hell hath no fury like a woman thorned
On Sunday, I spent a couple of hours with some other residents picking up trash in the city as part of earth day activities. It’s kind of a daunting task because there was so much more to do and it would take a month of Sundays to even make a dent in the problem. It felt good, though, minus the prickly thorns that jabbed at me and left scratches all over my arms. Those were a bitch. Afterwards I was inspired to do some raking and sweeping up of my property and pick up some trash near our corner. My tenant and her daughter were outside planting flowers at the same time, which was pleasant. We all get along quite well in our cute neighborhood. They put some of their potted plants up my side of the porch steps, which I found incredibly sweet.
A bit later on, they had gone inside and I was still sweeping, because I have a rather gargantuan sidewalk and live on a corner lot. I heard that familiar sound of plastic big wheel tires on pavement. I turned to see a small child riding a little plastic toy car that was even smaller than a big wheel, flying down our one-way street through an intersection — without stopping. The cross street is quite busy, and there are times when people fly through without obeying the stop sign. Also, this car was tiny and going incredibly fast, so it would have been easy for someone not to see it coming. This happened a few more times with a different kid on the little car each time. Then I heard my tenant around the corner chiding the children, but to no avail as a few minutes later the car came flying down the street again. My tenant came around the back to ask if I’d seen the kids. I talked about how I didn’t know what to do or if anything I would say would make a difference.
She walked back in the house and I saw the car gliding down the street towards the intersection again. I felt my mother rise up out of me as I walked to where the kids were standing to tell them to stop what they were doing right now. I was very angry and you could hear it in my voice. After I finished my spirited lecture, one of the kids said to the other, “Ok, don’t do it anymore,” and I walked away. There was a couple on the other side of the street working on their yardwork, too, and they had been watching the whole thing and hadn’t said a word, but watched as I explained how dangerous the intersection was to the kids. I could feel /see by their reaction (nodding heads) that they had agreed with me, but I was still upset that they, who were closer to the action, hadn’t said anything the first 3 or 4 times the kids came flying down the hill.
Later, Matt said that it could be a New England thing. People stay out of each other’s business. I’d like to think that I stay out of people’s business, but this kind of thing just bugs me on a human level. It doesn’t matter if they are your kids or not. You are allowed to yell at other people’s children when they are unsupervised and doing something quite dangerous. There is no law against human decency.
So I guess I’m that lady now….
Yesterday afternoon I caught the same kids darting out into traffic. I had to stop in the middle of the street so they could cross it.
daily life, holyoke | sighclub April 24, 2007
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By Heather B, April 24, 2007 @ 10:37 am
This reminds me of the time I discovered the neighbor kids playing with big, shiny kitchen knives in their back yard, unsupervised as usual. The kids were straddling some deck railing, repeatedly stabbing the frightening looking knives into the railing itself. And I thought their habit of jumping up and down on their minivan roof was bad.
By Brittnie, April 24, 2007 @ 1:12 pm
It’s not just about yelling at children. There is a famous case of a woman murdered in New York. Dozens of people heard her screams, and some turned their lights on, but they ultimately did nothing. The killer returned after being scared away to finish the job because nobody called the police or came to help her.
By kristen, April 24, 2007 @ 4:31 pm
I have heard about that. it’s mentioned in the tipping point, which you should read. Patrick who I used to work with still has my copy.
By jamie, April 26, 2007 @ 12:33 am
the women’s name was kitty genovese or s-tg. her story is often associated with a popular social psych phenomenon called diffusion of responsibility. i’m glad you’re not a “social loafer.” that’s the kristen i know and love. take the power back!
By mirabar, May 17, 2007 @ 1:40 pm
in our neighborhood, when the kids are swearing in the playground across the street, one of us goes over and tells them to pipe down. I remember it used to embarrass me when my dad did that to other kids we saw in the playground…but now I’m glad he did.