So, during my time selling TVs at Best Buy, I've noticed a trend in the family groups that come in. It troubling to me, but this trend seems to be so prevalent and so commonplace that no one else seems to notice. Here's what happens: a parent will come in with their kid(s) and start looking around. At some point, the kid (as kids do) will get cranky and start yelling, screaming, running around, generally being a nuisance to everyone in the department. And in response, the parent…. does absolutely nothing. They calmly push their screaming child around the store, seemingly oblivious to the fact that their child is drowning out the shoplifting alarms that someone set off on the other side of the store. Now, I admit, I cannnot know why theseparticular parents never seem to want to discipline their children. It could very be that they are of the (disturbingly common) opinion that being a parent shouldn't actually inconvenience them in any way. ...
(or, A Fragment of Theology)