Fiasco

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Last Thursday, things came to a breaking point in regards to the parking situation at Emily's School.

Not only had four parents parked their SUV's in the no parking lane behind where the buses pick up the children, but another van had double parked on the opposite side. Its driver had left and clearly had no intention of coming back.

Despite my blowing my horn non stop for 15 minutes, none of the parked parents felt like they should move.

Frankly, I had HAD it.  I called the school to let them know the situation about to burst open on their doorstep, and told them to call the Public Security man.

Then, I stepped out of my car, and began to write down license plate numbers.

A few other Mom's stopped to encourage me - they were also sick of this bullshit.  They had parked the mere block away in the LEGAL spots and walked the 4 minutes to pick up their children.

As I was talking to these law abiding mothers, one of the Entitled Parkers rolled down her window.

"Are you writing down plate numbers?" she yelled.

"Why, Yes. Yes I am", I reply, as I wrote down her license plate number.

"You're Emily's Mom, right?". I affirmed that Yes. I was Emily's Mom.

What followed was a tirade, mostly on her part about how DARE I write down peoples plate numbers when they were all just here to pick up their kids.

I pointed to the No Parking sign under which her White Mercedes SUV with her Filipina Nanny in the passenger seat was parked.

"Apparently that does not apply to You?", I queried.

The other polite Canadian Moms fled.

She then went on to say:

1. My husband parks there all the time ( He, for the record, does Not)
2. She was planning to speak to my husband about this.
3. I was a bad parent for making my child walk in the rain (??Huh?  As If)

I finally stated - "And you're Cassie's Mom, right."

This seemed to shake her a bit.

I pointed out that as far as I knew her child wasn't the Messiah, and therefore she was not entitled to ignore the POSTED SIGNS stating NO PARKING.

I stated that if my husband DID ignore the No parking signs, than he was an adult and would need to deal with the consequences of bad decision making - but that even the claim that my husband "did it" did not convince me to stop writing down the plate numbers.

I stated that I had called both the school, and would be speaking with Public Security as soon as they arrived.

I did not Say the other things on my mind ...which involved my willingness to get physical, if necessary.

I saw Emily at that point, so I got back into my car and waited - stuck behind the double parked Van - and all the parents unwilling to move their vehicles.

Emily got in the car and giggled.  I think she may have caught the tail end of the exchange.

"Oh Mom", she said, "I think sometimes you aren't white at all. You are more like a Black Mom."




Emily went back to school today. She had a long weekend for the holiday and was home sick on Tuesday.

This afternoon, when she got home she came into the bedroom:

"Cassie asked me why you were trying to sue her mother"

"What on earth? Sue her mother?"

"Yeah, and then she told me that she would beat you up."

"Her mother? Her mother would beat me up?"

"No, HER.  Cassie said she would beat YOU up."

"Did I just receive a threat from a 6th grader?"

"Yeah and then Julia told her that you have a hook and can hook rugs and that you might Hook her."

"Are you suggesting that I go into school and pretend my hand is a rug hooking hook to threaten a 6th grader?"

Emily starts to laugh - really hard.

"I think Cassie's mother needs to not illegally park and that Cassie needs to not threaten to beat up adults. Geesh, you think I'm crazy."



11 Baleful Regards:

Kirsten said...

ROFL! Good for you for getting their licence plates down. Is the no parking on a public street or on school property? Can you request the police to sit there at that time for a day?

Dawn said...

Its public - I have called the public security ( long story about how my town is not really part of the city - blah blah blah), the mayor, the head of public security. I visited the principal yesterday and had a long discussion with her and the school secretary apprising them of the whole situation.

As I said to the head of Public security - I SEE the guy drive by at 3:10 p.m. - before the shit hits the fan and that is not cool. He is clearly passing by to say he looked and then getting the hell out of dodge.

Anonymous said...

HA! The end part of this made me spit coffee on my cat. I love you guys.

Cagey (Kelli Oliver George) said...

You are my favorite Black Mom, Dawn.

Dawn said...

Of course, I left out the part when Terrance had to calm me down AND promise that he would get all Malcolm X on the mother if she did try to "speak" with him.

I mean Honestly.

I'm pretty sure I could take both Cassie And her Mom - with or without hook, but Great googley moogley - Just Park where it is Legal to do so!

And Kelli - that made me laugh.

El mundo de Claudia said...

You mean you AREN'T black? LOL Dawn, the super cool black mom. Need someone to tag along for the hooking? This Mexican mom is more than willing!

Up All Night Stamper said...

OMG You GO girl!!!! People used to ignore the "NO ENTRY" sign at my son's school, you know, the one where the road leads directly to where the KINDERGARTENERS come out.... So I used to park my minivan across the road. I figured screw you, Ima gonna MAKE you tell me to move my car so you can break the law and maybe run over a kid or two.

So good for you! Keep it up and keep an extra hook or two in the car - I am sure you are licensed to carry a hook, yes?

Kirsten said...

OMG that hook looks DEADLY! I can see why Cassie used that as the weapon of choice!! LMAO

La said...

LMFAO!! This is awesome.

There will come a time, around teenage years, when Em will not be as happy about you going off when necessary. It will be SO BAD in fact, that you will think to yourself that maybe you DON'T need to be the kinda mom who gets pissed at parents illegally parking.

DON'T CHANGE A THING.

Because when she gets in her late 20s, as I am, she will love you for it again. And more importantly, you will have raised by example a daughter exceptionally versed in not taking shit off people, like my mom did me.

Dawn said...

La - I suspect that time is coming soon..she's 13 in May. But then again, it would be fool hardy to stop the rampaging mother.

Then My sights would be set on HER and she really doesn't want that.

But yeah. My own mother, as crazy as she is - was never afraid to get LOUD. And my mother in Law, and sisters in law can tear your ass Down if need be so Em has the genetic predisposition from both sides of her family tree.

And stamper? I am a fully licensed Hooker.

Anonymous said...

Why was she threatening you with talking to your husband, people who drive white Mercedes SUVs with Filipina nannies in the passenger seat are so confusing!

 
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