Bad Words in the Grocery Store

I was at the grocery store the other day. Really… yes I was at a grocery store.

Anyway, two high school age boys were goofing around on the potato chip aisle and having a large time. AAAHHH… to be young without a care!

Behind them slowly making her way down the same aisle was a woman about my age with a cart LOADED with just about everything you could imagine and these boys were putting more in it. (note… this was a white woman with two white boys). She was your quintessential southern mom. Hair was perfect, slacks, silk blouse, expensive bag, pearls and made up to perfection.

They were cutting up and carrying on when one of the boys referred to his friend as

 “my N’**ga.”  This stopped me and got my attention. I wanted to see if this mother said or did anything in response to hearing such crap come out of their mouth. What happened next was surprising.

She immediately stopped her shopping and said “excuse me?... what did you say??”

Still jovial and cutting up the boy said it again. I was close enough to hear what she said but far enough away that the boys didn't think I could hear. She called them over to her and asked him if he owned any slaves. He said no. She asked him where he has heard that word used and why he thought it was ok to use it. He said kids in school use it in the context as if saying “my friend” and that it was cool.

She proceeded to tell them that there was nothing cool about that word… and when used in conjunction with the word “my” made is sound like he was a slave owner, which he wasn't because the last she checked slavery had been abolished for almost 150 years. She then told him that he and his friend could take that cart they had loaded down with snacks and junk and put everything back on the shelves where they found it and they were leaving. She called the store manager over and told him they were to put everything back and to make sure they did it right and she would be waiting in the car.

And as she picked up her purse she looked at the two boys and said if she ever heard that filth come out of either of their mouths again they weren't too big to take a strap to and it wouldn't be her doing the whopping…she was telling DAD.

As she clicked past me in her expensive shoes, leaving the two stunned teenagers behind her, I held up my hand and high fived her… said nothing… just the “you go girl” salute to a mom that wasn't going to tolerate such crap no matter how “cool” it was.

I was proud of her. She addressed it immediately and didn't let it slide because they were teenage boys and they were in a public place.  

Things I Cried over ( or almost cried over) October 2014

1-      Molar extraction – just couldn’t save that damn thing so out it goes. Not that I would have spent $2500 to save it anyway. However, the subsequent days of pain and misery were helped somewhat by Vicodin, and an OD of Advil. Of course the requisite antibiotic was given to prevent infection… which only caused another issue. Come on girls… antibiotics… sad sad times. I have to say between the antibiotic side effects and the actual misery from the tooth I was cranky and crabby for at least 8 days. I will not do that again.

2-      This month was my 46^th birthday. I will say that my wonderful husband loves to do a party for my birthday and I think half the reason is because it is in October. 46 was a hard birthday to accept. Mainly because my mother wasn’t here to forget it, which she did most of the time. It has been 6 months now. I wear her rings every day and honestly I look forward to the day that I can think of her and not cry.

3-     I have zero energy. It is just that time of year for me that is physically draining. It is the change of seasons and the toll it takes on my sinuses, the time change which will take me at least a week to adjust to and the fact that I turned on the heat. Those of you that have LP gas know why turning it on makes me cry. It makes my wallet cry, it makes my bank account cry because staying warm costs so much more than staying cool.

4-     I haven’t had a decent thing to read since mid summer. Hence my tears of joy on October 28^th when Anne Rice released Prince Lestat. Thank GOD!

5-     My baby has actually started READING. A month in kindergarten and he is reading. I was helping with some of his homework the other night and he was reading right through a book with little to no help. That was a happy cry… because one day he and I are going to go to Barnes and Noble and spend a lot of his daddy’s money.

6-     Another happy few glistening moments was when I was on the way home from Washington DC with a bus of WWII veterans last week. We stopped at the state line to pick up our escort… 100+ patriot riders brought us home from the NC/VA state line. These old guys, as well as myself couldn’t believe the number of people that turned out for them. These guys came home from saving the world and went straight to work building a great country. They deserved this.

7-     Holidays are coming… I dread them… would like to skip over all of them and go ahead with a new year. My mother was not a big gift giving  person but she did love to have good food and family over or come to my house and bring her gravy that only she could make. Food was her big thing … presents were not a big thing but we have Larry to take care of the presents… thank god! It will be odd and I will feel like there is a gaping hole where she should be, but just another day to get through… and we keep moving forward.