Parents who let their toddlers ride scooters around crowded indoor shops... what is wrong with you?
Like seriously, wtf? You wanna teach your kid to ride a scooter, great, go find a quiet stretch of road and give them a goddamn helmet. Why the fuck is your child zipping around the grocery store, on a literal vehicle, while you stand there with a smile on your face? Why is the scooter indoors in the first place? Why are you even letting your child get away from you, and enter the personal space of strangers?
Almost got hit by a little kid at the dollar store today, just zipping down the three-foot-wide aisle on his scooter while mom and dad casually watched. No reaction from them afterwards. What? What if I hadn't seen him? What if I'd had mobility issues and been unable to jump out of the way? What if he'd injured me, or worse, himself? Why didn't the employees say anything?
When I was six, my mom took me to Walmart to run some errands, and I noticed the toy section a few aisles down. Before she could even say anything I was sprinting towards the Lego, and ran right into an elderly man's cart as he was rounding the corner. After making sure that both of us were okay, my mom spent the next five minutes apologizing profusely, dragged my ass out of the store, yelled at me the entire ride home, and sent me to my room for the rest of the night. You know, like a parent does when their child misbehaves, and should know better? Because "don't run indoors" is one of the first things you teach a kid? And you dumbasses bring your kids in with a scooter???
I grew in a mid-sized town outside the GTA, so maybe this is just a big city thing? Toronto is a melding pot, and the mixing of people from different cultures with different childhood experiences is a part of what makes this city so great. But things like safety and consideration for others aren't negotiable, no matter what lens you're coming at life from. Kids are kids, they do dumb shit and don't consider the consequences. That stuff has to be taught to them. You know, basic decency and respect for the people around them. What the fucking fucking fuck? I feel like I see a toddler on a scooter in basically every other store these days. What are you parents even doing? In what universe is it acceptable to encourage that?
Might be an overreaction, but I'm just so fed up with the lack of common sense, or basic manners, or just an overall sense of propriety in this city lately—and this scenario feels like a perfect representation. And these jackasses are doing everything in their power to make sure the next generation is just as stupid. Do you want your kid to become one of those dipshit adults weaving their e-bike through crowds on the sidewalk? Do you even care? How the fuck does your brain even work? How do you think society works? What the fuck?