Storms rock. There's the sunshine afterward to look forward to.
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Dystopic Parenting and a random thought
H2 Lit came alive today in Parkway Parade, as I saw elements of dystopia with my own eyes.
There was this father-son duo in Popular. Of course, I didn't know at first they were such, for the boy (who couldn't have been older than 13) was standing right in front of a bookshelf doing nothing but staring at the books, with his father quite a distance away, picking up assessment books, critically examining them with the eye of the trained kiasu Singaporean parent. Every now and then, the man's eyes shot around, looking at the boy, with a dangerous expression on his face. I, the innocent bystander, then concluded that if the man wasn't the boy's father, he was some kind of paedophile, so I stuck around, just in case.
A sudden movement. The boy reaches out and touches a book. The father immediately flares up, stomps up to the boy, and starts scolding him silently. Now, having my own things I needed to attend to, I couldn't utilise my eavesdropping skills to their fullest ability. Besides, music was streaming through my ears. So, having assured myself that the man was the boy's father and therefore had divinely (and earthly) ordained rights to stalk the boy, I continued picking up stationery for my soon-to-be-resurrected pencil case.
Coincidentally, as I approached the counter to pay for my stuff, I realised that I was right behind the father-son pair. And the father was still scolding him, with the boy standing cross-armed with the Stance of Teenage Rebellion, utilising the Teenage Skill of Rolling Eyeballs. Naturally, my hand surreptitiously wormed its way into my own pocket with the inconspicuousness of a retired pickpocket, and stealthily disconnected my earphones from my phone, stopping the music. Instantly, the melodious tunes of High School Musical were replaced by an angry gruff voice.
"...I told you to stand there and wait for me to finish! Why the hell did you pick up that book?"
"Eh, I was waiting there for you just like you.. ."
"I don't give a damn what your excuses are! Why did you pick up that book? Huh? Why?"
"I don't know."
" 'I don't know'? What do you mean, 'I don't know'? "
*Silence from the boy*
"Ok, I don't care. If you're gonna be like that, after I pay, we're going home. Straightaway. I don't care."
In true Russell Peters style, the boy threatens to call his mother, and takes out his phone, furiously punching in the numbers. I notice that his phone model is the same as mine. Now, some background knowledge. My phone model has the unique capability to be remotely locked, once a secret preset message is sent from any other handphone is sent to my phone model.
The father takes out his own phone and types out an sms, his fingers a blur. I half wonder whether he used to be a pickpocket too, or he's training to get a job at the IR when it opens. But anyhow, midway through patching the call through, the boy's phone locks itself as it receives the secret message. The boy jams his phone back into his pocket, glaring venomously at his father all the while. Payment is made, and the father drags his son out of Popular.
I'm all for firm parenting, but that was way overboard. Sure, I may not know the full story, but I'm pretty sure no extenuating circumstance could justify that kind of parenting. But who was I to declare that the guy was a dystopic whacko?
And now for the random thought:
Why is it that in modern times, when we see a boy and girl arguing, one of our comments or rebukes to them is: "Aiyah, you two can get married already, lah!"
Why do we associate a married couple with constant bickering? Is this how the stereotypical married couple behaves? Society has really changed.
