroom Mommy!”

Now I AM laughing. I say, “OH! He’s not the same guy we saw back there honey, and ‘freak’ wasn’t actually the word Mommy used!”

The kid was still smiling. Kaida was too. I’m trying to pretend I’m not completely mortified as I take my receipt and rush away, telling him to have a wonderful night! Now to clarify for those who couldn’t ‘see’ the issue: both of the guys were African American. A distinction not easily made by a 4-year-old, apparently they looked like the same guy to her. Thankfully the kid at the register just didn’t care, or was just a really nice kid and didn’t mind what little kids said! He was sooooo polite! But I couldn’t walk away fast enough!