Just Plain Rude (Or Mandi's On Her Soapbox Again)

We were in the waiting room of a radiology place this morning and, because I knew we'd be there a while, I'd thrown some colouring/puzzle books and pencils into my bag for the kids. They were so perfectly behaved and I was so proud of them - no fighting, yelling, pointing, staring, etc. Yes, we'd drummed it into them during the car-ride but still, I was happy.

It's a pretty big clinic with several areas to wait and as you check in at the desk you're directed to a particular area. My girl was sitting on the floor colouring and my boy was sitting on the chair next to me looking at a car magazine when three women came into the section we were in. There were only two spare chairs and as I went to ask him to hop off his chair he was already sliding off and getting comfy on the floor. Again with the Mummy-pride. I smiled a the lady nearest me, nodding towards the empty chair to indicate that it was free. And without returning my smile, nodding at my boy or indicated in any way at all that he'd just hopped up for her she sat down and carried on her conversation with the two other women who were now spread across the area.

I was kinda gobsmacked to be honest. I'm all for kids giving up seats for adults. But I also think that common courtesy dictates that the child is thanked for doing so. How on earth are we supposed to reinforce good behaviour if we don't even acknowledge it?  For every rotten, spoilt, no-good kid that gets talked about I guarantee I can find you an equally rude adult who lacks basic manners. Just because it's a child not another adult doesn't give you a free 'rude' pass.

We talked about it in the car later and I told my boy that I was proud of him for giving up his seat and I was disappointed that the lady he stood up for didn't even say thankyou. He told me he knew that standing up for an adult was the right thing to do and that's why he'd done it. As for the lady involved not thanking him? As he said, that's just rude.