Here is an example of this- I was in a restaurant this weekend and at the table next to me, a mom, two kids and two older men were having dinner. The mom (and she appeared to comically fit every stereotype of the overweight, butch, barber haircut, lesbian type) kept hammering on her kids about their manners. I mean, that’s what caught my attention, not the way she looked. Elbows off, close your mouth, chew your food, stop slurping, use your napkin - it was an endless stream of orders. It was her harsh voice that caught my attention and she didn’t let up at all. Yeah, that’s ok I guess, manners are important but it seemed to be done to impress others and loud enough for most tables nearby to hear. The kids just sat there quietly on either side of her and seemed well behaved but not normal “happy to be eating out” that usually kids are.
But the real disturbing thing was that she kept referring to one little girl as “dude” and “bud.” Over and over until they left. It was clearly a girl, about 4 or 5. The other older one was gender neutral. Like.. wtf. I’ve never observed this before. Usually with kids you hear their name or some other term of affection. Dude?? Bud? Am I just completely out of the loop on this?
I kind of deduced the two other men were not parents or grandparents. They left before the mom and kids. It was just plain sad. The kids seemed to be lifeless, shells of normal kids. So depressing.
Here is an example of this- I was in a restaurant this weekend and at the table next to me, a mom, two kids and two older men were having dinner. The mom (and she appeared to comically fit every stereotype of the overweight, butch, barber haircut, lesbian type) kept hammering on her kids about their manners. I mean, that’s what caught my attention, not the way she looked. Elbows off, close your mouth, chew your food, stop slurping, use your napkin - it was an endless stream of orders. It was her harsh voice that caught my attention and she didn’t let up at all. Yeah, that’s ok I guess, manners are important but it seemed to be done to impress others and loud enough for most tables nearby to hear. The kids just sat there quietly on either side of her and seemed well behaved but not normal “happy to be eating out” that usually kids are.
But the real disturbing thing was that she kept referring to one little girl as “dude” and “bud.” Over and over until they left. It was clearly a girl, about 4 or 5. The other older one was gender neutral. Like.. wtf. I’ve never observed this before. Usually with kids you hear their name or some other term of affection. Dude?? Bud? Am I just completely out of the loop on this?
I kind of deduced the two other men were not parents or grandparents. They left before the mom and kids. It was just plain sad. The kids seemed to be lifeless, shells of normal kids. So depressing.