Wednesday, February 6, 2008

Obnoxious and Inexcusable OR Money Can't Buy Class

Today, was the most uncomfortable speech therpay session so far.

During the different (group, class, and individual) parts of therapy parents and professors get to watch and listen through two-way mirrored glass. (Sometimes it feels like you are seeing the future and your child is being interrogated by the police.)

Well, obviously, during the group and class sessions there are other parents (moms) in the observation room with you. We have all been sitting together in that room for a month now. Everyone except me has been sitting there together since August. You chat. You get to know people. Which is why the following upset me so much.

There we were today watching our children try to read the word face (spelled fais, face, and fays!) when a mom I did not know came in. She was friends with two of the other moms that I did know. First of all they were too chatty. If I wasn't there to observe Grant and learn something from it, I would be off doing the million errands I need to get done. - not sitting here wasting my time. Then it gets worse. These women go on and on and on about which gym has the best sauna and how cute their new trainer is, and which one is going to which exotic vacation spot next and OMG therewasNOendtotheobnoxiousness! I was so embarrassed. There are two very sweet, smart women in there who, it is obvious, struggle financially largely due to the plight of their children. They have medical bills piling up, they are homeschooling their other children (and doing a damn good job of it). One of them was just telling us on Monday how her minivan needs a new engine and they can NOT afford it. Honestly, I am probably closer in financial well being to the obnoxious women than the other women and even I was about to crawl out of my skin with annoyance. Do some people just have no situational awareness? Or compassion? Do they not realize how ridiculous and shallow they sound? Oh, and THEN they all got out their iphones to compare what color their protector sleeve thingies were and THEN tried out each other ringers and shit! Are you kidding me? How old are you??? Do you remember where you are?

And, the icing on the cake? One of the snooty stupid women kept talking about the weird neighbor with an "Emma" for a pet. I could not figure out what the hell she was talking about. Later I realized she meant an EMU! If you are going to be an obnoxious, snooty asshole, could you at least have a decent vocabulary?

I almost forgot to tell you this part...During Grant's individual therapy they were working on the "L" sound. She showed him a picture of a lock. Grant says, "yea, my dad has a lock on his gun so I wont accidentally shoot people." Holy Crap!!!!!! Does she know that the only reason there is a gun in our house is because of something to do with one of my husband's jobs? Does she know this gun is not technically ours? Does she know I am for gun control??? OMG she must think we are some kind of Texas native, concelaed permit carrying, gun collecting red necks!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Does she know that my husband was on an Olympic development pistol team? That he is a nut-job about gun safety? I MUST find a way to let her know...Kids, they say the darndest things!

6 comments:

Annie, The Evil Queen said...

I imagine that in Texas, this comment doesn't even warrant notice. Guns are a way of life.

As to the obnoxious women, the thought that it would make anyone else uncomfortable probably never crossed their minds. I find living here that I fluctuate wildly from well off to quite poor in a single day depending on my whereabouts. Normal for you is normal. If they've never really had to struggle, they may not even be able to conceptualize "can't pay to have it fixed". It's amazing the bubbles some folks live in.

MaryB said...

I just cannot understand that. Thew bubble thing. I have, admittedly, grown up in an upper middle class world of private schools and the like. I live relatively the same life now as an adult. We live fairly comfortably and most of our friends even more so. If I can still be aware of my luck in life and be grateful for it and aware that not everyone has had the same advatages in life that I have had....WHY can't these types of obnoxious people? I mean they were participating in the whole van convo...Who isnt aware enough to "know their audience?" Or, is it, even worse, that it makes them feel big and sassy to subvertly brag about their status? AND who knows how many of them are living WELL beyond their means. ( I hppen to know at least one of them is) I just felt icky like I needed to apologize for them...IT is just like the time at the nail salon the day that the woman was complaining that you just cant find a good handbag for under $1000 anymore and how you used to be able to get one for around $600. She was saying this to a nail technician!!!! People can be such dolts!

Tracy said...

You can surely tell where you live. In my experiences. 90% of those people are flaunting all of their crap because they really can't afford it, so they have to make sure everyone sees what they do have. AND HELLO! Aren't you behind a two way mirror so you can watch your kids? It doesn't sound as if they were too interested in their kids and seemed to be making it difficult for you and your friends to learn and watch you kids. There are so many people out there without any S.A.

Anything is Possible said...

Really? Someone can find a decent handbag for around $1000? That just seems so cheap for a really good handbag. HA!

You all know I love to shop, right? I can't even imagine spending that much money on a purse. Even if I had $1000 to spend on a purse, I couldn't do it.

I'm embarrassed for those chicks. Someone has to be, right? They probably think the rest of us are just too 'real'. I'm so glad they aren't hanging out in Bug's speech therapy waiting room. Last week, one of the moms told me her daughter has brain cancer, 20% of which is inoperable. The little girl's twin brother has had multiple surgeries for a cleft palate. They are only six years old. I probably would've bludgeoned someone for trying to make her feel bad about her life.

SLynnRo said...

This is another one of those "makes me scared to become a parent" moments. Because I would have said something insane. I'm not very good at censoring.

Tess said...

These situations make me SO ANGRY. I try to take the high road and feel sorry for them, but I always come back around to ANGRY.