Friday, December 26, 2008

Just stupid

I was waiting for Jay in the mall. We were supposed to meet at 5:00 and it was half past and he hadn't showed up yet. Obviously this being two days before Christmas, streets and malls were overcrowded and through his every 5 minute reports on the phone, I knew that he was stock in the traffic somewhere. I had been wandering around in the mall and was getting tired , so I looked for a place to sit till Jay arrives.
I spotted a seat near the Santa stop where kids were standing in a line to take a picture with Santa and tell him what they wish to receive for the Christmas. As I was walking towards the seat, I was wondering if any of these kids' parents would go and talk to the Santa later to figure out what their kids have wished for. Or maybe they've already bought the gifts knowing what they want?!
This year , it seemed, they had added a new feature to the Santa stop! There was a closed area where parents could leave their children with two young women in red suits and go shopping for half an hour without dragging the kids along and in the meanwhile the kids could engage in a competition of making a LEGO model and winning prizes from Santa himself!
My seat was close to a group of kids who were getting really excited over the competition. While I was thinking how beautiful all this is, an annoyed and draggy voice behind me said : "This is just stupid!" Oh, I know this kind of tone very well. It belongs to a spoiled, rotten kid whose parents have not taught him how to behave , I thought to myself. And once more I was reminded of one of many reasons why I DON'T like children! The kid looked like a hopeless case. Apparently he couldn't figure out how to put the pieces together and instead of trying harder - this was what other kids where doing- he was just nagging. One of the girls in the red suit went to him with a smile and tried to show him how to put things together but the kid was already fed up with the game and wanted his prize from Santa! "We all get our prizes from Santa once we're done making the models. Do you want Santa to show you how to do it?", asked the girl in a very kind and enthusiastic tone.
I lost track of what they did and what the kid replied when Jay called me again to tell me that he'd be at the mall in 15 minutes. Once I looked back the kid was making another model with a very cute girl who seemed to know how to deal with Lego models pretty well since she was doing it so fast and was just telling the boy which pieces they needed next. By this time most of the parents had come back - apparently they could leave their children there for up to half an hour, maybe just enough time for them and the kids to take a break- and were waiting for their children to finish the competition. I noticed a lady with two Gucci and Armani shopping bags (they are very noticeable bags!) who was looking around. She saw her son and called him. "Colin" was the boy I was observing all this time. "Mom! I'm not done yet." he replied as he turned back to grab one of the pieces. "Daddy is waiting for us outside, you've played enough! Daddy would be upset if you're late.", she said in a firm voice. The boy looked at his mom and in a pleading voice asked for just 5 more minutes but she did not let him stay. When they were leaving the boy was at the verge of crying and while looking behind he said: " I didn't finish the game, what about my prize?" and as she held his hand she said: "It's just a stupid game!"
When Jay showed up, I didn't tell him about the boy. It would have made me even more upset to tell him the story.

2 comments:

Maryam said...

:(
What a shame! After reading it I felt a deep sorrow and pity for that kid. I was wondering if he could ever forget it. Just the moment he was detecting the joy of that game and believing that he could do it and it was not a stupid one...

And as ever you have narrated it very well.

علی فتح‌اللهی said...

Copying Stupidity from Generation to Generation, ... please wait, 58% ...

hey this is how human beings survive you know. never changes