Caution: Idiot On Board
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My Daily Rant 4/7/2011
So, for those of you who may be new here, I like to rant. Sometimes I rant about big things, sometimes small, but luckily for me, the world is full of idiots, thus I will never run out of rant material.
When I pick my child up from school, I am presented with a plethora of rant worthy individuals. Because as my favorite comedian Ron White says, "Ya can't fix stupid."
So today, I'm sitting in the driveway waiting for my child to emerge. I'm laughing internally at the sight in front of me. A young boy, (probably about 11 or so), has come around to the driver's side window of the car picking him up. His mom (or whoever) must be distracted, because he stands there with his nose plastered to the glass and just waits.
I heard her scream clear in my car.
Now, if my kid had done that to me, I would have been royally ticked. But watching it happen to someone else was funny. Yes, I'm mean. But admit it, you would have laughed too. So I'm sitting there basking in the afterglow of a good chuckle, as a steady stream of cars rumbles into the circular drive. One stops beside me and I notice that the driver is a young woman who is simultaneously smoking a cigarette, texting on her phone, and navigating the labyrinth of terror that is the middle school driveway at 3:15 in the afternoon. Well, this isn't really anything new, as I spy multitasking morons every day here. But then I glance towards the back of the car. In the back seat is an infant car seat. With a baby in it. And it's one of those rear facing ones so it appears to be a fairly young infant. Did I mention she was driving, texting and smoking?
This makes me so flippin mad! Now, I am not ranting against smoking. It's a free country. You can do whatever the heck you want. If you enjoy sucking toxic poison into your lungs and blowing thousands of dollars a year on the increased risk of getting cancer, be my guest. But babies are innocent. Children do not get to choose who their parents or their caregivers are. Now, if I really want to delve into the entire idiocy of this young woman's actions, I'd also delve into the fact that she has one hand on a cancer stick, the other on her cell phone, and is steering the car with her knee. But that wasn't even what got me riled up. On the back window, right next to the baby, she had a sticker on the car that said, "Caution, Baby Inside" (exactly like the one pictured to the right).
Wow. Really? You find it necessary to warn others that there is an innocent, fragile young child in the car when you are endangering this precious little bundle in about 14 different ways? They really need to make a sign that says,
"Please drive very carefully. The person driving this car seems hell bent on either killing or maiming me in a distracted driving crash. If that doesn't work, she's going to do her best to ensure that I develop asthma, slow brain development, stunted growth, and possibly even SIDS. As you can see, she is very intent on causing me great harm. So please drive carefully. She would be really annoyed if you beat her to the chase."
I thought about following this little rant up with all of the reasons that she shouldn't smoke in the car with a baby inside and the window cracked 4 centimeters. But then I realized, why should I have to? I would like someone to provide me with one good reason why she should engage in this behavior.
Just one.
No takers?
Hm, imagine that.
CommentsLoading...
Wow, Wayne. That will be $150 for the therapy session! The stupid tax is a great idea...with one fatal flaw. What happens when they don't pay it because they have no job and they're one welfare? Do we pay it for them? Thanks for kicking off the comments! Nice to see you as always!
Fantastic observation my friend...lastweek a texting parent almost ran down 1 crossgard and 2 students while texting,smoking,driving, and holding a tiny little puppy that was hanging out her window. One other parent told me I was a F-ing B-when I tryed to leave work while she was parked in the "no pick up or drop off" area, right in the middle of the exit, right next to the large chained down sigh that read "NO PICK UP NO DROP OFF"....AFTER PICKING UP HER CHILD FROM THE OFFICE FOR CALL HIS KINDERGARTEN TEACHER B-CH. Very disturbing.
Your topic was very worthy of a serious rant. And it sounds like that Middle School pick-up area is an accident waiting to happen.
Bucky you got a case there. I smoke but always make it a point to never be anywhere near children. And don't get me started on texting and driving.
I've never understood how some people can be totally oblivious to the stupidity of their own actions. I would have been furious also! Unfortunately, the lack of common sense in these people affects the innocent.Thanks for sharing your rant.
Oh ! I forgot to mention I like Ron White too !
I bet Lady Fag-Fag was wearing a safety belt... just in case she endangerd her safety whilst running over someone else's kids. Surely it's your State Law that makes it illegal to use a cellular whilst driving? If so, ask your Sherrif to put a squad car at the school gate and nail those suckers! If not, write to your Senator, nicely.
Stupid people plagueing your life? There is HOPE : www.darwinawards.com
You should have to pass a test in order to become a parent. We might end up with a couple hundred kids in the states!
I have to agree with Wayne and his comment, which I think nailed it. Terrific hub, and one I happen to agree with!
Wendy, I imagine working in the school you see this crap all the time. The sad thing is, you would think it's the kids who showcase idiotic behavior...but it's so not. It's the parents! I'm with breakfastpop, you should have to pass an IQ test to procreate.
Hello Tony! I used to smoke as well, you know how I feel about personal freedom! People should be able to do anything they want.....up to the point that they endanger others. At that moment, it stops being a right and becomes a responsibility.
Husky: You have NO idea. These parents are morons.
