Well, maybe. I mean, right now I intend this to be my last moaning about other parents, but who knows? Maybe I’ll come up with something else juicy and interesting. This is another cookout story. While I sat with the boys on the grass, clearly not as special as the folding chair people, there was a small group behind us. About 10 feet behind us. A Mom and two boys. They were sitting at the base of the flagpole on the small concrete pad that supported the flagpole. It was a small space, and I thought possibly a little weird. I don’t know if it is disrespectful to lean against the flagpole while you’re eating a hot dog, but I figured I’d play it safe and hit the grass.

Anyway, I’m sitting there, chatting with my boys and enjoying the baked beans, when a sudden pain flares in the middle of my back. I yelped and whirled around. About 8 feet behind me was a kid twirling around. He had just randomly hurled a rock, and did not even realize he had hit me with it. It was doubly annoying in that you didn’t need a rangefinder GPS to know you were located a literal stone’s throw from dozens of people, and if you were going to launch a golf ball sized rock, point blank, you should probably point it at the woods. Not the crowd.

I barked, “You want to watch it, Buddy?” in a fairly passive aggressive annoyed tone, choking down expletives and the desire to throw a rock back at the clueless brat. The thing that really ticked me off, though, was the Mother. She looked away as I turned and mumbled something about “being careful” to the kid, who’d only realized that he had done something stupid and dangerous after I scolded him. and maybe I’m projecting here, but he actually seemed to have a little bit of that “you’re not my Dad, you can’t discipline me” attitude plastered over his otherwise blank countenance.

She didn’t scold or chastise the kid. She didn’t offer an apology or encourage her child to apologize. She did get up with rock boy and her other kid and attempot to discreetly leave about 45 seconds later. They were right behind me and I was fairly aware of their presence (planning to dodge the next missile that I figured there was at least a 50/50 chance of being flung).

What really irks me about it is that she clearly knew her kid had made a mistake and she was embarrased by it because she chose to take off as soon as she possibly could, when my back was turned. Maybe I should have called her out. Maybe I should have whirled around and said “Hey lady, your kid hit me in the back with a huge rock and it really hiurt. Don’t you think he should apologize?”

Maybe I should have done something like that. I doubt it would have done anything for her. Old dog, new tricks, and all that. But maybe the kid would have felt put on the spot, and maybe he would have learned a lesson.

I love how I end up blaming myself for letting someone else’s kid get away with doing something for which they should be reprimanded. But it is a real problem when adults witness wrongdoings and choose to flee the situation rather than dealing with it.