I've become "one of them"

It happened when I uttered the phrase "Back when I was that age". GASP! A sure sign that I crossed a line...jumped ship & joined the "adult team". Next thing you know, I'll be muttering about how I walked for miles and miles during a blizzard, in stocking-feet, without ever complaining. Yes, I've become "one of them". All it took was an incident at a nearby secondary school, that's it. One teeny-weeny little encounter and I sailed on over to the other side. Easy breezy.

There are a handful of teens with enormous chips on their shoulders (no, not Doritos or anything of the sort...we're talking major, heavy-duty A-T-T-I-T-U-D-E!), who delight in making it nearly impossible for a pedestrian to comfortably utilize the sidewalk in front of their school. They drop their backpacks there. They sit in clusters and smoke till their fingers turn yellow, teeth turn brown and lungs turn black. They push each other around. They lie down on the sidewalk and bemoan the fact that "everyone sucks except us". They "rule the school". Today, however, they crossed the wrong mamma!

"Goth Girl" started it, not me! There she was, lying across the sidewalk as though she were sprawled out on her bed at home. Her chubby body, clad in black, making it very difficult for me to maneuver my hard-to-maneuver-at-the-best-of-times-double-stroller-from-hell. Her spiky black hair, with red chunky highlights looked almost as ferocious as her pinched-up scowl when I asked her in my nicest voice, "Could you please move so we can pass?". What came next was slightly unexpected - a big huff & the always annoying eye-roll. Hmmmm.... "Excuse me, we really need to get by". So, she moved while muttering a bunch of expletives....bleepin' bleep...move your bleepin' bleep & go home with your bleepin' brats...bleeper. WELL!

What "Goth Girl & her band of evil elves" didn't expect was retaliation. Hand on my hip, and in my best teacher-impersonation I came back with: "I could care less what you do or don't do. Fling yourselves off a bridge, for all I care - but when I come by with a stroller and ask you to move, YOU'D BETTER MOVE, GOT IT?!".

Still fuming when we arrived home, especially after my daughter asked me what a "bleeping bleep" was (sigh!), I picked up the phone to call the school. Yes indeed, I told on them...na-na-na-na-na. I called the vice-principal, and lashed in to him: "I'M A TAX-PAYING CITIZEN...AND YOU'RE STUDENTS HAVE NO RESPECT...AND I SHOULD CALL THE MAURY POVICH SHOW TO GET THEM ALL ENROLLED IN TEEN BOOT CAMP...AND...". Well, no need to continue because he couldn't have agreed with me more. In fact, he asked me to call the police because he was getting tired of having to do it himself. So, basically, he's telling me that not even HE has the authority to straighten these brats out.

Here I go.... Are you ready? It's coming....Final warning... Back when I was that age, I wouldn't have DREAMED of treating an adult with such disrespect! That's not to say that I didn't occasionally challenge authority, but never ever did I go out of my way to make someone uncomfortable for no good reason. What happened between then and now? Society? Media? Huge corporations putting nasty stuff in the soda pop? This is insane!!! I was having a bit of a crisis when my kids stepped in...

"Guys? Are you guys going to let a mommy with a baby-carriage pass without hassle when you're in high school?" I got what I needed from them, an "O-tay" from my son, and a "sure mommy" from my daughter. Okay, so I may have crossed over to the "other side", but I take comfort in knowing there's still a glimmer of hope.