I swallowed hard, tonight I would see that woman again. Let me explain, I babysit for a co-worker of mine and his wife. After work, I would go an pick up the kids from a woman who watches them after school (for reasons, I won’t name names.) The very first time I met this woman, she lectured me on my life choices.
All I did was brush her off. BIG. Mistake. I should have handled it right then and there, but I didn’t and so, a few more times after that… she kept lecturing me.
I was driving in my car, gripping the wheel, knowing soon I would come face-to-face with her, and hoping that I would have the courage to face her down. Not so. This time around, I tried and failed. Again.
She started to demean me in front of the kids, I clenched my hands.
“If you don’t go back to school you never will.” (Excuse me, I thought. But an 86 year old woman went back to school!) She said (among many other things), “you’re going to regret it!”
“Well, I know what I’m doing, thanks.” I smiled awkwardly, ushering the kids from her house, trying to get away. She eyed me and then turned to the little girl, “Okay, but don’t be like her, alright? You have to go to college and get a degree.”
I felt as if someone had punched me in the gut and slapped me in the face at the same time. How could she say something so rude in front of two children who believe everything they hear? I frowned, trying to pretend she didn’t say that right in front of me. As we were walking away, the little girl turned to me; “I have to drive the car because you’re not sma- responsible enough to drive because you don’t have a degree.”
Right away, the girl had picked up on what that woman had said. I told her that she couldn’t and she was under-aged, and that just because I didn’t have a degree didn’t mean I couldn’t drive.
Well, that persisted later. I got annoyed about what that woman had said and turned to the little girl and told her that just because I didn’t have a degree didn’t mean I was stupid, and she shouted it was just her opinion, to which I responded. “Yes, it is. But I didn’t ask for it and it was extremely rude for *insert that woman’s name here* to say something like that to someone who didn’t ask. And it’s not something you should do.”
To my utter shock, she went quiet and I drove in silence while her little brother played with the bottom of a thermos that spewed Yoda sayings. Finally, she apologized. I accepted her apology, telling her I wasn’t mad at her, just that I was irritated that that woman would talk about something that was none of her business in front of her and her brother. It was disrespectful.
Things got a bit more awkward later that night (mostly because I forgot the incident after she apologized) and her parents found out through a not very stealthy FB post (darn you, FB…) I felt awful and apologized for it. I honestly didn’t mean for them to find out that way.
I felt awful all night and watched ‘how I met your mother‘ to console myself. The thing is, that woman hit be in one of my weak spots and made my self-esteem issues worse. Like they weren’t bad enough. And considering it was none of her business, she never should have said it. (When I told my sisters about all of this, they wanted to tear her to pieces. Thank God for sisters who will kill for you. Heheh. Well, not literally… )
The point is, embarrassing things happen and all we can do it try better not to let that happen. If I have a problem with that woman, I have to tell her so. And I plan to, all of this is just too awkward otherwise and I want her to know that she is acting out of line toward me. So, if you all have made awkward mistakes, don’t worry, you can recover. I hope. We’ll see.