I should have known better. But a heat wave has hit our
region, and I needed to log some steps on my activity tracker. Plus, we were
out of a few essentials at home. So I ventured out to the (Somebody stop me!)
local Walmart.
Shoppers meet all sorts of people at the local Walmart. We’ve
all seen the dreaded videos, revealing all sorts of too-revealing and
outlandish outfits.
This is not about
fashion.
It’s the crying game, for crying out loud.
First, please understand that I honestly love children. I
adore their cute little faces, their cheery smiles, and their unaffected sense
of innocence and transparency.
I also understand (Don’t we all?) the frustration and embarrassment
of the tired mother or father, who tries desperately to drag a cranky toddler
along for one more errand on an already too-busy day. Sometimes a nap and a
timely snack or meal just aren’t in the cards, so to speak.
So it happens.
“Waaaaaaah!”
It’s not just at Walmart. It happens at Target, Meijer, the
hardware store, the pharmacy, or wherever else a parent and tired-tot-in-tow
happen to be when the little one’s inner bomb goes off.
But today was
different. Or, at least, it seemed to be.
Racing the clock, I piloted my cart through about half of
the aisles in the local Walmart. Each time I rounded a corner, I encountered another
wailing youngster with a haggard parent along for the ride.
We’re talking tears, flailing arms and legs, full-out wails,
and Olympic-level tantrums here.
Honestly, I didn’t
set those kids off.
It was almost as if the store had stationed a screaming
urchin in every aisle, instead of the usual snack sample purveyors. I have to
wonder: Is this some sort of crying kid holiday?
Did I miss the memo announcing that today is Don’t Let Your
Kids Nap, Then Take Them to Walmart to Out-Cry the Other Shrieking Children
Day?
I think I’m gonna cry.
Cleanup on aisle three. Yep, that’d be me, right about now.
Images:
Adapted by this user
from public domain images
