As the title says, I was on the subway the other day and saw three of the worst behaved children I have seen in all my years of riding the TTC.
Yeah, I’ve seen a couple before that.. you know, the ones who whine for no reason, start crying, kicking, screaming, and trying to do acrobatics with the poles on the train.. but these three blond devils took the cake.
The oldest girl was perhaps 8, the second oldest girl was 6 and the youngest boy was 3.
They did all of the following:
- Throw themselves OFF the seats in a rage and start kicking, screaming, wriggling and throwing a tantrum on the floor of the subway train because they didn’t get what they wanted (eww..gross..)
- Tried to stick their little feet in between the gap of the train and the platform of the subway stations when the doors were opening or closing
- Tried to stick their hands into the doors of the subway train while it was moving to pry the doors open
- Jumped all over the seats like it was a playground while the train was moving
- Used the poles like monkey bars and stripper poles (no better way to describe this)
- Screamed like banshees
- Sat on top of the backs of the chairs and rode it like a pirate ship (see image below)
Here’s my artist’s rendition of what they did:
(Original image via)
..and their useless, idiot parents?
They sat there. Doing nothing.
Not even saying anything like:
Lauren (one of the actual girl’s name), sit down properly and get off those seats!!
NOTHING.
NADA.
They were smiling at their kids, pretending like it was totally normal to have raised 3 devils showing complete disrespect on the train, tramping their dirty boots all over the seats that people would have to use later on (now you know why your coat is filthy after a week on the train).
EVERYONE on the train was staring at them in disbelief.
No one could believe their parents would just sit there, smiling, not saying a word and completely okay with the train jerking back and forth between stops, while their kids ran around with the potential of cracking their heads open.
Other kids were also staring at them wide-eyed, probably thinking:
DAMN! If I did that, I am not sure I’d make it off this train alive.
It became SO BAD that the TTC operator who stuck his head out of the window to check for passengers, caught sight of it and said on the speakerphone:
Get down off those seats!
It wasn’t until he said that, that their idiot, shameless, humiliation-proofed mother came over and tried to corral her devils by hugging them and speaking to them softly about not doing what they had been doing for the past 8 stations with nary a peep.
The father? Where was he in all of this?
He leaned back in his chair, closed his eyes and pretended like he didn’t care. Or maybe he just gave up.
I don’t even know if these parents have the ability to feel shame or humiliation at what they have raised as “children”, but I can tell you that she MAY have started to feel some sort of shame because we were just staring at them like it was impossible to believe.
I have never, ever, seen such badly behaved and raised children in my life, not to mention that what they were doing was DANGEROUS to boot, while on a moving train.
Even in Paris, Madrid, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing, Singapore and basically anywhere in the world I have been to (except the United States) on the trains, I never once saw children do anything like what they get away with here.
Honestly. NEVER.
After that happened, I looked down at my baby bump and said:
Baby, you pay close attention to what just happened through the bellybutton peephole, because that will NEVER EVER be you, as long as you are my child.
Those antics will not be happening on my watch.
Have the parents just given up?
Are they actually condoning and PROUD of this behaviour?
I have no idea what goes on in their heads while they are watching their children behave so inappropriately.
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Update: Every parent should read this article, shared by Morgaine in the comments: How and why to be the meanest mom in the world.
