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I must say this is an occurrance that has been handed down for generations. The older one gets, the more entitled one feels. Now as for me I was stopped by a police officer while walking home from a friends house last spring.
He had the ordacity to threaten to arrest me for truancy because I should be in school. He accused of me of being responsible for the "sad state of our youth" and said that I had better get my act together before it was too late or I'd end up in the gutter somewhere whoring myself for crack.
He went on and on for about 10mins and finally he asked "Well, what do you have to say for yourself young lady?"
I responded by handing him drivers license and informed him that I was serving my country while he was still in diapers. I also told that as for my life's course I had a 19 year old daughter graduating from high school with an Associates degree and was leaving for the Army and a son who would also be enlisting when his time came.
You see at the time this happened I was 39.
His face turned bright beet red, he got into his car, slammed the door and drove away.

OH god, this happened the other day and I immediately thought about this thread..

I was at the laundromat of course doing laundry - I know the owners very well, very nice people..

Well, this woman came in with two teens.. Id say about 13 and 14 - the son wasnt so bad.. just typical "can we go home?" because he had to help fold the underwear that didnt belong to him! LOL

And then the daughter... what a foul-mouthed kid, rude, verbally aggressive - OHHHHH Mom had her fill alright... Mom was reminding her that helping to fold the laundry was one of her chores just like her brother.. and then her daughter was throwing '********' this, '********' that.. and Mom was getting embarassed and told her daughter 'hey, you need to stop being rude and using that language, imagine what these people feel"..

Daughter said "I dont give a ******** had all I could - I opened up and said "Well, I do!"

Her eye balls about fell out of her head - I got up and walked over.. I looked at Mom and I bid her forgiveness for intruding but I needed to say something in her defense..

"You know what young lady - first of all, this is your mother and you WILL respect her. You may not like what she tells you to do, but you certainly need do what your told without giving her a mouth full of foul language... Im not going to sit here and listen to you mouth off and think you can get away with it. When you go out, you will show some respect to the places you walk into - this place doesnt need your attitude issues and I certainly am not going to put up with it."

She replied back with "well I dont want to do the ******** laundry and she isnt listening"..

I replied back with "it doesnt matter WHAT you think right now because you are not going to be listened to with a dirty mouth! Youre complaining about folding clothes which by the way is the easiest thing to do - if your brother can grin and bear it because he knows its his responsibility, you can do this also. But until you are 18 years old and out on your own, you will mind your mouth, manners AND your Mother!"

The LOOK on her face was PRICELESS... she didnt say one word for an hour.. just stood there, folding laundry... Mom came over and said 'thank you, no forgiveness necessary'....

Once the girl cooled off , I shared with her what I was responsible for - I was one of 5 kids in a mixed marriage type family.. I cooked dinner twice per week, babysat my sister, did homework, involved with the Music Department, cleaned my own room, did my own laundry, AND worked at a job too... Told her I had to do all of that because my parents couldnt do it all on one income.. My stepfather got fired, and my Mother was surviving on a Waitress' paycheck - I was in high school and it was very expensive for the things I needed, not wanted, but needed....

In the end I saw her give her mom a hug and said sorry.... Mom came over and thanked me because she felt bad what her daughter was pulling... I told her that Moms have their hands full, and we need to stick together provided our claws can be controlled! LOL

I'm reading all these posts about people who look younger than they really are. *chuckles*

I have always been mistaken for being way older than I really am (it comes from a very hard childhood). But when people find out how old I REALLY am - it gets pretty annoying.

When I was 18 I was disallowed from stating my true age at my job. I was a fast food supervisor and my boss was afraid that people wouldn't respect me if they found out I was newly adultified. She was right.

I absolutely hate when older people pull the age thing on me. I dress tastefully - I have intellgent conversation (a shocker I know) - I raise my children with morals and integrity. I understand that I have not lived a long life yet, but why does my age equal my intelligence level?

I believe in treating people right no matter what. And if that means yelling at them at the laundromat for dropping the f-bomb constantly - well, you're helping them to become a more civilized human being.