Ok, this post has very little to do with Keagan, but I need to speak about two public displays of absolute disregard for other people that happened to me the past two days.
Situation 1: The T
Keagan and I took two trips into Boston this week, just to ride the T around and watch trains at Park Street because, really, that's all he wanted to do (I actually offered the Aquarium and asked if he wanted to go and he said "I don't think so Mommy."). So we get on a Green Line- C train, just because it was the one Keagan said he wanted to get on, and when you don't have a destination in mind, it doesn't matter. The train happened to be very crowded- standing room only. I pick Keagan up and hold him in the train, not trusting that he can stand on his own without 1) falling over or 2) getting trampled. Next to me a 20 something woman with Ipod ear buds in, texting on her Blackberry in a seat. HELLO! I'm HOLDING a 35lb two year old here! You can't get up? Seriously. I'm also pregnant, btw, but since it's Winter and I'm in a big coat, I don't expect that she realized that. But come on, have a little shred of effort for your fellow T rider. By the first stop another (older) woman motions to me to come take her seat. Very nice. We get into a two seater, but I sit Keagan on my lap since I see another older woman who would like to sit down, so she takes the outer seat. I decide to get off at the following stop since the tight situation is making Keagan a bit antsy and I talk to him about getting off. When the stop arrives, I stand up and say "excuse me" to the woman in the outer seat and she slightly shifts her legs to the side.... SERIOUSLY, I realize this woman is slightly older but she's in no way infirm or anything, and would asking her to just rise a second so I can get myself holding my toddler out of the seat? No. Ok. I guess I just have to push by your legs, lady.
Now, maybe I am being overly sensitive in my pregnant state. Maybe it sounds like I'm whining and asking for special treatment as a mother. I don't mean to. I can handle myself and my toddler fine. I would have held Keagan with all my strength on that dang T if I had to, and certainly wouldn't have complained a bit about more deserving folks taking the seats. But what has happened to just thinking about something other than yourself and your latest text message for just a second to realize there are other people around you? I helped another woman with a baby find a T employee to figure out where the elevator was in Park St. I also helped a family figure out they had gotten off on the wrong stop in Copley. It wasn't much effort- it was just a humane gesture. And I'm no humanitarian- I can fall into my own little world with the best of them, but I do try to make an effort from time to time.
Situation 2: The Movies
I rarely get out to movies these days, and I can't remember the last one Erik and I saw together. Last night I went out with two other Moms from Maynard to see "He's Just Not That Into You." I realized there would probably be a bunch of teenage girls there on a Friday night as well as us, but did not expect that throughout THE WHOLE MOVIE my eyes would be diverted from the movie to deflect the bright screen of a cell phone popping open to text or see some picture/movie clip. COME ON! It's not possible to just sit and enjoy a movie anymore? Can these kids really NOT FOCUS on ONE thing for an hour and a half? How sad is that? I nearly became "that mom" who either 1) Shouted in the middle off the movie "please close your phone!" or 2) Said to the main perpetrator (who was right in my line of sight, and I swear had her phone open for an hour of the movie) as she was walking up the aisle "it was really rude to have your phone open throughout the movie." But I just couldn't do it. I'm not ready to take that leap into "old"ness yet. The day will come, I'm sure. But the bigger issue here is the CONSTANT need for all this communication and stealing of moments in eachother's lives that happens with these kids (and adults too, but I feel like teens are the worst). Will they never have time to themselves? Time to just BE. I dread the day Keagan looks up and me and asks for a cell phone. Never mind the little girl in my stomach- oy!
Ok, rant over.
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2 comments:
I hear ya! This is quite possibly the worst "me generation" yet. As much as technology has advanced our world, it has also taken us back a few notches. I don't think I've ever seen a teenager, be it at the mall, in a car, with friends, who isn't on a cell phone or texting. Even when they are supposed to be "together", they are each looking at their own electronic device. I guess I don't get it since the first cell phone I ever owned was Kristin's bag phone back in the 90's, and that wasn't exactly something I could carry around. I felt better having it in the car..End of story...When I wanted to talk to a friend, we actually got together and looked at eachother's faces as opposed to a screen. There has been some kind of human connection lost throughout this advance.
Common courtesy is also a lost art. Like you, I will offer assistance when needed, and a few times I've let someone go ahead of me in the grocery line who had only a handful of items. The people I've let go ahead were actually shocked! Why is it so shocking? Don't people bother to look around them anymore? It's always little things, but there is definitely a shortage of niceties. Another example happened a couple of weeks ago. People who pick up their kids at Chandler School have to go to the gym to have the kids walk in all in a line. There are alot of pickups, so it's a little crowded. One little girl whose mom was a bit late was crying, so Charlotte and I stayed with her until her mom came running in. No big deal. A few days later, I was a couple of minutes late, and there was Charlotte with a look of fear on her face just standing all alone in the gym. Now, she wasn't causing a scene crying, but if anyone bothered to look, the panic on her face was obvious. Wouldn't you think someone would have some kind of maternal instinct kick in? But again, most of the parents are on their phones totally oblivious to even their own children. So, you aren't alone with your observations....maybe we'll, in a small way, change things and bring up thoughtful children.
Lisa
OK..now you've hit a sore nerve in this "oldsters" world! Texting and cell phones are the pits -when I am forced to stand in grocery lines and listen to the woman in front of me talk to someone "veryimportant" about her gyno visit...and the woman in back of me announcing to another "very important" person - where she was, where she is - and her estimated time of arrival. Everyone around them is invisible! I bet when they get home, it's a quiet house..there's nothing left to say!
I had to watch Emma's Christmas concert at Sacred Heart through the man in front of me - video phone! It was frustrating and annoying!
It's sort of like trying to stop the world from falling apart..where do you start?
Now the Wii is causing ER visits because so many people get hurt playing make believe sports! One guy broke his wifes' jaw - and his hand when she stepped in for a closer look as he pitched a make believe bowling ball! Bet they got rid of that contraption!
Haven't ridden the T lately, but my guess is, hardly anyone speaks English anymore....Hang in there - and just grow a nice baby....Love, Peg Oh! Well!!
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