There are two lines at my local post office. One is for passports and buying stamps. The other is for all other stuff. Of course, I had to mail a package, and my line had about 40 people in it. The passports line had about 5 people in it.

I was standing in line, right next to the passport desk. A kid about 14-15 years old was applying for a passport with his driver's permit. He was with his mother. While they were being helped, the mother's phone rang, and she answered it. She started gabbing about stupid stuff to whomever was on the other end of the line, and she went on and on. Finally, the kid got to the point where all he needed on the application was her signature, and he tugged on her sleeve to get her attention. The mother made a movement at her son while yelling at him, "Don't you DARE bother me when I'm talking on the phone!" Never mind the fact that there were 4-5 people in line behind her waiting for her to get off the phone. The kid had a legitimate point.

The reason why I was triggered was because when she made the movement towards her son, the kid visibly flinched. He recoiled from her at least a foot, and he put his arm up to block the potential blow. His eyes remained closed for a full ten seconds after it was clear that she wasn't going to hit him.

I flinched with him. I thought she was going to clobber him, but it turns out, that is exactly what my mother used to do to me. She would psych me out just like that, and then she'd hit me sometimes anyway after I opened my eyes.

PTSD is a bitch sometimes.

Bryan

Sounds like a mother that doesn't give a dam about anyone but herself. My mother was the same way. Never know when she was going to over react.


Tom

Bryan,
I always find myself sadly unsurprised when i witness examples of sheer selfishness like what you describe- and equally frustrated when i have to yet again cope with both my sympathy for the victims of whatever the current situation is, and my own amplified reaction to same... "shouldering it" is an often daily occurrence, through nobody's fault in particular...
Thanks for bearing eloquent witness to both what we see, and how it affects us more than others may imagine, or care to.

Add my mother to this list.

Sound to me like this woman needs to have a visit from child protive services. Because if she were not in a public place she probaly would of hit the kid. No child should live in fear.
Unfortunately Most People do not have the "Balls" to turn in someone like this. Or they just do not care.

Never in my life, have I witnessed a child being hit, or even being threatened with such. Maybe I'm just not paying close enough attention, but I doubt it.

"Hey girl, instead of threating to hit your kid, why don't you get off the damned phone and have some respect for these good people standing patiently in line behind you"!

Bryan, you got me thinking, if I EVER see something like this happen in public, I'm calling it. I'm gonna say something.

Bryan,

PTSD is the result of what happened to you; I would reserve the term "bitch" for that cow in the Post Office.

Much love,
Larry