Monday, June 20, 2005

monday madness

I just got back from the grocery, where madness reigned. Normally I know better than to go anywhere near the grocery around noon on a Monday (since they're all closed on Sundays) but as we were perilously close to being out of toilet paper and I wanted to go out before it got too hot (we're bound to reach 90F again today, bleargh), it couldn't be avoided.

The first astonishing thing was that it was so busy, there was someone actually helping folks bag their groceries. This practice is unheard of in France! I even brought my own bag and had only three items, but she took my bag and put my items inside all the same. I thanked her profusely, knowing I'll likely never see it again.

The second astonishing thing I saw was a woman who had her child (he seemed to be around six or so) tied up in a harness, and reminded me very much of a leash, especially the way she wielded it, jerking her son back from a display of candy. Obviously I have no way of knowing the circumstances under which she felt it necessary to leash her child, but certainly everyone murmured when the child pitched a blue fit, arms awailing, over something like the mother giving his bag of candies to the cashier to be rung up. Now, I am the very last person to claim any knowledge of raising children, but it seems to me that if you treat your child like a dog, you shouldn't be surprised if he acts like one.

I usually do a bit of housecleaning on Mondays, but since it's so hot I'm going to beg off until tomorrow. I still have to write about the fabulous time we had on Saturday night, so look out for that very soon...

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