Francine: Actually, she wasn't wearing a seatbelt I don't think. Occasionally, the police patrol this area, but mostly for speeders. Texting and driving is illegal in my city, but like most laws, it only seems that the already law abiding citizens adhere to it.
Thanks for stopping by Genna, Wayne did nail it! He's a pretty smart guy!
sunflowerbucky,
In my previous life it was my "pleasure" to monitor the middle school drop off and pick up. This neatly bookended my day with a depressing amount of stupid. After five years of this I had so many examples of stupid it numbed my brain to the point where the student stupid stuff hardly registered.
There were no deaths or maiming on my watch, which I simply see as proof that there is a benevolent God...
C
Chris, I can't even imagine doing that job. That's the sad part, is we are all so desensitized to stupid that we hardly notice anymore.
Excellent rant. I especially liked your sign for her car. I would love to sneak those onto a few dozen vehicles I've seen just like that one!
It was one thing, years ago, before anyone realized the harm that cigarettes caused, to smoke in a car with a kid. Now, however, it's crazy- and it makes me sick at my stomach.
I don't think the government should get involved though (they're already up in our business too much as it is). I think people should just wise the heck up! Maybe we could all hand out your new sticker to people we feel qualify... if nothing else maybe they'd be too embarrassed to continue to smoke in the car around their kid!
Yeah, that wouldn't work(You really can't fix stupid, or embarrass it oddly enough), but it sure would be nice if it did.
Surely there must be a law against smoking in a car with children inside?
My husband has a favorite "Big Dog" T-Shirt that says "You Can't Fix Stupid"...We have a law in Canada where you cannot smoke with children in the car is it the same in the states? Enjoyed your rant. You really can't fix stupid.
It's perfectly legal here as far as I know. I don't know that more laws is the answer, though. You can't legislate common sense. My city has outlawed texting and driving and as far as I can tell, it deters no one.
Rant? How dare you! I do it all the time myself with this nation turned every which way, including upside down.
The classifications of stupidity seem endless. Lets see here. You have idiots and right below them are the morons who walk amongst us. Right below them are submorons which I just found out about today. They're the morons who step in for the regular morons when they go on sick leave :)
One thing I do know though Bucky. To be politically correct we now need to refer to them all as cognitively impaired. We must be PC now Darlin!
Have a good day for now.
The Frog
Stupidity isn't just a disease that affects America. lol Britain has more than it's fair share too. Smoking is one thing I could rant about all day, especially as my mum smoked very heavily in pregnancy, leaving me with a little bit of filthy habit; Eating ciggy ash from every ashtray I could find until I was about 8.I can still remember the taste strangely enough. My son and daughter in law smoke but thank God they have the intelligence to do it outside the house, and make all smoking visitors do the same.
Mobile phones used to be the curse of the younger generation, now they are the curse of every driver in the country who can't be bothered to switch it off when driving. Drinking whilst driving causes death, a slogan on nearly every bill board in the country. What about the use of mobile phones and ciggys whilst driving, or bottle s of juice for that matter? Oh dear I just want to rant too, infectious this ranting.
Sunflowerbucky, this was funny and I like Ron White too! I am now going to look and read some of your funny positive writings! Hopefully I find one as you have a great sense of humor and insite though too much negative "could" taint you day to day. I have been taught if someone cuts you off in traffic, etc... relax, don't flip them off, etc... That is negative energy. Choose your battles....There will be some. Great article, keep the blood pressure down and fight with us to change these dumb laws!
Hello Frog Prince, I must say, I was never very good at being PC!
Hi there blue star, yes ranting can be infectious! Thanks for stopping by!
Hello Jailtalk, always nice to see a new face around here! I do have some positive work, however I will forewarn you that 99% of my work on here is My Daily Rant. You may see it as negativity, I simply see it as my way to let off steam. In person I am actually a very positive person. However, I am also a realist and you can be positive but it's also important not to let things bottle up inside you. For a positive hub, you might try my "Bringing Friendship Back", or "Bucky's Answer to the Gratitude Challenge". Ranting is simply a writing platform that works well for me, it's not necessarily a reflection of my personailty. Also, you can't legislate common sense into people I'm afraid!
For those of you who would like to see if I can write about positive things (yes, it IS possible) visit me at http://southernidaholiving.com/author/clewis/
Wayne Brown Level 8 Commenter 13 months ago
Stupidity is such a viral disease and we suffer from it in America on a pandemic scale. After all, one has to be really stupid this day and time to smoke when cigarettes cost as much or more than a gallon of gasoline. No doubt she was probably texting a liberal friend about the free-healthcare that she and the baby will be getting under the Obama plan very soon. The baby will certainly need it. In Texas, we have laws now that prevent the hands-on use of a cell phone anywhere in an active school zone and the fines are even stiffer than the speeding fines. As Ron White says, "you can't fix stupid" but you sure can fine the hell out of it. In fact, I am all for imposing a stupid tax on anyone who is caught doing what you just described. The judges makes them pay it for a minimum of five consecutive years. Once they complete that stretch, if they are caught doing the same thing, the tax becomes permanent. Then we can use the stupid tax dollars the government collects to pay for all the stupid programs that the government creates to attempt to fix stupid people. Jesus, can I get an "Amen"? Thanks for that rant, Bucky...I feel better already! LOL! WB