Last week in the grocery store produce department, there was a dad with a passle of pre-teen boys - the dad, of course was shopping - the boys - they were checking out the Roma tomatoes - pick up one, squeeze it a little, pick up another, look seriously at the back of the store, like they wanted to see if they could pitch one back to the seafood department!
And it just popped out of my mouth: "You boys PUT THOSE TOMATOES DOWN! Nobody wants to buy tomatoes after you stand there and squeeze them!"
They looked a little shocked...who was this strange lady admonishing them - then guilty - by this time Dad was headed off to the deli - the offending parties skittered off behind him.
Is it just me? I seem to be less and less willing to stand by in cases of "bad behavior" The weekend before the 4th of July, the new neighbors were having a party. Their college-age son and his friends were lighting off M-80s (illegal fireworks in these parts - bought on our nearby Indian reservation). After our six hour trip home from my brother-in-law's funeral, we were in no mood for the BOOM, BOOOM, BOOM BOOOOM- besides that they were scaring the sheep. But you know what? Come to find out, these guys had been doing this all afternoon - not one neighbor had stepped in to ask them to stop - not the horsey people on the corner - not the llama lady across the street.
Well, we did - we walked over to their house and politely asked them to stop - which they did for a couple of hours, but when they started in again at a quater after ten, I called the sheriff - ordinarily they wouldn't have responded, but when I mentioned the fact that the neighbor had told me that they had bought the fireworks out on the res - that was good enough for the dispatcher and she sent out a deputy. I think they figured out my "no tolerance" policy...
So, where to from here? Is there a chain email that explains "how to be a biddy in ten steps or less" (send this to ten of your friends or biddy-dom will befall you) - Roget's Thesaurus lists the following synonyms for biddy: bag, battle-ax, beldam, crone, fishwife, fury, gorgon, harpy, harridan, Jezebel, Medusa, ogress, shrew, slattern, sorceress, termagant, virago, vixen, witch -those are kind of harsh -
Dictionary.com defines biddy as a fussbudget, esp. a fussy old woman. - not so bad, I think, or as an old friend of mine would say -"I resemble that remark"
"Mom, I don't think you're a fussbudget - in fact that's a funny word isn't it"
Why thank you Neelix - that's very nice of you to come to my defense - you can stop laughing now...
9 comments:
Okay, you got me. What WHAT?
Oops - my title got published before my blog entry was finished - "blush" - T.
It is NOT biddy-dom. It is a decision, perhaps subconscious, not to tolerate those things which are intolerable! Women of a certain age are no longer required to put up with certain intolerable things ... and sometimes it just sneaks up on you.
Could also be a lack of hormones, another interesting fact of life for women of a certain age. :)
Well, I know I'm younger than you, but according to your post I've been a biddy for a LOOONG time! I have never been one to tolerate intolerable behavior without comment, and probably would have "saved the tomatoes," too! Fortunately, when I intervene with children of church friends (usually when those friends aren't around to see what their kids are doing), they thank me. "It takes a village to raise a child" and all that. And I hope that others do the same when Brian is out of my sight!
Well, Tina...you're in good company! There's a bunch of us who are standing up for coutesy and good manners. I think all of us our age were brought up respectful of others and "things", like tomatoes. I could go on a soapbox about all of this - starting with kids left at home, but I won't. :)
Hang in there...you are NOT alone!
And I think Robin's right...we've just aged enough to appreciate good behavior in others!
My mother said she loved the crone's advantage - she no longer cared what people thought about her. There has to be something good about aging.
I thought biddies had something to do with baby chickens. Hmm. Well, you were clucking like a mother hen at those tomato boys.
My DH and I are with you on the bad behaviour of young poeple these days. I think it is the sad consequence of constantly catering to their whims and wishes and not teaching them self discipline. My DH won't hesitate to go say something to folks. But in his case, I believe the proper term in "fuddy dud."
I have to say that I think us baby boomers, have over induldged our children to point where they are selfish, self centered and just down right RUDE. They have some sense of entitlement that everything should be handed to them and the world is all about THEM. What on earth happened to good manners, well behaved children who could have fun and not destroy property and everyone else's peace of mind. I wonder what their childres will turn out like? I don't think your reaction to the kids with tomatoes or the firecrackers was out of line. If someone doesn't stand up and speak out they might all turn into Brittney Spears and we all know what a lovely adult and mother she is.
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