Tonight's photo: The hustle and bustle of my dynamic, on-the-move suburbMaybe it was just me being over sensitive, but this afternoon I had an overwhelming urge to thump the father of a young schoolgirl.
He had obviously collected the little girl, (aged about seven) from school and the two of them were walking home. Mums or dad walking their kids home from school is a common sight and normally rather cute. Not this time however.
You see, normally mums and dads take notice of the children they brought into the world.
This little girl was trudging wearily alongside her dad. She had one of those ridiculous backpacks that schools for reasons known only to themselves, deem necessary for a child's education. She was also carrying two plastic bags of groceries. Trying to catch her dad's attention she was shouting, "Anyway, the thing is dad..." and "dad, dad?".
The empty handed dad was listening - but not to his daughter. He was wearing headphones with classical music playing so loud that even though I was walking about 2 yards behind them, I could hear it clearly.
The little girl persisted. Not content with ignoring her however, he started walking about 5 yards ahead as she struggled along behind with a shrug of her shoulders.
When we came to a very busy roundabout with traffic coming from four directions, the bastard didn't even take any of the bags off her to take hold of her hand. He just kept walking ahead without so much as a backward glance to see if she was ok.
This was peak-hour and that roundabout is dangerous at the best of times. It has no pedestrian crossing and you can not see the cars coming from behind you until they are right on the roundabout. On top of that cars often do not signal when turning left.
When Mel came here from the U.S. I made sure I was holding her hand when we crossed that road - especially as she is not used to cars driving on the "wrong side of the road." Mind you, I held her hand whenever I didn't need my hands for anything else - but you know what I mean!
I don't know a great deal about kids, but I do know that seven year olds coming out of school are excited and want to tell mum and/or dad all about their day. Yes, I guess it can get boring and repetitive, but the vast majority at least make an effort and respond with appropriate noises.
Maybe I am being harsh on the man. Maybe he was having a bad day.
Maybe pigs will fly.
Wherever you may be - be safe
Especially you little one.
