Did I really just hear that? (language)

[Pagan]

I can't believe I forgot about this....

The other day, two women was looking at the bathing suits and had 4 (seemed like a lot more) kids with them. The oldest of the kids looked around 10. Well, naturally, after about 15 minutes, they were getting more than a bit bored and a little rambunctious. All of a sudden, I hear one of the women telling the kids to "Shut the hell up." Then, "You better fucking stop doing that!" And a few other choice words. I'm surprised that my head didn't come off the way I snapped around when I heard that! So, off they go to try on some of said bathing suits. Another customer that had been in the same area comes up to make a payment and asks if she heard that lady right. I told her, yes she had. I also told her something that I got from here a while back, "And to think, you have to get a license to have a dog." Then the gem of a mother comes out and wants me to hold one because they have to go to MVD (Motor Vehicle Div, it's in the mall too) and they'd be back in a few minutes. R-i-i-i-ght. Never did see them again.

I still can't believe her using that kind of language on the little ones....and I don't like kids! Makes me wonder what goes on when they're not in public.

[Shengirl]

It's kind of relative. Curses are just words, and if the kids had heard them all their lives, hearing them more probably wasn't particularly traumatizing. My parents always cursed in front of me, though I don't remember if they did it at me. The thing was that I learned very, very quickly that those were words that I happened to not be allowed to say. That was the extent of their meaningfulness.

Now, in excesses like you witnessed, I suppose it could be indicative of a deeper anger management problem. If you were a social worker, you would probably consider it to be some kind of warning sign. However, in this case, it may have just been someone controlling their kids (don't we wish more people kept their curtain climbers from causing a ruckus?) in an alternative fashion. Not good, just not necessarily awful. Guess we'll never know, though.

[Max]

Gosh, I wish that shocked me. But after working at an upscale boutique and hearing so many yuppy mothers yell at their daughters for "getting so fat!" or "not taking any pride in their appearance; don't you care that people think you're a fat ugly slob!" and other such atrocities, a bit of profanity seems relatively tame.

Come to think of it, lately I've noticed that I use a lot more profanity than I used to. If I ever have children, I'm seriously going to have to do a language detox!!

(And yes, it was EXTREMELY difficult not to throttle those horrible mothers. As someone who struggled with an eating disorder, it almost made me cry with rage to listen to that, day after day. The only thing I could do to keep that job was to refuse to serve them, or make a comment to a coworker within the customer's earshot about the rise of eating disorders due to unrealistic body expectations. Bah, I doubt those evil women even noticed.)