Walking A Mile In Another Woman's Shoes
01/27/2004 15:56 Filed in: Culture Watch
Rebuttals (we love rebuttals!) from the Maternity Zone
My blog "Smackdown in the Kroger Parking Lot" has received more feedback than any blog I've written previously. I have already shared one response at the end of yesterday's blog, but the two I've received today comes from two mothers with an opposing viewpoint. I try not to argue with mothers of any kind, so I am going to give them their own space. Then I will give some very brief commentary that hopefully won't get me smacked.
First, a response from a mother of two:
For years it always bugged me when anyone left a shopping cart anywhere
other than the corral. If I happened to park anywhere near one of these
lonely stray carts, I would also push it into the store to use myself.
However, I have to admit that since I now have small children there are
instances when I do not return the cart to its proper resting place. The
reason, you might ask? Simple! My children are worth more than a $25,000
car any day. You see normally it is quite easy for me to unload my
groceries, buckle my children in their car seats, lock the doors of the
minivan and push the cart to the corral. (Quite frankly there are people in
today's society who would report you to child services for something as
simple as that.) BUT if the corral is not very close to my car (within easy
eyesight or a few seconds sprint) I refuse to leave my children in the car
alone even if it is locked. Also, I have to say that what used to be a
severe aggravation to me now actually helps me out. I LIKE to pull into
spaces where there is a cart nearby because I can get the cart and load up
my children. That is much easier on me that carrying one child while making
sure the other has a tight hold of my coat or shirt. Believe me, I do
understand your aggravation. I used to be one that ranted on this subject.
I suppose I have just learned to mellow with my life circumstances - or
should I say my little blessings!
And now from a mother of three:
First, you are a man, thus, you suffer from tunnelvision. Don't feel bad, most men do. We all do at some point or another, just men think in straight lines while women think in circles. Let me widen your tunnel....
As a mother of three, of which at one point all three were 6 and under, it is extremely hard to get inside a grocery store, or Walmart type stores, with all the stuff. 3 young bodies, of which at least one has fallen asleep on the way to the store, a giant and bulky infant carrier with a giant and bulky infant inside it, a purse with way too much stuff stuffed in it, a baby bag with 1737 different emergency needed items in it, and of course, my half drunk soda and the boys leftover chicken McNuggets that they want to finish in the store. All of these items of which at some point in the parking lot will be grabbed by the giant infant and flung in various directions for the sake of watching the flight. So then, if said mother happens to be attempting to carry all of these things for LACK OF A LEFT BUGGY in the parking lot she must set down said infant carrier to retrieve the thrown item while dropping everything about her and her 2 sons beginning a slugfest while entering traffic.
So the obvious solution that I learned upon having my first giant infant in the giant, bulky and leaden infant carrier, was you try and park next to the cart corral. Of course the odds of getting next to the cart corral are very slim because usually a giant Wal Mart parking lot only has 2 or 3 corrals and that means about 15 spots abut the 3 corrals and in the average parking lot there are about seventeen million cars at any given time. Kroger has less, but they only have one corral.
Now also when the Kroger boy comes out to collect buggies, the first place he goes is to the corral so he can get a bunch easily and come in and show his manager he did something. So the corrals are generally empty. And if I am not close to one, I have to leave my sleeping giant infant in a car in 110 degree heat and lock the door to trot across the lot and get a buggy. You think you give mean looks to people???? Try getting one from some old lady walking by that sees you lock your kid in the car and trot away. I actually had one call the police on me once and we had a Smackdown right there....but that is another story. I called her names, she didn't like that.
So for the last 15 years of my life, when I am going to a grocery store and have a young child in the car (Andrea at 8 still falls asleep on the way to the store) I cruise the parking lot looking for spots where lazy people have left there buggies. I then pull in the spot next to the lazy persons buggy, open my doors put my giant infant and the giant carrier in the buggy along with my bags, and cokes, and toys and blankets and everything else. As the kids got older (and at present), I keep a pillow and a blanket in my trunk and throw them in the buggy and lay Andrea on it to keep sleeping and have a peaceful stroll up the produce aisle.
