Elderly Drivers and Yelling Parents

I went to the grocery store yesterday afternoon.  I needed to get the ingredients for my Broccoli Salad for tomorrow's family reunion and I was determined to not step foot inside a grocery store from 4pm Friday through 8am Tuesday.  ;o)  I don't know about you, but I get some great insight into human nature in the parking lot of my grocery store.  Two things stood out from yesterday's trip:

1. At a certain age, the DMV needs to require the elderly to take a driving test to renew their license, and 
2. It takes a "special" kind of parent to scream at their child in public.

There are so many elderly drivers out there that do not belong on the road!  I know there are plenty of people between the ages of 16 and 70 who also don't belong on the road, but I am only going to talk about the elderly tonight.  I don't know at what age the DMV should require the driving test for renewal because everyone ages differently.  Some 88 year olds act like they're 49 while some 65 year olds act like they roamed the desert for 40 years with Moses.  But I think 70 would be a good round number at which to start.  When your license is up for renewal on your 70th birthday, you must drive to the DMV and drive around one of their employees.  See, in my state, you can just renew the thing online and too many people fall through the cracks!  If you are too timid and refuse to go over 25 MPH or make a right turn on red after a complete stop, you should not have your license renewed.  Depending on if you pass with flying colors or barely squeak by, the DMV should have some recourse, like choosing to set your license up for renewal again between 1 and 5 years.  That would make me very happy.  It would also reduce accidents and road rage.

If you are a parent, you have yelled at your child at least once.  And don't try to pull the wool over my eyes and tell me that you have never done it.  Even Mary, herself, yelled at Jesus after the relief of finding him in that temple as a tween wore off.  Most people have never seen nor heard us do it, but we do it, in the privacy of our own homes and cars.  We may, when the need arrises, chastise or correct our children firmly and with an unpleasant face and a your-in-big-trouble-mister tone of voice in public, but we don't scream at our kids.  Let's all take a moment to pat ourselves on the back, shall we?  ......I'm serious; why aren't you patting....I'm not continuing this story until you pat yourself.  Come oooooon.  No one's watching.  There you go!  Don't you feel better?  You should!  We refrain from screaming at our kids in public even when they scream at us!  I have an assignment for all of you - next time you see a kid going off on a parent in public, go up and pat them on the back!  Give the I've-been-there-and-I-feel-for-you-just-hang-on-until-you-get-home-to-your-wine-bottle-sister look and then look the other way.  The more people staring, the worse it feels, doesn't it?

Anywho...as I'm putting my bags in the back of my car, a mother is yelling at her tween daughter as they arrive at their car.  The mom pops the trunk and proceeds to go sit in the driver's while her slip of a daughter loads the bags into the trunk.  The mom left her door open and yelled not-so-nice instructions to the girl to make sure she loaded something or other the way she is supposed to because last time she chose not to listen to her mother and her something-or-other was not in optimum condition when they got home.  Then she got back out the car, inspected the placing of the bags in the trunk, was not happy and yelled some more.  As the poor girl returns the cart to corral the mom yelled across the lot to make sure she returned the cart the proper way b/c if she has to come over there and correct it, she's gonna be pissed.  Wow.  If this isn't pissed, I don't want to see it.  Unless the hubs is around; he would love to see it and then give the woman a little taste of her own medicine.  But he wasn't there; his butt was on the couch shooting bucks on an iPad game.  @@

You know, we all have a little "house devil, street angel" in us.  There are things we'll say or do to our loved ones in the comfort of our own home that we wouldn't dare do to do a friend nor dare to be seen doing to our family in public.  It's sad, we all realize it and we try real hard not to do it, but it happens once in a while.  This woman is some piece of work to act like she did in public.  Makes you wonder what she's really like in the comfort of her own home.