Opinion: Autumn is in the air, and very welcome it is
On Sept. 21, 1991, my very dear friend, Stefanie Gendron, married David Eddings. At the time, I worked for her parents’ law firm as go-fer and all-around office dweeb. I say that with great affection. Every office needs someone to help the paperwork flowing, the coffee pouring and, in the case of a law firm, runs to the courthouse twice a day. I always laughed I was the only non-Gendron in an all-Gendron law firm.
My own wedding was just a quickie marriage ceremony in Reno. Her church wedding had it all. Bridesmaid, best man, tuxedos, and a limousine ride from the Harvest Community Church to the Elks Lodge for the reception. Happy 28th anniversary, sister Stef and may you enjoy many more!
On Monday, the autumn equinox arrives and summer exits for another year. I am so glad to see it go.
Pumpkin lattes and Halloween decorations are already popping up everywhere.
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One of these days, I’m apt to take a thumping from an irate mother. Earlier this week I was in the grocery store and a little kid riding in the jump seat of his mother’s cart was yelling his head off. I pushed my cart past theirs’ and said, “Inside voices, little dude!”
A while later, we were in the back of the store and the child’s older brother was playing and making monkey sounds, scratching his armpits, etc. He was also blocking the aisle. I said, “Move monkey boy and let me by please.”
The mother then turned to me and said I didn’t have to be so rude! I wasn’t being rude I asked nicely and even said please.
I told her if I were being rude, I would have just run the kid over with my cart. She then said I was rude because I told her younger child to use his inside voice.
“We are outside and he’s only two,” she said. “At what age do you plan to teach him the difference between inside and outside voices?”
Her comeback was that it wasn’t like they were in my house!
What is wrong with parents these days? Don’t they realize that if they don’t get a handle on their children’s behavior when they are young, they are going to lose the opportunity forever?
I have purposely not identified the ethnicity of this family because I have seen this sort of behavior from parents of every color.
My dad always said children should be seen and not heard. It always made me mad when he said it, but he wasn’t wrong.
My job as a California Notary Public finds me visiting people in their homes. I am always amazed by the way some people allow their children to act. I typically bite my tongue as say something innocuous, like “Oh such helpful children.” What I’d like to say is more along the line of can’t you get this little monster under control? I can’t tell you how many times copies of important documents have been ruined because of kids climbing all over their parents and spilling a beverage on them.
The parents smile and say, “it is okay; I’ll just print another one.” Computers and laser printers have made this possible. Still, if they made their helpful children behave, it wouldn’t be necessary.
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Readers may contact Tami Jo Nix by emailing tamijonix@gmail.com or following @TamiJoNix on Twitter.
