Anger

We had a history with this child. I won't use his name, but I will tell you we've given him the nickname "El Diablo". He's just one of those loud, in your face, won't leave you alone kind of kids. You know the kind. He's probably 3 or 4 years old. We've encountered him a few times at the park. The first time it was Grace and I there. He decided he wanted to play with us. You know, if I was a perfect human being, I would've probably let him. I wasn't feeling particularly altruistic at the moment and really just wanted to play with my daughter during a nice day at the park. El Diablo had other ideas. Grace and I were playing a game where we would pop out of different parts of the playground to surprise each other, and this kid decides he wants to do the same. He gets right in my face, and at a couple points saliva flies off of his face and onto mine. Of course, this is not the kind of child who listens to requests to be left alone. Eventually you just kind of have to move on and play somewhere where you hope he won't follow you.

This was not the last time we encountered this child. Sometimes he would annoy other people at the park, sometimes us. It happened lots. I was not around for the last run in with this child, I only heard about it through my wife, who had taken the kids to the park while I was at work. First, she text me to say that El Diablo was there again, and he was annoying some older kids. Shortly after this I got a text that said "That friggen kid! He just hit Grace"

It's hard to explain the kind of thoughts that text made me feel. I was mad, and as more information about what  happened came in, I just got more angry. He ran up behind her and hit her across the back. Truthfully it doesn't sound like she was very physically hurt, but she got very sad and just wanted to go home. It might have been less infuriating if she was just physically hurt, because she's a tough girl and can bounce back from that; but she loves running around the park so much and the fact that someone could ruin that for her is heartbreaking. It created a kind of irrational anger in me. The kind of anger that makes me hate a small child.

Now, there is one part of this story you may notice is missing. Where are this kids parents? There's usually somebody there with him, but literally every time I've seen them, they've been talking on their cell phone. Rather than playing with their kid, or paying any attention to him, they are talking on the phone every single time. The reason this kid so aggressively inserts himself into everyone else's play is because there is no one there to play with him. You know that stereotype of kids who do things just to get attention? Yeah, it's usually because they don't get any. If we have another run in with him, I'll have to remember to direct my anger towards his parent, not him. Because I know my kid will be okay, I'm not convinced about theirs.