Ba Humbug!

Rant ahead…..

I know that this is the season to be jolly and show goodwill to men and all that but seriously, can I skip Xmas this year?  I had to do my Xmas shopping on Saturday.  And I seriously saw none of that joy and goodwill to all men happening, and yes unfortunately I was probably one of those people who wasn’t showing any of it.

When I was little and I used to go to the shops with my mum I would walk around in a bit of a daze.  I hated shopping (I SO grew out of that…..) and I would have to be dragged along shopping.  I used to sneak away from my mum and hide in the clothing racks.  And I would never come out until I heard my name over the loudspeaker asking me to go to the nearest person with a badge so they could take me back to my mum.  But apart from being a bit naughty in that regard, I had good manners.  It was the one thing (okay there were many things) that my mum insisted on.  She taught me excellent manners.

If I ran into someone at the shops, I said sorry.  If there was an adult coming my way, I moved.  If I couldn’t get past someone, I said excuse me and thankyou when they moved.  But my manners weren’t just limited to shopping, I had good manners in general.  And I like to think that I still do have them.

So what is it with parents with kids these days?  I was running around doing my shopping on Saturday with every other person trying to get those pressies bought before the BIG rush at the end of the week.  But I swear I have bruises today.  Bruises that were gained at the shops.  Lots of them from little kids, running around, bumping into people, barging into people, elder people, adults and expecting them to move.  But a lot were gained from their parents too, shoving their way through people, barging trolleys into people’s ankles (well my ankles anyway).  And how many people do you think actually apologised?  One.  ONE PERSON!!!!  Out of the couple hundred people who must have run into me that day, only one person actually turned around and said sorry about that.  I think I fell in love with her at that point, because I felt like I had spent the whole day saying sorry for bumping into people, for banging someone with my shopping bags etc.

But it’s the kids I worry about.  If we have these young kids running around, thinking it’s okay to just go barging into people and not apologising, what are they going to be like in 10 years time, when they’re teenagers and think that they own the world anyway?  I know that sometimes I can sound very anti-children, but I’m not really.  I love kids.  I love kids who have manners even more, (and I realise I sound really old with what I’m about to say but anyway….) but where have they all gone?  When did it become okay for kids to bump into their elders and not apologise and show some respect.  And when did parents forget to teach their kids these manners?

So enough of my rant for the day.  I have decided that I’m just going to hole myself up for the next couple of weeks until Xmas and New Years is over.  And I’m definately avoiding the shops that’s certain.