A mother was chatting on the phone on the bus and her little son was disturbing other passengers: I had to teach this mom a lesson in parenting 🤔😲
My head was pounding after a long day at work. I sat on a crowded bus, clutching the empty bottle of a pill I’d just swallowed to ease the pain. The door hissed open and a woman with a child walked in.
A boy of about five, with dirty sneakers, immediately plopped down on the seat in front of me. His mother, without looking up from her phone, began tapping her fingers rapidly on the screen. The child, wasting no time, began swinging his legs, and his dirty soles repeatedly touched my knees. At first, I decided to ignore it – well, he’s a child, what can you expect from him? But then I couldn’t stand it:
“Please don’t kick me,” I said quietly. He looked at me with big eyes, but then continued. Mother didn’t even look up.
The pain in my temples was growing. I tried to breathe deeper, but then the woman, without looking up from her phone, suddenly started talking loudly.
Her voice was jarring: she was arguing with someone, sometimes raising her tone, sometimes switching to an irritated whisper. Meanwhile, the child decided that kicking my knees wasn’t fun enough and started loudly watching cartoons on his phone:
– Mom, I want a car, like in the cartoon! Buy a car! Right now!
“Wait, I’m busy!” the mother waved her hand, not looking up from her phone.
I felt everything boiling inside. My head was throbbing, my nerves were on edge. I tried to get through again:
– Excuse me, please, your child is kicking me. Could you calm him down?
She finally looked up from the screen, looked at me with obvious irritation and said:
– This is my child, and I know how to look after him. You better look after yourself.
I was taken back. Her words, harsh and rude, Seemed to add fuel to the fire. My head was buzzing, my ears were ringing, and the boy, as luck would have it, kicked me again. And then I just couldn’t take it anymore and did something that I don’t regret at all. 😣
Without thinking, I leaned forward, snatched the phone from my mother’s hands and, looking her straight in the eyes, said in a loud voice trembling with anger:
– Watch your child or I’ll throw your phone out the window! He kicks me with dirty boots.
There was a dead silence on the bus. The passengers, who had been busy with their own affairs, turned their heads. The woman froze, her eyes wide with shock.
I couldn’t believe I did it. My hands were shaking, but I held her phone tightly, waiting for a reaction.
She opened her mouth as if she was going to say something, but then changed her mind. She silently took the phone I handed back to her and, without saying a word, pulled her son onto her lap.
The boy fell silent, as if he sensed that his mother’s mood had changed. She didn’t utter a sound for the rest of the trip, only occasionally glancing at me, but without the challenge in her eyes.
