20-30 something middle-class mom and nicely turned out and very cute 6(ish?) year old daughter with fetching hat and coat. Mom’s walking her bicycle with empty child seat while the little girl was walking approx 10 yards in front of her. Mom’s working herself up to a good rant, and speeds up to the little girl who cowers and says: -
“Please don’t hit me, Mummy. Please don’t hit me”.
Mummy grabbed the girl by the arm and let her have the full spray treatment.
“Ok, ok, relax” with accompanying “keep it down” hand gesture.
Mummy stopped. Or so we thought. I think she just waited for the coast to be clear. Then she really let rip.
Punctuating every accusation with a yank to the girl’s arm, Mummy screamed in the girl’s face, “Because of YOU fiddling with your hair, WE’RE LATE! Because of YOU messing around with your coat WE’RE LATE! etc, etc…”
Then, out of nowhere, I heard, “HEY! Lady. Give the kid a break”.
There can’t have been one person on the Fields that didn’t hear that, “HEY!!” Even I was amazed.
Mummy spewed worse than any sailor I’ve ever heard. I do however recall her screaming at me, “WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?”
“A human being”. “And so is your kid”. Do we have to call the Old Bill?”
Mummy lost it.
I can’t remember exactly what was said other than, “WELL COME ON!!”. I immediately thought that I made a bit of a stupid move with that one. Sometimes, though, an invitation can be the best defence.
Mummy didn’t pick a fight with someone her own size or hang around for the police. She put her daughter on the back and cycled off into the night, shrieking “fuck you, fuck you” into the air behind her.
I couldn’t resist. I bellowed, “NICE ONE, MOM!”
Just as I was looking around, hoping no one I knew overheard my own intemperance, a lady approached me and said “I’m glad you said something”
“What gets me is that if she feels free to do that in public, imagine what happens behind closed doors”, I despaired.
“She’s scarring that girl for life”.