The boy who amused, astounded and annoyed me

I was standing a queue to buy myself some Pearl Milk Tea. In front of me was a boy who was about 1.3 metres in height and next to him was a woman who seemed mostly like the boy’s mother.

The mother was speaking to the boy, when he abruptly interrupted her.

He said , in a high but casual tone, “What are you trying to say? Say it straight. Don’t beat around the bush”.

I stood there amused, astounded and of course annoyed.

The phrase “Kids these days” seemed cliché until now. At this point, those three words were tight with meaning.

If I had ever said such a thing to my mother, in public or even in private, my mother would have definitely slapped me. In fact, if I had said that to anyone elder than me, my mother would have shown me hell on earth. That was how I was brought up. The rule to follow, without any exceptions was, “If you cannot speak with respect, then do not speak”.

I guess things are different now. Parents, with all the denial of age and mid-life crisis diseases, are no longer "elders". We prefer to be described as "still young, jovial, casual and friendly".

Well dudes and dudettes, I hope that works well for you and myself.

Anyhow, the incident made me slightly happy. I can finally tell my mother that she is so darn blessed to have had us for children.