A grandmother who works as a bus monitor has had over $200,000 donated to a fund set up in her name since a video of her being berated and insulted by students on a bus hit YouTube.  She did not complain, but once the video went viral, the school called the police, who have spoken to the students.

Am I the only one wondering why those students were able to still speak after talking like that to an adult?  One would think that their jaws and several other parts of their skelature would be held together with wire and screws by now.

I guess I’ve finally reached that “When I was growing up” stage of life.  Had I had ever spoken to an adult, of any age, station, or sex, like those little miscreants did to this lady, if she didn’t beat my ass within an inch of my life, then the bus driver would have, and would have taken time to explain to every parent on the route that my ass-beating was the reason the bus was running late.  Failing that, some adult member of my family would have used my ass beating as an example to the younger children.  I would have earned this not only because I disrespected an adult, but also because I did it while using the family name, and no-one was allowed to bring that much shame to my family, no matter how screwed up we may have been.

Example – Once, very early in my school life, I fell asleep in class.* When I was ever so gently nudged by the grandmotherly woman who taught my class, I was a bit whiny, which got me sent out into the hallway and eventually to the principal’s office.  This time, I got a good talking to about staying awake and not talking back to teacher (the Board of Education stayed on its hook this time), and a call to my mother.  On the way home, I had to walk past my grandmother’s house and the homes of two of my aunts.  That was the longest walk of my life.  Grandma met me in the yard and spanked me.  Both of my aunts got a swipe in, and I really caught it when I got home.  Guess what?  I only got sent to the principal’s office twice more in the time I went to school, and that was for fighting to defend either myself or one of my brothers.  If I’d ever acted like these twerps, there’d be a small unmarked grave somewhere on the prairie.

I’ve never had to do such things with my kids, but they all know that death is an option.  One good part of having more than one kid is that they know that you have a spare if you have to thin the herd due to bad traits in the bloodline.**

Instead, these precious little snowflakes got a “talking to”.  Maybe they had their cell phones taken away for a few hours, or possibly they had to go to their air-conditioned, HD TV equipped, Internet connected rooms for a little while so they could think about what they did.  I’m sure that will straighten them right up. It’s not like they did this to a real person, at least not someone they would consider a real person. This is just someone’s grandmother who is taking her time to monitor the bus so that everyone gets home safe.  If it was someone important, I’m sure they would have been on their best behavior.

*Staying up late reading “Little House on the Prairie” by the light of the moon may sound adventurous, but it ruins your eyes and puts you to sleep when you ought to be learning to count higher than 20.
**Kidding of course.  I love my children, but I love them enough to teach and enforce respect.

Update – Looks like at least one of the parents is trying to do the right thing.