trvlgs

It’s at this juncture we observe the Bad Teen Parent; I don’t actually know if she was the mother or even a teenager, but we can be certain that she was not ready to have a two year-old on a bus from Pittsburgh to Cleveland to elsewhere. On a bus, you become unusually aware of every single baby or toddler aboard, as well as the competence of their caretakers, as well as your propensity for hatred and your complete unwillingness to grant them any sort of context in the name of forgiveness. The Bad Teen Parent’s Parenting Method was as follows: reduce your vocabulary to “shut up.” Those are the only two words I ever heard her say over her toddler’s cries, save for the occasional “stop it” for when he decides to run around the Cleveland bus terminal’s wide, wide expanses. Either she just discovered him abandoned somewhere and they went on a wild cross-country trek filled with madcap adventures until they finally understood one another and now visit each other on holidays, or she’s really, really tired of having this kid. Here I am, judging.