"Oh mannnn....I just bought that coffee....." The words slurred off his bubble gum lips and onto the floor following his extra large sugary caffeine beverage. This beverage spilled on to the counter, onto the cashier, onto lottery tickets, onto me and not on him.
He asked for a towel and started to wipe the counter. He saw me, I was next in line, he saw her, she was in line after me. She was an elderly lady. He saw us, he saw his empty cup and he saw the cashier's look of distain. He fled.
Next to the convenient store was the establishment from which he purchased his icy summer coffee. I was pregnant, she was elderly and the other was working. He walked out and us three were cleaning this adult child's mess. I was on my knees wiping the floor, she was wiping the counter and the other was wiping down the register and I watched this boy laughing though the glass door and I stood up.
I opened the door and said to him: "My children are six and 1 and a half and they clean up after themselves better than you. You have left a pregnant woman, an elderly woman and a woman who is working to clean up your mess. I'm not sure how you were brought up but I will not clean up after you nor will I let these other women do it. You come back in here and help."
The line of people and the staff at the coffee dispensary looked on with slack jaws and the man boy looked at me with shock and confusion.
Is this how we are raising our children these days? Is this how we are brought up?
