The irony isn’t lost on me, but it may be lost on you. I’m treating you exactly the way you treated the woman in the OP.
So, what did you get out of our conversation?
That sounded like kids being kids to me. I doubt the vets there gave a fuck.
You shouldn’t drive SUV’s.
The car in question, despite it’s (optional) 7-seat capacity is one of the smaller SUVs on the road.
Does it really matter? But I guess I’ll explain. I coach high school debate, so I’m constantly carting teens around. It helps to have a bigger car. I’m also the non drinker, designated driver among my friends (especially on long trips), so that helps. Also because of the debate thing, I’m regularly filling my car with huge things of bottled water, snacks, etc. The SUV is helpful.
It says the car is seven seats, but let me explain: it has two front seats (naturally), a row of back seats, and then a fold down row in the way back. You can shove people back there if you really want to, but there is literally no leg room and it would be a tight fit. People regularly comment on the fact that I’ve got a smaller SUV.
Am I spoiled? I pay for the car myself. I work for the money I use to pay that payment with. I mean, my dad cosigned for the car, as I have little credit, but he did that so I can establish some credit.
I guess if paying for your own car makes you spoiled, then sure, I’m spoiled. I would shove my daddy’s suv up my ass, as per suggested earlier in the thread, but his SUV is at his house. It’s a large, 94 Ford Explorer and, honestly, I don’t think I can fit that in my ass anyway. Plus, I doubt he’d appreciate that.
The days of using the Utne Reader for bait are past. Try using an audiotape of Air America.
I have to sympathize with the OP from the standpoint that each year children in public places (movie theatres, restaurants, museums, you name it) seem to be more and more out of control of their parents, running wild with no real chance of discipline or correction. In the most recent incident I had at a memorial I was visiting, a 4 or 5-year old ran their bicycle straight towards me, intending to miss me closely I reckon, and clipped me with the handlebars, putting a decent bruise on my hip. His mother, who was walking behind him, said “Jeremy! You apologize!” and the kid yelled “NO!” and took off. The mother just kept on following, not saying another word, but staring me boldly in the eye as if daring me to say something. I didn’t say anything, actually, just tried to make my hip stop hurting.
So what’s the solution? We just accept that kids are free to do what they will and injure us, under the eye of their mentally absentee parents? People can talk big on a message board about creative ways, straight out of a child psych textbook, to handle situations like this - but how about in real life?
Everyone (or almost everyone) agrees it’s a problem, but no one has a solution. Or else they nitpick any and all suggested solutions. If what the OP related was accurate, then maybe it worked in that case. I don’t have the solution. I’m no expert. In fact, I know less than nothing since I do not and will never have children. I don’t know the best way to handle other people’s Kids Gone Wild. And I can’t really give Diosa any grief over it.
And enviro-people (not necessarily “hippies”) give me grief over my Mustang GT, which gets about 18mpg, until I tell them that I only fill it up once every two weeks. People don’t seem to want to take all the facts in before they make a decision. Usually, because they’re stupid, ignorant, or just brain-dead tired of living and running out the clock until death. Who knows?
Except that, in this case at least, that wasn’t what you did. You made a critical remark to your companion that was not intended to be overheard by the offending party. When she did happen to overhear it, you at least had the forthrightness to back it up to her face. It’s respectable that you did that, but it’s quite a different story than if you had simply confronted the woman directly about her kids’ behavior.
Bear in mind that I’m a European, so to me your car looks fucking enormous and absurdly luxurious, but I’ve had my dad co-sign a car on my behalf too, and if you can afford it (presuming you came up with the downpayment too) I withdraw the ‘spoilt’ comment. You have your own priorities for what to do with your money, and who am I to tell you not to do it? I should instead commend you for your decision to go for a hybrid engine.
The last time I was in Oxford I saw many, many Land Rovers that were much bigger than a Toyota Highlander. I think the picture may be a bit misleading.
Good timing – I had a “nosy bitch gets comeuppance” situation last night.
(Quick backstory – my daughter does not breast feed. She spent quite awhile in the NICU after she was born, and never really developed a bonding for her mom’s boob. Hence, she gets formula. Anyway…)
We were running low on powdered baby formula, so I had to run out to Acme and pick up a can. Apparently the area we’re living in has had a bit of a formula shoplifting problem in the past, because they keep the cans behind the customer service counter – you have to go up and ask for it.
In this scene, we have myself, the cashier, and the stupid nosy-ass ignorant lady who was standing behind me in line. To give you some perspective of this woman, she was going to cash in her ticket from the CoinStar machine in order to buy scratch-off lottery tickets. Anyway:
Me: A can of Similac Isomil Soy Formula, please. [note: Soy formula does not make my daughter a filthy hippie]
Cashier: $24.99 please.