At some times I have parked next to a perfectly good leftover lazy person's buggy, only to have the Kroger boy jump out of no where and grab that buggy to return it to the store. Where then I'm running across the parking lot and hollering at the buggy boy to give me back my buggy---NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!
Now if I happened to be parking next to a nice lazy man who intends on leaving his buggy askew so I may then steal it and some well intentioned blonde man with a mission were to jump out and grab the lazy man's buggy and grab it with an evil stare, said well intentioned blonde man would find out what it was like to have a 35 pound baby bag with 3 bottles of apple juice, 6 diapers, 17 toys, 1 box of baby wipes and 2389 other various and sundry items impact with his left cranium. It would not be pretty......but he might find himself finding his tunnelvision had been cured just a bit.
Now one can understand what it is like to have zooming wind blown buggies impact with my very pretty green, clearcoat finished Mustang. The thing with that is just park far away from everything. After all, we are not lazy are we???? So the extra walk would do us good. I park away anyway because of cars opening there doors and dinging me. But when I have a sleeping Andrea, I opt for the dings so I can throw her in the buggy and have a happy trip. And of course there is the add in comment from my dear hubby, who is currently on crutches and says he's not about to hobble his buggy back to the corral when there is that perfectly good mom with children eyeballing his buggy from the next slot.
So, thus, my story. I hope it helps. And makes you understand a bit more how others see the world and how hopefully it will make you understand why some crazy woman smacked you in the head with her baby bag in Krogers parking lot when you were simply trying to be a good and exemplary citizen.
I suppose that the above points are valid. In spite of risking getting hit in the head by a baby bag, I think I may still go by my suggestion and take a cart in to use it. I mean some kid's going to come gather them at some point anyway. And I'm still worried about them running willy-nilly across the parking lot. And I guess from now on, I will excuse mothers with little children for leaving their carts in the parking lot. BUT... anyone else leaving their cart where it doesn't belong may look up to see me leaping from the top of a hummer after all.
My blog "Smackdown in the Kroger Parking Lot" has received more feedback than any blog I've written previously. I have already shared one response at the end of yesterday's blog, but the two I've received today comes from two mothers with an opposing viewpoint. I try not to argue with mothers of any kind, so I am going to give them their own space. Then I will give some very brief commentary that hopefully won't get me smacked.
First, a response from a mother of two:
For years it always bugged me when anyone left a shopping cart anywhere
other than the corral. If I happened to park anywhere near one of these
lonely stray carts, I would also push it into the store to use myself.
However, I have to admit that since I now have small children there are
instances when I do not return the cart to its proper resting place. The
reason, you might ask? Simple! My children are worth more than a $25,000
car any day. You see normally it is quite easy for me to unload my
groceries, buckle my children in their car seats, lock the doors of the
minivan and push the cart to the corral. (Quite frankly there are people in
today's society who would report you to child services for something as
simple as that.) BUT if the corral is not very close to my car (within easy
eyesight or a few seconds sprint) I refuse to leave my children in the car
alone even if it is locked. Also, I have to say that what used to be a
severe aggravation to me now actually helps me out. I LIKE to pull into
spaces where there is a cart nearby because I can get the cart and load up
my children. That is much easier on me that carrying one child while making
sure the other has a tight hold of my coat or shirt. Believe me, I do
understand your aggravation. I used to be one that ranted on this subject.
I suppose I have just learned to mellow with my life circumstances - or
should I say my little blessings!
And now from a mother of three:
First, you are a man, thus, you suffer from tunnelvision. Don't feel bad, most men do. We all do at some point or another, just men think in straight lines while women think in circles. Let me widen your tunnel....
