Maybe it's because my parents were so good at it, but I have lately found myself around a number of really inept mommies and daddies. At least four or five times in as many months, I have been in a public place and seen some small child either injure him or herself or come close to injury because his/her parents had the I.Q. of a drill press and no concern for keeping an eye on their offspring. The latest occurred this afternoon when I was in a Costco, not shopping for an original Picasso.
I had loaded my cart full of mass quantities and I'd dined on Costco Dim Sum, which is what I call all the free samples of food you can get if you shop before around 3:00 in the afternoon. I assume they do this because the store sells such large packages of most items and you can't purchase a "small" to try something new that intrigues you. So all over the warehouse, they have these women in shower caps and aprons cooking up things in microwaves and on hot plates…and for some reason, a lot of frozen and canned food items prepared that way taste really good, at least for a bite or two. (The tricky part of Costco Dim Sum is planning your route. Like today, the first free sample giver-outter I came upon had little creme puffs and I didn't want to start my dining experience that way. So I skipped her, went on to the lady with the chunky potato soup and the one with the microwave lasagna and the one with the chicken strips…then I circled back to the Creme Puff Lady and had dessert.)
I finally made it to the check-out line where, in the line next to the one I was in, a kid of about six years of age (I'm guessing) was acting like he'd just ingested the entirety of a Costco-sized sack of sugar. He was standing up in the cart and waving his arms and dancing about…and I just knew he was about to topple out of that cart and land on his head. Somehow, his parents didn't know or care. They were arguing over whether the caseload of Planter's Dry Roasted Peanuts they were purchasing could be completely consumed by the expiration date, which was some time in '08. I interrupted them, pointed to their young'un and said, "Better watch out for the kid."
They looked at me like I'd just spoken Swahili, then went back to discussing goober consumption. Sure enough, about a minute later, the kid lost his balance and fell out of the cart, landing head-first on slab concrete. Looked to me like he was hurt bad…and the parents still didn't have a clue. Too bad Costco doesn't sell them because these folks were in dire need.
Store employees had to come over and administer first aid to the child as Mom and Dad did zero to help. Instead, they announced to everyone around that it wasn't their fault — "You can't watch them every minute" — then resumed the Great Peanut Debate. When I left, the boy was sitting up, crying in pain and starting to grow a bump the size of the Costco 24-pack of Bounty Paper Towels.
I don't know why I told you this story except to wonder aloud if parents in this world are getting more irresponsible or if I'm just running into the bottom end of the species. I don't know what's going to happen to that kid of theirs but I have a hunch it won't be pretty.