en·ti·tle·ment

I still can't believe what just happened to me. I took all four boys (my three and cousin Xander, aged 7) to the pet shop to buy dog food. As soon as we walked in the door, the boys headed for the cats, where there were two women standing nearby and a little girl, aged 7 or 8, with some sort of disability, perhaps Down Syndrome. As soon as Max, my adoreable two-year-old arrived on the scene, the little girl started pawing at him with increasing intensity. I watched, waiting, actually, for one of the two women standing there, one of which I assumed to be her guardian, to intervene. One of the girl's advances launched Max against the cat cage and he started to cry. I flew in, scooped him up, and played off the incident by saying "You have two older brothers, you'll be okay."

Max and I moved on to the fish, which are his favorite. As we stood there, the little girl approached again, this time with much more vigor, actually picking Maxie up, which always sends him into a whining tirade. I stepped in right away this time, picked up Max and said "Hon, you're invading his personal space." Out of nowhere comes her mother, and the following is word for word what transpired (pretty much):

Her: She wasn't going to hurt him.

Me: I didn't say she was going to hurt him, I said she was invading his personal space.

Her: Don't you see that she has a disability?

Me: Yes, I see she has a disability but that does not preclude you from making sure she follows the norms of polite society, such as not touching people without their permission.

Her: You're a bitch.

Me: You're oblivious.

Her: Kiss my ass.

At that point I told the boys we had to go, and all but Atticus complied willingly. Charlie (almost 6), who doesn't miss a thing, said, "Mommy why was that girl's mommy letting her pick up Maxie?"

"Well," I replied, "there are some people who think for one reason or another they don't have to follow the rules the rest of us follow."

To which Charlie replied, pointing out the window "Look, Xander, a concrete truck!"