As a mother of three, of which at one point all three were 6 and under, it is extremely hard to get inside a grocery store, or Walmart type stores, with all the stuff. 3 young bodies, of which at least one has fallen asleep on the way to the store, a giant and bulky infant carrier with a giant and bulky infant inside it, a purse with way too much stuff stuffed in it, a baby bag with 1737 different emergency needed items in it, and of course, my half drunk soda and the boys leftover chicken McNuggets that they want to finish in the store. All of these items of which at some point in the parking lot will be grabbed by the giant infant and flung in various directions for the sake of watching the flight. So then, if said mother happens to be attempting to carry all of these things for LACK OF A LEFT BUGGY in the parking lot she must set down said infant carrier to retrieve the thrown item while dropping everything about her and her 2 sons beginning a slugfest while entering traffic.
So the obvious solution that I learned upon having my first giant infant in the giant, bulky and leaden infant carrier, was you try and park next to the cart corral. Of course the odds of getting next to the cart corral are very slim because usually a giant Wal Mart parking lot only has 2 or 3 corrals and that means about 15 spots abut the 3 corrals and in the average parking lot there are about seventeen million cars at any given time. Kroger has less, but they only have one corral.
Now also when the Kroger boy comes out to collect buggies, the first place he goes is to the corral so he can get a bunch easily and come in and show his manager he did something. So the corrals are generally empty. And if I am not close to one, I have to leave my sleeping giant infant in a car in 110 degree heat and lock the door to trot across the lot and get a buggy. You think you give mean looks to people???? Try getting one from some old lady walking by that sees you lock your kid in the car and trot away. I actually had one call the police on me once and we had a Smackdown right there....but that is another story. I called her names, she didn't like that.
So for the last 15 years of my life, when I am going to a grocery store and have a young child in the car (Andrea at 8 still falls asleep on the way to the store) I cruise the parking lot looking for spots where lazy people have left there buggies. I then pull in the spot next to the lazy persons buggy, open my doors put my giant infant and the giant carrier in the buggy along with my bags, and cokes, and toys and blankets and everything else. As the kids got older (and at present), I keep a pillow and a blanket in my trunk and throw them in the buggy and lay Andrea on it to keep sleeping and have a peaceful stroll up the produce aisle.
At some times I have parked next to a perfectly good leftover lazy person's buggy, only to have the Kroger boy jump out of no where and grab that buggy to return it to the store. Where then I'm running across the parking lot and hollering at the buggy boy to give me back my buggy---NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!
Now if I happened to be parking next to a nice lazy man who intends on leaving his buggy askew so I may then steal it and some well intentioned blonde man with a mission were to jump out and grab the lazy man's buggy and grab it with an evil stare, said well intentioned blonde man would find out what it was like to have a 35 pound baby bag with 3 bottles of apple juice, 6 diapers, 17 toys, 1 box of baby wipes and 2389 other various and sundry items impact with his left cranium. It would not be pretty......but he might find himself finding his tunnelvision had been cured just a bit.
Now one can understand what it is like to have zooming wind blown buggies impact with my very pretty green, clearcoat finished Mustang. The thing with that is just park far away from everything. After all, we are not lazy are we???? So the extra walk would do us good. I park away anyway because of cars opening there doors and dinging me. But when I have a sleeping Andrea, I opt for the dings so I can throw her in the buggy and have a happy trip. And of course there is the add in comment from my dear hubby, who is currently on crutches and says he's not about to hobble his buggy back to the corral when there is that perfectly good mom with children eyeballing his buggy from the next slot.
So, thus, my story. I hope it helps. And makes you understand a bit more how others see the world and how hopefully it will make you understand why some crazy woman smacked you in the head with her baby bag in Krogers parking lot when you were simply trying to be a good and exemplary citizen.
I suppose that the above points are valid. In spite of risking getting hit in the head by a baby bag, I think I may still go by my suggestion and take a cart in to use it. I mean some kid's going to come gather them at some point anyway. And I'm still worried about them running willy-nilly across the parking lot. And I guess from now on, I will excuse mothers with little children for leaving their carts in the parking lot. BUT... anyone else leaving their cart where it doesn't belong may look up to see me leaping from the top of a hummer after all.