SN-AIL: Wow! That stuff is expensive!
Me: Mmm hmmm. <swipes debit card>
SN-AIL: I’m glad I didn’t have to pay for that stuff for my babies!
Me: Mmm hmmm. <punches in PIN code>
SN-AIL: I can’t see why anyone would pay for that stuff when you can feed 'em for free!
Me: Mmm hmmm. <gets confirmation of payment>
SN-AIL: Because that’s a lot of money, you know?
Me: Mmm hmmm. <takes bag from cashier>
SN-AIL: So why doesn’t you breast feed your baby?
Me: Because I don’t produce much breast milk, and my wife died in childbirth, thank you very much. <walks out leaving SN-AIL sputtering to herself>
Of course, now my wife thinks I’ve jinxed her to die in childbirth the next time we have a baby. Ah well. The moral? If you breast feed, that’s just super for you. But if you want to tell others to do so, without knowing the reasoning behind the bottle feeding, kindly fuck right the fuck off.
If you’re bringing your SUV on your daily subway ride, then I think it’s OK to be obnoxious and rude to you.
It was good of you, DiosaBellissima, to buy a vehicle that gets great gas mileage. You are to be commended for conserving fuel. Also your low emissions bode well for you in any afterlife. That said,
**I HATE HIGH PROFILE VEHICLES **
that make it impossible to see the road ahead at a great enough distance to drive defensively.To me it seems that most people who drive those fucking tanks don’t really need that much machine. They just want the world to know how big and important they are. “Look at me! I can take up twice as much space as you!” Time was people only drove trucks (and that is what SUVs really are) when they actually needed them for work. If they had to haul kids and sports equipment they drove a station wagon, which was still a car with low enough windows you could see through them to the car ahead of them. There were few trucks around and driving for most of us was not such a trial. Now it seems that every third vehicle on the road is as big as a bus. Just not necessary, ya know?
As to the kids roughhousing at the memorial, you were right on. Trouble is, parents don’t dare to spank their brats anymore (at least not in public) because some bureaucrat might charge the parents with abuse and take their kids away from them. What a world!
Wow, it really feels good to let out a little steam! Please don’t yell at me. I mean well. 
Even though the mother shouldn’t have let her children go berserk, I think you were a bit too smug and condescending with your reply to her. The truth doesn’t always have to hurt. I’m glad you said something, but I don’t agree with the execution.
I had a friend who prided herself on “telling it like it is”. Funny, she often had a hard time “giving it like it is” when the criticism was on her. If you were in fact driving a gas guzzler, wouldn’t the hippie’s remark still bug the shit out of you? I think you probably would, because he would have still been up in your business and still been rude in his delivery. No one likes a self-righteous loudmouth. I think you acted like one to the young mother, whether you intended to or not.
Largo, I hate high-profile vehicles too. They keep me from seeing on-coming traffic when I’m trying to turn and make it harder for me to scan the road ahead for potential dangers. My hate for them has nothing to do with their gas consumption, since my Mustang gobbles its fair share. I just hate unnecessarily humongo vehicles.
I’m just the opposite. I hate all of those small cars that I can’t see when I’m changing lanes, for example, while in my high profile vehicle. Usually my first indication they are there is that horrible crunching sound as I run right over them.
You may be correct about the relative size of the Highlander, but “many, many”? I see three or four a day, but then I drive 30-something miles to and from work. And Land Rovers are more like boxy cars on high suspension - though you might mean Range Rovers. I occasionally see a Porsche SUV on the highway too, and there’s one old Discovery where I work. But not many, many, IMO.
Nonsense. Children today behave pretty much the same as they always have, including you when you were a kid. There will always be old people bitching that “kids today are no good,” but that’s been the case for thousands of years and always will be.
Diosa, I love your SUV. Hybrids are good, no matter what the hedge-smoking tree-huggers say about SUVs in general. I also admire your education of that idiot parent. Too many people just wait for somebody else to say something. Thank you for speaking out.
You’re right, I did mean Range Rovers, though it should be noted that the Highlander is STILL smaller than the Land Rover Discovery. Last time I was in England I saw a ton of the Range Rovers on the road.
The Highlander is on a car chassis, and is one of the smaller SUVs on the market.
While I’m aware of the fact that every civilization since Roman times has decried the problems of the youth of the day, I really believe that things are much, much worse nowadays than when I was young. I’m not presenting facts to back this, just my opinion.
Just curious - do you have kids? I wonder if children seem more obnoxious to people who aren’t parents. IIRC, more people are opting not to have kids these days, so if there are more of you comparing notes it might magnify your overall impression.