Saturday, January 18, 2014

When Grownups Say Bad Stuff

I think I said something profound after swearing at a fellow motorist yesterday.

It seems like it's the same thing at every four-way stop in America: most other drivers don't know what to do (or, equally likely,  don't care). We were coming home from school like we do every day, and a black SUV proceeded through the intersection when I clearly had the right of way. The split second before the SUV started plowing through, I had stepped on the gas too and was already in the intersection when Ms. Important decided it was okay to proceed.

I reacted like anyone else would--by yelling "a--hole!"

After the SUV actually backed up and we were through the intersection, a little voice behind me asked, "Mom, what does that word mean?"

Oops.

The rest of the conversation went like this:

Me: "Um...it's a bad word."
Bug: "I know."
Me: "I shouldn't have said that. Sometimes grownups say bad words when they get scared and angry."
Bug: "Why would you say bad words when you're scared and angry?"
Me: "Well, honey, when people get scared and angry, their brains have a hard time making good decisions. And sometimes they say or do things they shouldn't."

Then I thought to myself, wow, Prickly Mom, I think you might be on to something profound with that statement there. I'm in a near-constant state of fear and/or anger (which probably explains my high blood pressure, exhaustion, migraines, and a host of other stuff...but I digress).

Let's chew on that one a while. It sounds like a piece of wisdom that might apply in many situations...for all of us.


2 comments:

  1. Goblin has picked up so many bad words from my driving. Fortunately he hasn't repeated any of them yet

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    1. Monko, we have a family story (not even sure if it's actually true) that when my sister was little, she thought railroad tracks were called "Jesus Christ" because that's what my dad would say when he drove over them. :)

      Glad I'm not the only one!

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