It Takes a Village
by kev on July 23, 2007 

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Because the coffee machine at my work’s kitchen broke earlier this morning, during my lunch break I stopped by the local CVS Pharmacy for my non-coffee caffeine drink of choice, Coke Zero. I walked inside, quickly grabbed two 20-oz bottles and got in the checkout line.

In front of me in line was a lady in her 60s and two children (a boy and a girl, who I estimate were ages 8 and 10, respectively). The kids lacked what I like to call an “indoor voice” (the ability not to speak as though the person you’re communicating with is fifty yards away and hard of hearing).

The lady had no control over them. When they yelled at one another from five feet away, she didn’t tell them to hush. When the boy was crawling on the floor to pick up change he had dropped (crawling between the woman’s legs in the process), she didn’t tell him to behave. When the girl began to touch every item the lady had placed on the checkout counter, she didn’t tell her to stop.

After receiving her change and receipt, the lady then walked away towards the exit. However, the children did not go with her. I quickly realized that she was not their mother, grandparent or guardian. She was just a little old lady lacking the courage to tell these little brats to stop invading her personal space. The two kids were in line behind her.

It turned out that the person in charge of these kids was sitting in his car in the parking lot. He had the two kids run into CVS, unsupervised, to pick up whatever items they needed. I’m not certain, but I believe I saw an I’m with Stupid t-shirt draped across his torso.

Had I known what was going on, I would have come to the lady’s rescue. I would not dare tell a parent to control their rambunctious children, but I would have no problem telling two unsupervised kids to calm down and stop harassing an old lady.

As it was, with the lady gone and the children now at the front of the line, I had only a few seconds to impart to them a life lesson. So I decided to tell them that the lady they had been tormenting was Mrs. Santa Claus, and that I was fairly certain they wouldn’t be receiving any Christmas presents this year.

As they walked away in tears, I patted myself on the back for the good deed I had done. As good citizens go, today, I was the most goodest.

I hope Santa remembers that come December.