Entitled Parents

I was just sittin there, drinkin my coffee an waitin for my special order at the bakery, thinkin about how people fit together, or how they really don't. Then she walked in, and I knew before she even opened her mouth that my quiet morning was about to get a whole lot louder.

The sun was hot, and the big amusement park was a perfect place for me to listen to all the happy sounds of the world around me. But then, I noticed a young woman in the long Ferris wheel line who walked with a way that said, "look at me, I am the most important person here," and soon she decided she would not wait like everyone else.

I was just enjoying the big mall food court, watching people and planning little things in my mind, like how my friend Maya's niece might use the empty high chair next to me. But then, a young woman with very bright, almost jade-green eyes, arrived with her baby, and without a single word, she started to pull that very high chair away.

It was a day that already felt heavy, like wet clothes stuck to you, and I just wanted my shift to end. That's when she arrived at my customer service desk, claiming a tiny teether toy had 'traumatized' her baby and demanding a little something extra to make up for it.

It was a hot day, and I was just enjoying the long wait for my strawberry ice cream, thinking about smooth river stones. But then, a woman arrived, walking straight past everyone as if the line simply didn't exist for her.

From my usual corner table, the coffee shop’s morning hum was a familiar symphony of details, perfect for quiet observation. But the peaceful calm was about to break as a woman with a stroller zeroed in on one young man, her polite smile concealing an undeniable edge of expectation.

The coffee shop was my quiet place, where my fingers could focus on the delicate folds of a tiny paper crane, just a normal day of calm. That calm snapped, though, when a woman with a stroller the size of a small spaceship zeroed in on my table, and with a smile, she said, "Excuse me, I need this table."

My day was already bad, and all I wanted was my perfect Granny Smith apples and to get home. But then, from the bakery section, I heard a whiny voice talking about a cake that was "not right."

By the time I found myself in the grocery store checkout line, all I wanted was to grab my items, pay, and escape back to the quiet of my apartment. But just as I settled in, a woman in a perfectly styled blazer decided to bypass the line entirely, striding right to the front of my lane.

I was just minding my own business at the grocery store, caught in the eternal struggle of organic versus regular apples. But then a loud voice pierced through my apple contemplation, and it was clear someone thought the world owed them more than just a good price on produce.

I wuz just tryin to git sum new socks on a busy Satarday afternune, mindin my own business in the big blue store. That’s when I heard a loud sound and a little kid cryin, and saw a woman already talkin real loud to a store worker.

I was just looking for new socks in the big, bright store, hoping to get home quickly before too many people gathered. But then, just as it was my turn, a woman with a baby pushed her stroller right up beside me and cleared her throat, very loud.